CREW

Watchdog Group Sues IRS Over Dark Money Rules

Eric Lach | February 19, 2013, 4:01PM

Former Democratic congressional candidate Dr. David Gill, in a campaign photograph.

David Gill, an emergency room physician, ran for Congress as a Democrat in Illinois' 13th District last year. Gill's platform included ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, eliminating subsidies for oil companies, defending gun rights in Congress, and reining in "profiteering" in health care. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, a dark money group called the American Action Network spent more than $1 million on negative ads opposing Gill. On Election Day, Gill lost to his opponent, Republican Rodney Davis, by .3 percent of the vote.

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Dark Money

Privatization Group Tied To California Dark Money Millions

Eric Lach | February 6, 2013, 6:05AM

California Gov. Jerry Brown with local politicians and school administrators, held a rally in support of Prop 30.

An engineering trade organization that advocates for privatizing government work has been tied to the group behind the $11 million dark money donation that prompted a legal showdown in California last fall.

The $400,000 that can now be traced back to a group called the American Council of Engineering Companies in California (ACEC-CA) may not be the biggest of disclosures, but when it comes to dark money in politics, any transparency at all is a revelation.

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