Dark Money and Foreign Interference in Elections

In a decision made by the Supreme Court in 2010, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, overturning campaign finance protections, they made it legal for Political Action Committees (PACs) which spend money on political advertising to hide the names of the donors who provided those funds. Since the public is therefore in the dark as to who is really paying for the political advertising the term dark money was coined. In many cases people donate funds to one organization which must provide the names of its donors then that organization donates the bulk of its funds to another organization that doesn’t have to reveal the names of its donors. If this sounds like money laundering that’s because after a fashion it is, though it’s legal.

When interpreting a message most of us will consider not only what is said but also who is saying it. If a known liar makes a bold claim the average listener will consider that claim with a large helping of salt. The same is true for political advertising most of us want to know who is making the claims in the ad in order to better judge whether or not to believe the claims.

The most recently appointed Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, was supported by $10 million of dark money pushing for him. Given that it is a lifetime appointment doesn’t is seem appropriate that the American public know who was promoting him and in order to provide guidance on how legitimate the claims made about him might be?

If China had donated $5 million to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or Iran had donated $3 million to an Islamic mosque in Houston which was then used that money to support Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency I’m quite certain that Republicans in congress and everywhere else would have jumped all over it. The National Rifle Association spent $30 million in support of the Trump campaign. It has come to light that Russia may have donated millions of dollars to the National Rifle Association at that time. Hardly a word is being said about it by Republicans.

There are laws in place prohibiting foreign governments and their citizens from funding political advertising or campaigns but when “dark money” is allowed how do we truly know whether or not those laws are being followed.

Dark money isn’t just a problem in presidential campaigns, there aren’t any prohibitions on it in state campaigns either. Numerous state legislature races have been impacted by dark money in recent years. State Representative Charlie Geren twice filed bills that would have prohibited such anonymous funding of campaign advertising but Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t gotten behind the bills so Texas legislature has failed to pass them. Isn’t it well past time that the public get the opportunity to judge political ad claims by who is paying the bills for those ads?

Published in the Seguin Gazette March 9, 2018