501c3s

November 30, 2016 - Gregg Phillips of Texas, a former Republican Party official turned conservative activist, sits on the board of True the Vote, a tea party-connected poll monitoring group that peddles exaggerated claims of voter fraud while pressing for restrictive voting laws.

July 8, 2016 - A charitable nonprofit is paying for TV and web ads that urge Attorney General Roy Cooper — a Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Pat McCrory for governor — to defend the state's controversial HB2, which he's called unconstitutional. How does a charity get away with what looks like political advertising?

March 12, 2015 - Independent political groups unaffiliated with campaigns spent more than $10 million in North Carolina's 2014 state-level elections, nearly tripling the amount spent on legislative races two years earlier. While Republicans enjoyed a slight edge in support, Democrats are catching up.

December 19, 2014 - 501(c)(3) nonprofits are not supposed to get involved in supporting or opposing political candidates -- yet such groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads criticizing specific candidates during the North Carolina election this year. Are they breaking the law or just pushing it to its limits?

December 6, 2013 - The American Legislative Exchange Council lost members and money after the 2011 shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his assailant under the state's Stand Your Ground law, which the corporate interest advocacy group helped craft and promote nationwide.

November 14, 2013 - The State Policy Network -- a national alliance of right-wing think tanks funded by businessmen including the Kochs of Koch Industries, the Waltons of Wal-Mart, and Art Pope of Variety Stores -- is driving a corporate agenda in state legislatures. So why they aren't reporting their lobbying activities?