CLC President Trevor Potter Responds to IRS Rollback of Donor Disclosure

WASHINGTON - Non-profits that engage in political activity by flooding our campaigns with secretive donor funds should not be exempt from reporting those donors to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department finalized a rule ending the long-standing requirement that nonprofits, tax exempt organizations filed as 501(c)(4)s and 501(c)(6)s under the tax code must confidentially disclose their donors to the IRS.  

Campaign Legal Center President Trevor Potter issued the following statement in response.  

"At a time when over $10 billion total is expected to be spent during this election season, the requirement that organizations (like the National Rifle Association) report their donors to the IRS was key to ensuring that the foreign-money ban on elections was enforced. Now the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are left without another tool to enforce the campaign finance laws under-girding our democracy. Voters expect and deserve more."