American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast

Shedding Light on Dark Money: How the Wealthy Use LLCs to Circumvent Personal Donation Limits

March 27, 2023April 24, 2024

Our Dark Money series has explored how the member stockholders of Limited Liability Corporations can use LLCs to HIDE their political donations. Now we’ll see how the wealthy use the “LLC Loophole” to circumvent a state’s personal contribution limits.

Shedding Light on Dark Money: How LLCs Hide Political Donors, Especially in State Races

March 26, 2023April 24, 2024

We continue our series on Dark Money today, focusing on Limited Liability corporations, or LLCs, commonly used for organizing small businesses. But LLCs can also be used to hide political donations from the public.

Shedding Light on Dark Money: How 501c Nonprofits are Exploited to Hide Political Donors

March 23, 2023April 24, 2024

We’re starting a series explaining Dark Money, starting with “charitable” & “social welfare” 501c3 groups. Most of these groups do great work and don’t engage in sketchy political activity. But the tax code has been exploited by Conservative and Liberal political operatives to keep YOU from seeing who is influencing elections.

It’s Worse Than You Think: Banks Spent Millions on Contributions & Lobbying to Both Parties, Just in the Last 2 Years

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023

The finance sector is by far the largest campaign contributor to federal candidates. But before you jump to any conclusions about which party is responsible for shaky bank regulations, you’ll want to listen to today’s report.

The Granddaddy of Dark Money Groups – Americans for Prosperity – Goes After Arizona’s New Dark Money Disclosure Act

March 21, 2023March 21, 2023

Remember last fall when Arizona voters approved a citizen ballot initiative requiring disclosure of donors to Dark Money groups? The granddaddy of Dark Money groups is now suing to overturn it: Americans for Prosperity.