GOP strategist Karl Rove’s dark money tax return specified grants would be used for social welfare but most went to political activities.
On its 2012 tax return, GOP strategist Karl Rove’s dark money behemoth Crossroads GPS justified its status as a tax-exempt social welfare group in part by citing its grants of $35 million to other similarly aligned nonprofits. (Here’s the
America Is Not Stupid and A Better America Now applied for IRS recognition, swearing to not spend on 2012 elections yet put thousands into campaigns.
Smart move? The IRS has granted nonprofit status to America Is Not Stupid – a so-called dark money group best known for a 2012 election ad featuring a talking baby who compared the smell of his diaper with a Montana senator. As ProPublica
Montana is known for its big skies, jagged mountains and open roads. Not so much for people. Yet as much as $40 million is being spent to tell the state's 675,000 registered voters who to pick as senator: incumbent Democrat Jon Tester or Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg. That's almost $60 for every potential voter. Much of the TV ad spending
By Kim Barker, ProPublica, and Rick Young and Emma Schwartz, Frontline This story is being co-published with Frontline, which is also airing a
By Kim Barker, ProPublica, and Rick Young and Emma Schwartz, Frontline The boxes landed in the office of Montana investigators in March 2011. Found in a meth house in Colorado, they were somewhat of a mystery, holding files on 23 conservative candidates in state races in Montana. They were filled with candidate surveys and mailers that said
By Kim Barker, ProPublica, and Emma Schwartz, Frontline A western nonprofit that played a key role in freeing corporate spending on elections nationwide appears to have misled the IRS when it applied for the tax-exempt status that shields its donors from being publicly disclosed. Documents obtained by ProPublica and Frontline show that
By Kim Barker and Justin Elliott Dark money groups flooded Albuquerque’s airwaves in August, aiming to sway a hotly contested U.S. Senate race by making more than half the political ad buys on top TV stations. That fact, gleaned through a review of TV station political ad records now available in our
