Money in Politics

Trees of Liberty, a dark money non-profit financed and operated by the Koch political network, broke the law in helping Joni Ernst win her primary election in 2014, according to a complaint filed today with the IRS by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) and CREW.

After failing to disclose $33.5 million in political activity from 2008 to 2013, the NRA failed to disclose another $25 million in political spending to the IRS in 2014, according to a supplemented complaint filed by CREW today. 

Right to Rise USA, the main super PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal donations, constituting multiple law violations, according to a complaint filed today by CREW.

CREW filed a complaint with the District Attorney's office for the District of Columbia to investigate whether  Reed, Berman,  Canfield, officers, vendors, and/or consultants for CHGO violated federal law by making false statements to the FEC and the IRS and by obstructing an FEC investigation

CREW filed a supplement today to its IRS complaint against the Conservative Solutions Project (CSP), shining a light on even more evidence that the so-called “social welfare” organization is in fact illegally operating to primarily benefit Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign. 

CREW submitted comments with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) urging the Commission to take strong action to increase transparency and reduce the opportunities for money to influence politics.

In order to fight a new form of dark money organization, CREW today filed complaints against political groups posing as non-profit social welfare organizations but existing only to benefit the presidential campaign of Marco Rubio and the senate campaign of Thom Tillis.

CREW today filed a complaint with the IRS urging the agency to investigate a secretive Michigan political organization called Michigan Advocacy Trust (MAT) for spending millions of dollars on political ads without disclosing its donors. 

CREW today called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate whether former U.S. Senator Scott Brown violated the law by failing to disclose his financial interest in AdvoCare nutritional products when he endorsed them on Facebook and in other communications to his supporters.