Friend,

News broke that a single donor made a $1.65 billion donation to a conservative nonprofit, the Marble Freedom Trust.

That's the largest-ever donation to a political advocacy organization in U.S. history.

Before we unpack this, we need to just say: No one person or group -- not Democrats, not Republicans, not independents -- should hold that much sway in our politics. This is why getting dark money out of Washington is one of Dean's top priorities - and why Dean doesn't take a dime from special interests. If you support Dean's mission of making government more honest, transparent, and fair, chip in a couple dollars to help him get re-elected this fall!

Now, let's get into the details of this insane donation and how it's (technically) legal in our current, corrupt system.

• The donor: Barre Seid, a Chicago-based businessman, made his vast wealth as president of the electronics manufacturing company Tripp Lite. After retiring, he began secretly influencing conservative, Republican political causes with massive donations (often under pseudonyms). One example: Seid was one of the major donors to the Heartland Institute, an organization dedicated to denying climate change.
   
• The group: The Marble Freedom Trust is a Utah-based dark money political group, chaired by Leonard Leo (more on him in a sec). Little is known about this group's direct influence -- because it is a trust, it isn't required by law to publicly disclose any information about its donors.
   
• The founder: Leonard Leo is one of the most powerful figures in conservative politics, overseeing a network of dark money groups (including the Marble Freedom Trust). He has had a hand in packing courts with conservative justices -- in 2016, one of his groups led the campaign to block Merrick Garland from becoming a Supreme Court justice after he was nominated by former President Barack Obama.
   
• How did this donation enable Seid to avoid paying nearly $200 million in taxes? A great question. We won't get *too* in the weeds here, but essentially, this donation was legally allowed because it wasn't just a cash gift. Seid donated all of his shares of Tripp Lite to the Marble Freedom Trust, and when Tripp Lite was sold for $1.65 billion in 2021, the nonprofit got the entire sale.
   
• What can we do about it? Now we know that conservatives have a huge cash windfall, it's on us to work harder than ever to ensure that dark money doesn't sway November's midterm elections away from the will of voters.
   
• Where Dean stands: Dark money should have no place in our politics -- it corrupts our elections, and places special interests over the interests of the people. Make a contribution to Dean's grassroots campaign today to ensure he can continue making Washington more transparent and ethical.

Thanks,