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Dear Transparency Advocate,

Since the 2010 Citizens United decision, so-called ‘dark money’ groups have spent around $1 billion attempting to influence your vote and policies that impact your life. With the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Republicans committed to quickly filling her vacant seat on the Supreme Court, that sum is expected to increase substantially in the coming weeks as dark money groups like Judicial Crisis Network and Demand Justice flood the internet with ads supporting or opposing the nominee. ([link removed]) And these millions spent on political ads are less transparent than ever before.

Dark money groups have spent $182 million on ads this cycle, but there is a growing disparity between the spending that’s been disclosed and the totals actually being spent. Less than a fourth of it has been reported to the FEC.

How does this happen? It's not right — but it is legal.

Take 501(c)(4) nonprofits, which are permitted to be highly politically active — and raise unlimited funds from secret donors. Their issue ad spending is not required to be disclosed to the FEC outside of a short window before Election Day. And they can give even more to political groups spending on elections. We’ve seen a record amount of contributions from opaque sources in the 2020 election with super PACs and other outside groups taking more than $200 million in dark money.

That’s a gut punch for transparency. When voters are barraged by ads this fall they’ll be given even less information about who’s paying for them.

The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) is doing everything in its power to fight back, tracking spending by these groups through OpenSecrets' resources on
dark money. ([link removed]) This section provides insight into who is targeting voters with political messages paid for with funding from wealthy funders. Here, you can find useful information including:
* Dark Money.org ([link removed])
* Dark Money Basics ([link removed])
* Dark Money Process ([link removed])
* Top Non-disclosing Spenders ([link removed])

Your contributions to OpenSecrets — helping us track dark money and ensure transparency — are critical. This comprehensive, public interest data allows anyone to uncover the (nominally) “independent” outside groups attempting to influence their vote. If you haven’t already, please help support this important resource by donating today.
Yes, I'll support tracking dark money ([link removed])
With gratitude,

Sheila Krumholz
Executive Director
Center for Responsive Politics

P.S. OpenSecrets’ new Online Ads database helps expose who is behind the widespread disinformation saturating social media. Check it out here. ([link removed])
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