Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed an IRS complaint on Wednesday against an organization that spent over a million dollars in support of Republican T.W. Shannon’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
Chris Casteel reports for The Oklahoman that CREW charged Oklahomans for a Conservative Future misrepresented itself under the tax code because it called itself a social welfare organization while working as a political organization.
The organization spent at least $1.4 million on Shannons’s 2014 campaign through advertising and direct mail.
As a 501(c)(4), the group was obligated to spend at least as much on social welfare causes as political activity. However, in its tax 2014 return, it conceded that it had spent more money on political activity.
The group has since changed its name to Heartland Principles. It is a so-called "dark money" group because it spends money on political races without disclosing its donors.
Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the group filing the complaint, said Oklahomans for a Conservative Future "demonstrated a clear disregard for the law. “If the government does not act, it will send a signal to dark money groups that no laws or limits apply to them and it is open season for secret money in our elections.”
Shannon, who served as Oklahoma Speaker of the House, lost the GOP primary race to then-U.S. Rep. James Lankford, who went on to win the election to the Senate.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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