{"id":1587649,"date":"2022-08-03T18:25:13","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T22:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1587649"},"modified":"2022-08-03T18:25:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T22:25:19","slug":"left-wing-dark-money-groups-boost-dem-candidate-who-pledged-to-fight-dark-money-records-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/left-wing-dark-money-groups-boost-dem-candidate-who-pledged-to-fight-dark-money-records-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-Wing Dark Money Groups Boost Dem Candidate Who Pledged To Fight Dark Money, Records Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fleft-wing-dark-money-groups-boost-dem-candidate-who-pledged-to-fight-dark-money-records-show%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1587649&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1228234126-scaled-e1659535666558.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A Democratic Wisconsin Senate candidate who has railed against \u201cdark money\u201d in politics is being supported by a left-wing dark money network, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.<\/p>\n<p>Mandela Barnes, whose top Senate primary opponents <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/3582917-barnes-raises-1-1m-in-wisconsin-senate-primary-as-other-democrats-drop-out\/\">dropped<\/a> out of the race in July, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOtherMandela\/status\/1494492940684734467\">said<\/a> in February \u201cDark money has no place in democracy\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/mandelabarnes.com\/priorities\/democracy\/\">pledges<\/a> on his website \u201cto stand up to the corrupting influence of dark money.\u201d At the same time, Barnes was <a href=\"https:\/\/communityjournal.net\/family-friendly-action-pac-endorses-lieutenant-governor-mandela-barnes-in-u-s-senate-race-in-wisconsin\/\">endorsed<\/a> Monday by the Family Friendly Action PAC \u2014 which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/27\/family-friendly-pac-23-million-suburban-women-00048048\">dumping<\/a> millions in his race to unseat Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and is largely funded by the dark money groups Sixteen Thirty Fund and America Votes, according to FEC filings.<\/p>\n<p>Nonprofits with 501(c)(4) IRS exempt status are often referred to as \u201cdark money\u201d groups because they are under no legal obligation to disclose donors and can funnel unlimited sums to super PACs, according to OpenSecrets.\u00a0Super PACs have to disclose their donors but can be \u201ceffectively dark money groups when the bulk of their funding cannot be traced back to the original donor,\u201d according to OpenSecrets.<\/p>\n<p>Sixteen Thirty Fund, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/11\/17\/dark-money-sixteen-thirty-fund-522781\">according<\/a> to Politico is the \u201cliberal dark money behemoth,\u201d has donated $585,000 to Family Friendly Action PAC since September 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00744920&#038;contributor_name=sixteen+thirty+fund\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filings<\/a> show.<\/p>\n<p>America Votes gave the Family Friendly PAC more than $16 million since September 2020, FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00744920&#038;contributor_name=America+Votes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filings<\/a> show. America Votes, <a href=\"https:\/\/americavotes.org\/about\/\">which<\/a> is a \u201ccoordination hub of the progressive community\u201d and has over 400 national and state partners to increase voter turnout, reportedly received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/07\/george-soros-democratic-convention-226267\">millions<\/a> from left-wing billionaire George Soros in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis issue of dark money, of course, is a broad problem across the political spectrum and influences organizations with both right and left leanings,\u201d Laurie Styron, executive director of Charity Watch, a group probing nonprofit ethics, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/06\/30\/tim-ryan-john-fetterman-mandela-barnes-silent-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-aoc-endorsements\/\"><strong>(RELATED: Rust Belt Democrats Silent On Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Endorsements)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The dark money donations from America Votes and Sixteen Thirty Fund were first <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/elections\/hedge-fund-heir-drops-out-of-wisconsin-dem-senate-primary-paving-way-for-far-left-mandela-barnes\/\">reported<\/a> by the Free Beacon.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Dark money has no place in democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mandela Barnes (@TheOtherMandela) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOtherMandela\/status\/1494492940684734467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 18, 2022<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sixteen Thirty Fund notably granted America Votes almost $129 million in 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/f\/?id=0000017d-2e2b-df97-a9ff-be7fdd190000\">according<\/a> to Sixteen Thirty Fund\u2019s federal form 990 filing. Sixteen Thirty Fund spent more than $400 million to unseat former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election and flip the Senate blue, according to Politico.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully we can all agree in principle that the public has a right to know who is funding politics in our country so we have adequate information with which to understand any biases influencing the messaging we collectively consume and any conflicts of interest that may be present,\u201d Styron also said.<\/p>\n<p>Family Friendly Action PAC will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/27\/family-friendly-pac-23-million-suburban-women-00048048\">spend<\/a> $5 million on canvassing for the Democratic Senate nominee in Wisconsin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/27\/family-friendly-pac-23-million-suburban-women-00048048\">Politico<\/a> reported. The primary is slated for Aug. 9 and several Democratic candidates viewed as competitive, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/politics\/2022\/07\/27\/alex-lasry-drops-out-of-u-s--senate-race--throws-support-to-barnes\">including<\/a> Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, have dropped out of the race, clearing the path for Barnes to win the primary, <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/3582917-barnes-raises-1-1m-in-wisconsin-senate-primary-as-other-democrats-drop-out\/\">according<\/a> to The Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Barnes led his primary opponents in a June Marquette Law School poll, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marquette.edu\/news-center\/2022\/new-marquette-law-poll-survey-finds-lose-races-in-senate-and-governor-primaries.php\">receiving<\/a> the support of 25% of voters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHypocrite Mandela Barnes claims to stand up against the corrupting influence of dark money while pocketing every dark money dime he can get,\u201d a spokesman for Johnson\u2019s campaign told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Barnes\u2019 campaign did not respond to a request for comment, nor did spokespeople for the Family Friendly Action PAC, America Votes or Sixteen Thirty Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Democratic Wisconsin Senate candidate who has railed against \u201cdark money\u201d in politics is being supported by a left-wing dark money network, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.Mandela Barnes, whose<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1587649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1587649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1587649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1587649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1587649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1587649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1587649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}