Back in 2021, we filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Turning Point Action, a dark money group run by conservative activist Charlie Kirk, for apparent violations of campaign finance law.

Today, we got great news from the FEC: it’s slapping Turning Point Action with an $18,000 fine.

In our complaint, we alleged that because the group solicited money it said it would spend supporting Donald Trump’s reelection and Joe Biden’s defeat in the 2020 election, it was required to disclose its donors.

But Turning Point Action solicited money to influence the election, then made more than $1.4 million in independent expenditures in 2020—and failed to disclose any of its donors. The FEC just affirmed that that’s not ok.

Today’s win builds on a previous CREW litigation victory, which restored a rule that donors of contributions over $200 must be disclosed if they were given or solicited for the purpose of influencing a federal election.

This fine imposed by the FEC should deter dark money groups from illegally hiding their funders in the future.

As the three year timeline on this complaint shows, these kinds of wins take time. Our campaign finance system is far too permissive, but CREW’s work filing these kinds of complaints is sending a message that money in politics will not go unchecked.

If you support CREW’s tenacious fight for accountability for campaign finance violations, please consider making a recurring donation to support this work over the long haul →

Thank you for your support,

Adam Rappaport
General Counsel
CREW