John -
Americans for Job Security, one of the top five dark money groups during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, is about to disclose their donors, thanks to the long-awaited resolution of an FEC complaint filed by CREW more than 7 years ago.
This is a big deal. This is the first time since the 2010 Citizens United ruling that a dark money group has been required to disclose their donors and expenditures. Basically, because the FEC found that more than half of their spending is on politics, they are required to register as a political committee and follow campaign finance law. For more about this groundbreaking development, read CREW’s new post.
After filing the initial FEC complaint in early 2012, CREW had to sue the FEC three times in order to force them to act. Ultimately, a district court and the FEC agreed with CREW’s initial analysis of AJS’ role, setting a new precedent that could require more transparency in the future.
The fact that it has taken so many years, and required several lawsuits, in order to force disclosure that should already have happened, illustrates exactly how broken our campaign finance system is.
At CREW, we have always been focused on eliminating dark money and its corrosive influence on politics. Long before Washington was embroiled in the constant ethics scandals of the Trump era, we were fighting for campaign finance reform and against dark money, and we will continue to fight these battles as long as they remain. This decision is a win for disclosure and transparency, but it highlights exactly how much work remains.
Thank you,
Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW
