Freedomworks Shuffles Money through 501c4 to Shield Super PAC Donors

More indispensable research from the Center for Responsive Politics:

Whereas the original FreedomWorks PAC was hampered by strict limits on how much it could receive and disburse, and the two parent organizations had restrictions on how much political activity they could engage in, many fewer strings were attached to the super PAC.

Furthermore, FreedomWorks could help support the new arrival, and it did — in a big way. In fact, FreedomWorks, the 501(c)(4), has given the super PAC $1.4 million — nearly half of the $3 million that FreedomWorks for America had raised through Jan. 31. That’s much more than any other 501(c)(4) nonprofit has given to a super PAC during this election cycle, and makes FreedomWorks by far the largest donor to FreedomWorks for America.

That strikes many critics of the looser campaign finance rules as problematic. Super PACs, despite being able to take any amount of money from practically any source, remain bound to reveal the identities of their contributors. But when the largest donor to such a group is an entity that itself doesn’t have to name its donors publicly — and neither FreedomWorks’ (c)(4) nor its foundation are legally obligated to do so — the super PAC disclosure requirement becomes far less meaningful.

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