According to recent Bloomberg reports, President Joe Biden’s campaign benefited from a record-breaking $145 million in so-called ‘dark money’ donations while President Trump raised $28.4 million. The public will never have a full accounting of the dark money reports, meaning anonymous donors will continue to quietly back their candidates without scrutiny.
What a surprise… https://t.co/1VB5WjrxLx
— American Conservatives (@AmConservatives) January 24, 2021
While dark money isn’t the biggest campaign cash course, any wealthy donor can write an eight-figure check to super-PACs and aren’t required to disclose contributors to the FEC. Dark money makes its way into elections and politics through politically active nonprofits such as 501(c)(4)s, as well as opaque nonprofits and shell companies who move money to super PACs. While super PACs are legally required to disclose their donors, a bulk of the funding can’t be traced back to the original donor.
Democrats have always condemned this form of fundraising and have been at the forefront of movements looking to ban dark money in politics, but not if it’s in an effort to defeat former President Donald Trump. Democrats embraced and exploited the system entirely through a streamline of political messages and online ads that were paid for with money from undisclosed sources. This strips Americans of the basic right to consider any credibility or motive behind the message.
The $145 million raised in anonymous donations surpassed the $113 million Sen. Mitt Romney raised during his 2012 presidential campaign. During his campaign, Biden used the Priorities USA Action Fund as his preferred vehicle for outside spending. $26 million in funds were backed by anonymous donors who do not have to be disclosed.
Federal Election Commission officials noted that the use of big money to influence politicians has gaping loopholes, which the Biden campaign team clearly exploited through its stream of nonprofits. Priorities USA Chairman Guy Cecil also admitted that they weren’t going to “unilaterally disarm against Trump and the right-wing forces that enabled him.”
While Democrats have denounced anonymous money mixing with politics, their party raised more than $320 million in the White House and congressional races. This made for more than double the anonymous funds that helped Republicans in last year’s federal elections. Opening the floodgates for unlimited dark money is just another way for the left to control the narrative and political outcome.
For a party that has condemned all dark money and lobbying interests in elections and politics, they sure know how to abuse the system.
