[EL] An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct

[Jeff Hauser]

Michael Cohen has been alleged by the Wall Street Journal to create an LLC
to pay off an actress aleged to have an affair with Trump:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-used-private-company-pseudonyms-to-pay-porn-star-stormy-daniels-1516315731?utm_source=The+Point+with+Chris+Cillizza+Alerts&utm_campaign=d827904afa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ada7c7ac0a-d827904afa-83775533

If Russians created shell companies in Delaware to give money to the NRA,
all the IRS would see is "Delaware LLC."

(the NRA would presumably make inquiries about any unexpected
contributions, and I doubt they lack information on who is giving them big
money)

On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 11:59 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> Has the NRA issued any public statements denying the receipt of money from
> Russian government sources/sources allied with Russian government which
> were used by its c4 for election-related activity?
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *Sean Parnell <sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org>
> *Date: *Friday, January 19, 2018 at 8:55 AM
> *To: *Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>, Election Law Listserv <
> law-election at uci.edu>
> *Subject: *re: An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about
> Russian money going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct
>
>
>
> I wanted to clear up what some might mistakenly infer from the piece by
> Ciara Torres-Spelliscy linked to below concerning the latest speculation
> regarding foreign money, Donald Trump, and those pesky Russians (hold on a
> sec, it appears the 1980’s are calling and wish to talk to me about
> something). She writes:
>
> *For many years now, good-government groups and campaign finance experts
> have warned that illegal foreign funds could be hiding in that dark money.*
>
> *That’s because, in federal races, political spenders that go dark are
> exploiting a loophole between the campaign finance system overseen by the
> FEC, which typically insists on that all donors to campaigns identify
> themselves, and charities the Internal Revenue Service allows to collect
> funds donated anonymously.*
>
> Three things:
>
>    1. The National Rifle Association is not a “charity,” at least as
>    defined by the IRS. It’s a 501c4 “social welfare” organization (it does
>    have an associated foundation, which is a 501c3, but I don’t believe it’s
>    alleged that this entity was funding any political ads, let alone
>    Russian-funded ads).
>    2. While the NRA and other 501c organizations do not reveal donors to
>    the public, they do reveal them to the IRS (or at least are required to) on
>    Schedule B. Presumably, if there is a concern that the NRA took in millions
>    of dollars from Russian sources (whether state or “private” to the extent
>    there’s any distinction in Russia), it should be relatively easy for the
>    FBI to get the information from the IRS (I’m not sure if it requires a
>    subpoena or not in this particular instance, but law enforcement is able to
>    get confidential tax records). I’d guess that someone at the NRA handed a
>    few million dollars by a Putin pal would have realized this and handed it
>    back, if such a highly-speculative transaction occurred, but then there are
>    some imprudent people out there so who knows?
>    3. Anonymous contributions to charities are hardly a “loophole,” it is
>    in fact a practice with a long and deeply ingrained history in
>    philanthropy, praised in the Gospel of Matthew 6:1 – 6:4 and also by Seneca
>    the Younger, among others. I’ve written an overview of anonymous charitable
>    giving, published last year, if anyone is interested: http://www.
>    philanthropyroundtable.org/file_uploads/Protecting_Donor_Privacy.pdf
>    <http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/file_uploads/Protecting_Donor_Privacy.pdf>
>
> Best,
>
> Sean Parnell
>
> Vice President of Public Policy, The Philanthropy Roundtable
>
> 1120 20th Street NW, Suite 550 South
>
> Washington, DC  20036
>
> (202) 600-7883 (direct)
>
> (571) 289-1374 (mobile)
>
> sparnell at philanthropyroundtable.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *“An insidious foreign dark money threat: New reports about Russian money
> going to the NRA could prove watchdogs’ fears correct”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96992>*
>
> Posted on January 19, 2018 7:16 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96992>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
> <http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/insidious-foreign-dark-money-threat-article-1.3765048> NYDN
> oped.
>
> [image: are]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D96992&title=%E2%80%9CAn%20insidious%20foreign%20dark%20money%20threat%3A%20New%20reports%20about%20Russian%20money%20going%20to%20the%20NRA%20could%20prove%20watchdogs%E2%80%99%20fears%20correct%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>
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