MapLight: In 1939, the Internal Revenue Service granted tax-exempt status to a group that had been active in New York City politics for years. The agency determined that The Citizens Union of the City of New York earned its… Continue reading

Kathleen Donovan-Maher and Steven Groopman have written this NYT oped.

Tucson Sentinel: Arizona is already poised to relax rules regarding so-called “dark money” groups starting next year, but a last-minute amendment from the state Senate could make the changes go into effect in less than a month. The proposal… Continue reading

Must-read from Fredreka Schouten and Mary Troyan USA Today: The Alabama political scandal that has cost the state’s governor his marriage and now threatens his job has thrust politicians’ growing use of often-secretly funded nonprofits into the spotlight. Gov.… Continue reading

AP: Montana attorneys on Tuesday defended the state’s new campaign finance disclosure law against a gun-rights organization that wants parts of it struck down before next month’s primary elections. The Virginia-based National Association for Gun Rights claims the law… Continue reading

NYT editorial: It is plainly illegal for foreigners to contribute to American political campaigns. But reform groups are warning that the ban would be gravely undermined by a little-noticed bill advanced Thursday by Republicans on the House Ways and Means… Continue reading

Paul Blumenthal for HuffPo.

Center for Responsive Politics: Today we’re officially launching our newly redesigned Dark Money section,DarkMoney.org, tracking the activities of politically active nonprofits that don’t disclose their wealthy corporate and individual donors to the voters they seek to influence. This… Continue reading

The Intercept reports.

Release: In a letter sent today, reform groups urged members of the House Ways and Means Committee to vote against Rep. Peter Roskam’s bill to eliminate the current requirement for 501(c) groups to make non-public disclosure of their donors… Continue reading

Brendan Fischer for CLC.

See this statement from the Bright Lines project.

The latest from Alabama.

Fredreka Schouten for USA Today: Two groups focused on keeping the Senate in Republican control collected nearly $17 million during the first three months of this year, according to figures first provided to USA TODAY. In all, the groups —… Continue reading