{"id":102131,"date":"2015-11-19T20:39:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T03:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=102131"},"modified":"2015-11-20T10:21:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T17:21:00","slug":"secret-donors-fuel-democratic-political-powerhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/11\/secret-donors-fuel-democratic-political-powerhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret donors fuel Democratic political powerhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic Party-aligned \u201cdark money\u201d powerhouse Patriot Majority USA collected half of the $30 million it raised last year from five anonymous donors, according to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a> analysis of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/2515644-patriot-majority-usa-irs-form-990-for-2014.html\" target=\"_blank\">new tax filing<\/a>\u00a0from the group.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_54908\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/pictures-of-money\/17123251389\/in\/photolist-s6895e-chEwR9-bH1iX8-bt4mNt-42PQoC-a2YSa6-62QVKf-bta55K-dB7F8e-dK2oa7-aFDjPB-aYWk56-aFATbM-aFAaK6-aFAQEv-snzAJp-QxcaH-s4fksR-cMnty-bZvUDS-bta3kH-brd1K2-62LFqP-dTUAhR-5p8w8o-7jm7SP-8F5t1j-dSZe91-dUSc9a-a5SwX-dSK3tm-biaRHp-68vjKV-68zxeQ-9C9vCS-aFAPtx-9ZA9J6-cXNz15-9kJxyv-b6MUJK-68zxij-aFDkRt-aFDet2-bDwJ11-5DfGXv-bmm93i-55FLSR-aFDcrg-bf3Nge-nQZguc\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-54908 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money-336x216.jpg\" alt=\"&quot;We can't stop PAC money,&quot; said Heather Ferguson, who manages Common Cause New Mexico's money-in-politics campaigns. But a well-designed public financing can give candidates the tools to engage with voters in a way that keeps them competitive, she said. (photo cc info)\" width=\"336\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money-336x216.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money-768x494.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money-771x495.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money-1170x752.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money-780x500.jpg 780w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Money.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Pictures of Money \/ Creative Commons<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">It&#8217;s largely unknown who funded Patriot Majority USA&#8217;s political operations in 2014, which proved generally unsuccessful.\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Patriot Majority USA was a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2014\/09\/03\/15436\/can-dark-money-group-help-democrats-keep-senate\" target=\"_blank\">major player<\/a> in the Democrats\u2019 failed bid to retain control of the U.S. Senate last year \u2014 a time when many Democratic candidates decried the influx of \u201cdark money\u201d in politics.<\/p>\n<p>Led by Craig Varoga, a staunch ally of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., it was a particularly prolific force on television.<\/p>\n<p>The group aired more than 15,000 TV ads in key Senate races, according to a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a> analysis of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2014\/09\/02\/15447\/whos-buying-senate\" target=\"_blank\">data provided by<\/a> advertising firm\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/kantarmedia.us\/product\/cmag-advertising-data-reports-ad-alerts\" target=\"_blank\">Kantar Media\/CMAG<\/a>, which monitors broadcast and national cable TV ads. Not a single one was positive.<\/p>\n<p>In all, 40 percent of the $34 million Patriot Majority USA spent in 2014 went toward \u201cdirect and indirect political campaign activities,\u201d according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/2515644-patriot-majority-usa-irs-form-990-for-2014.html#document\/p34\/a262292\" target=\"_blank\">group\u2019s new tax filing<\/a> \u2014 nearly $13.7 million.<\/p>\n<p>But like other \u201csocial welfare\u201d nonprofit groups organized under Sec. 501(c)(4) of the tax code, Patriot Majority USA is not required to publicly disclose the names of its donors.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This story\u00a0is\u00a0from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Center for Public Integrity<\/a>, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative media organization in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Thus, it\u2019s largely unknown who funded its political operations, which proved generally unsuccessful as Democratic incumbents lost in races across the country, including Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, where the nonprofit group was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2014\/09\/03\/15436\/can-dark-money-group-help-democrats-keep-senate\" target=\"_blank\">the most active<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Such opacity contrasts with many Democrats\u2019 rhetoric decrying secret money in politics and organizing to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2010 decision in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2012\/10\/18\/11527\/citizens-united-decision-and-why-it-matters\" target=\"_blank\">Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission<\/a><\/em>. The ruling, in part, freed certain nonprofit groups to spend massive amounts of money on politics while withholding information about their contributors.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest donor to the nonprofit gave $8.25 million, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/2515644-patriot-majority-usa-irs-form-990-for-2014.html#document\/p27\/a262295\" target=\"_blank\">the new filing<\/a> with the Internal Revenue Service, which lists the amounts received by Patriot Majority USA last year but not the donors\u2019 names.<\/p>\n<p>Six other unknown donors gave seven-figure sums. One gave $2.7 million. Another gave $2.2 million. One gave $1.2 million. And three gave $1 million.<\/p>\n<p>About three-dozen other donors gave at least $100,000.<\/p>\n<p>Other government filings indicate that some of Patriot Majority USA\u2019s financial support came from labor unions.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, for instance, gave Patriot Majority USA $750,000 in 2014, according to documents it submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in its own Department of Labor filings, the American Federation of Teachers states it gave Patriot Majority USA $550,000 last year.<\/p>\n<p>Filings further show that the National Education Association gave Patriot Majority USA $50,000 last year and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters gave $10,000.<\/p>\n<p>Campaign finance filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission also show that Democratic super PAC Senate Majority PAC <a href=\"http:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/fecimg\/?14960710721\" target=\"_blank\">contributed about $35,000<\/a> to Patriot Majority USA last year.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, Patriot Majority USA <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2014\/09\/03\/15436\/can-dark-money-group-help-democrats-keep-senate\" target=\"_blank\">has also received money from trade groups<\/a> such as the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare and the American Health Care Association.<\/p>\n<p>Varoga, in an emailed statement, defended Patriot Majority USA\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur c4 has been recognized by the IRS and has a very well defined, multi-year, bipartisan primary purpose, which is to work on economic solutions and encourage job creation throughout the United States,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe political work that we do is secondary to the larger economic mission of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.patriotmajority.org\/patriot-action-plan\" target=\"_blank\">Patriot Majority Action Plan<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patriot Majority USA\u2019s significant spending on elections in 2014 drew fire from political observers on both the left and right.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder current law, that is unfortunately what is allowed, so groups on both sides of the aisle do what is allowed,\u201d said Lisa Gilbert, director of consumer group Public Citizen&#8217;s Congress Watch division.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s part of the reason why we need to fight to change the rules,\u201d Gilbert continued, noting that her group has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brightlinesproject.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">supported a push<\/a> for the IRS to adopt more stringent rules on how much electoral activity such nonprofits can engage in. \u201cUntil we do so, money will flow in the directions it can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell \u2014 who vehemently disagrees with Public Citizen\u2019s call for new limits on nonprofits\u2019 political spending \u2014 also criticized Varoga\u2019s group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have an objection to an organization spending 40 percent of its money on political activities,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I do object to is the hypocrisy,\u201d she continued. \u201cDemocrats are total hypocrites on all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patriot Majority USA raised $30 million in &#8216;dark money&#8217; last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[705,706,116],"class_list":["post-102131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-money-in-politics","tag-transparency","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}