Dark Money on the Campaign Finance Beat: Part 2

Описание: Documenting Donor Influence on Politicians’ Fundraising: “Dark money” influences politics while donors remain a mystery. What journalists need to know about how to follow campaign finance and its effects on politicians.
by Anne Godlasky, National Press Foundation

Anna Massoglia researches dark money as editorial and investigations manager at OpenSecrets, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that tracks money in politics.

Nonprofit 501(c)4s are the donation “vehicle of choice” for “wealthy donors who would like to remain anonymous or don’t want the flashy headlines of supporting a political candidate or a cause that might not help either their business or their personal life,” Massoglia said.

Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, dark money groups have spent $1 billion, she said.

Other types of dark money groups include limited liability companies, shell companies and fiscally sponsored projects.

Online ads from dark money groups may stoke extremism.

Ads often appear to be sponsored by an independent group with their own name, when in fact they are under a 501(c)4’s umbrella, Massoglia said, and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) doesn’t require disclosure of digital ad data in the same way they do TV or radio ads.

“Digital spenders are another emerging way for money from opaque sources to really flow into our elections,” Massoglia said. These spenders engage in microtargeting in which they buy Facebook or YouTube ads aimed at “a very specific type of person based on traits that they have. … This is how extremism can be stoked in some ways or very specific contributions can be enlisted, how in some cases disinformation can spread among these very niche groups.”

Most online ads avoid language that would trigger reporting under the Buckley v. Valeo Supreme Court ruling, including such terms as “defeat,” “elect” or “vote for/against.”

Online ads are often images and memes, Massoglia said, “where you’re saying, ‘thank your senator … we hate your senator, your senator helps kills puppies.’ That type of thing is totally fair game.”

Campaign finance information to mine outside the FEC:

Check more than one document, Massoglia says, including FEC filings, tax returns and incorporation records. You may find different information for the same group.

990 forms from the Internal Revenue Service are “core resources” for getting information on non-profits. But they’re unavailable for nearly six months after the end of the fiscal year. However, Form 1023 for a 501(c)3 or Form 1024 for a 501(c)4 have similar details.

If the group in question has a physical office and normal business hours, a journalist can go there and request their 990 form as soon as it’s filed and the group legally must provide it the same day, Massoglia said, but that has been difficult during the pandemic. You can also request the form in writing and they must respond within 30 days.

When requesting the forms specify that you also want the Schedule B, which will show whether a group is fully funded by a single multimillion dollar donation or a number of smaller donations, Massoglia advised.

LD-203 reports are required of lobbyists or corporate PACs that meet a certain threshold for donations donate to politicians.

Lobbyists must disclose, and that disclosure also includes contributions to advocacy groups, Massoglia said, which can be a breadcrumb for tracking related groups.

LM-2 filings from the Department of Labor reveal donations from unions to super PACs, or in some cases to dark money groups, Massoglia said.

State-level agencies should be researched for state-level campaign finance reports as well as incorporation documents.

However, “many of the more opaque nonprofits are incorporated in states like Delaware, where you can just pay an agent to file your paperwork on your behalf or a company … so there’s very little information on the filings themselves,” Massoglia said. In those cases, she seeks information directly from the clerks.

SPEAKER: Anna Massoglia, OpenSecrets editorial and investigations manager

Video, transcript and resources: https://nationalpress.org/topic/dark-...
Part 1 video:    • Dark Money on the Campaign Finance Beat: P...