dark money

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.

January 16, 2015 - With the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision lifting political spending restrictions coming up on Jan. 21, the Brennan Center for Justice released a report this week looking at outside spending and dark money in last year's U.S. Senate races -- and it paints a frightening for democracy.

January 6, 2015 - The IRS faces a number of hurdles before its new regulations for social welfare nonprofits can be finalized, including potential opposition from Congress.

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?

May 23, 2014 - The agency has postponed indefinitely a hearing on new regulations for social welfare nonprofits that have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars from anonymous donors into elections.

March 27, 2014 - The Renew North Carolina Foundation, a political nonprofit supporting the agenda of Gov. Pat McCrory, doesn't have to disclose its donors. But thanks to a shareholder push for transparency, we now know that tobacco giant Reynolds American donated $50,000 to the group last year.

March 13, 2014 - Every once in a while, a little light makes its way into the secret world of dark money politics, offering an illuminating glimpse into the way companies and big donors attempt to gain -- and conceal -- their influence.