‘Dark Money’ Groups Drove Support for IRS Rule Eliminating Donor Disclosure

A proposed Trump administration rule to exempt some “dark money” groups from disclosing their donors to the Internal Revenue Service is making progress after experiencing roadblocks earlier this year. A federal judge in Montana overturned the rule in late July, ruling that the IRS must go through a notice-and-comment procedure before publishing a similar rule. By the end of the comment period on Monday, the rule received 8,319 public comments, most of which were in favor of the proposed change. Ceasing to collect that information “would give foreign interests seeking to interfere secretly in our elections a bright green light,” the Campaign Legal Center wrote in its comment. The widespread support for the rule on the public docket clashes with a November poll from the Campaign Legal Center that found that 83 percent of voters support the disclosure of contributions to organizations involved in elections.

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