IRS Lets Dark Money Groups Hide Their Donors From the Public

Despite what some supporters of the rule change have argued, the IRS’s decision will not have neutral effects, but rather will bolster wealthy donors in their quest to covertly buy their preferred policies and, in the case of Brett Kavanaugh, judicial appointees. The IRS decided in July that it would no longer require most non-charitable tax-exempt organizations to disclose the names and addresses of major donors in annual filings. The new rule will affect Planned Parenthood and the National Rifle Association alike. The IRS’s recent rule change affects politically active nonprofits. Prior to the rule change, the most these organizations had to do was report to the IRS who was giving them more than $5,000—that information was never public. In fact, public transparency in political spending had already been on a decade-long decline.

The Kochs and the NRA also have been pouring resources into seating Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who Demos and the Campaign Legal Center warn could gut disclosure laws for good, and who many advocates argue will threaten Roe v. Wade.