secret money
November 1, 2018 -
Spending in this year's elections — including key races across the South — has smashed records. If it results in Democrats winning control of the U.S. House, they say their first task will be campaign finance reform legislation.
October 11, 2018 -
The same secret-money group that pushed the U.S Senate to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh is dominating spending in judicial elections in Arkansas and elsewhere in the South. In some states, justices are looking to be re-elected with the help of campaign cash from corporations and law firms that have business before the courts.
July 20, 2018 -
With President Trump nominating a judge with a record of hostility to voting rights to the U.S. Supreme Court, state courts and constitutions are likely to play an increasingly critical role in protecting those rights — but those institutions are under political assault by conservatives.
May 18, 2018 -
An Arkansas judge blocked an election ad by the conservative Judicial Crisis Network attacking a state Supreme Court judge, citing libel concerns. If the group, which spends millions to influence state and federal courts, appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, its spending would present an ethical dilemma for Justice Neil Gorsuch.
February 14, 2018 -
The news that North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest solicited millions of dollars from a Durham businessman for supposedly "independent" political groups highlights loopholes in state campaign finance law that need to be closed.
February 17, 2017 -
President Trump has called for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which bars churches and other nonprofits from partisan political activity. While some conservative evangelicals claim the policy limits their free speech rights, repealing it would lead to more secret money flooding into elections.
June 17, 2016 -
A watchdog group has filed complaints against 10 "social welfare" nonprofits for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws. Six of the nonprofits are also targets of a criminal complaint submitted to the FBI and Justice Department accusing them of lying to the IRS. Several are part of the Koch brothers' conservative spending machine.
