{"id":1999733,"date":"2023-08-14T05:04:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T09:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-favorite-super-pac-used-illegal-scheme-to-conceal-its-donors-experts-say\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T05:07:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T09:07:02","slug":"bidens-favorite-super-pac-used-illegal-scheme-to-conceal-its-donors-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-favorite-super-pac-used-illegal-scheme-to-conceal-its-donors-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts claim Biden&#8217;s preferred Super PAC employed an illegal strategy to hide donor identities."},"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\">28<\/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%2Fbidens-favorite-super-pac-used-illegal-scheme-to-conceal-its-donors-experts-say%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=1999733&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>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Biden just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-favorite-super-pac-used-illegal-scheme-to-conceal-its-donors-experts-say\/\" title=\"Experts claim Biden's preferred Super PAC employed an illegal strategy to hide donor identities.\">months ago condemned \u200bdark money<\/a>\u2063 as a threat to democracy<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure>\n  <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>President Joe Biden last year \u200dcondemned so-called dark \u2062money as a &#8220;serious problem facing our democracy.&#8221; \u200dNow, the unpopular Democrat is \u200dembracing\u2064 a super PAC that experts say used an illegal scheme to conceal its donors.<\/p>\n<p>The group, Future Forward, is\u2062 led by former Obama campaign officials\u200b and has earned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/07\/14\/us\/politics\/biden-future-forward-super-pac.html\">endorsements<\/a> from Bidenworld as\u2062 the &#8220;pre-eminent super PAC&#8221; supporting the president&#8217;s reelection bid. Central\u200d to Future Forward&#8217;s success is its ability to raise massive\u2062 sums of money\u2014nearly $400 million in the past five years\u2014to run ads \u2063boosting Biden and other Democrats\u200b in battleground states. But\u200b the tactics Future Forward used to anonymously \u2064raise much \u2064of \u200bthat money could lead to its downfall, legal experts\u200d told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden-endorsed super PAC\u2019s \u2062largest\u200d donor is its affiliated dark money group, \u2064Future\u2062 Forward USA Action, which as \u2062a nonprofit is not required to publicly disclose its donors. \u200dShould a donor\u2064 direct the nonprofit to transfer their donation to Future Forward, however, the super\u200b PAC must reveal the donor&#8217;s identity in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tom-malinowski-sidesteps-his-self-imposed-corporate-pac-ban\/\" title=\"Tom Malinowski Sidesteps His Self-Imposed Corporate PAC Ban\">federal campaign finance disclosures<\/a>. Future Forward USA Action in its 2021 tax filings <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/organizations\/824170762\/202203279349300615\/full\">acknowledged<\/a> that it &#8220;promptly and directly delivered&#8221; $3.4 million in \u200bdonations to Future \u2062Forward\u2014a designation that would require the super PAC to \u2064reveal donor identities, according to former Federal Election Commission chairman Bradley Smith. However, Future Forward declined\u200b to disclose who contributed the cash.<\/p>\n<p>For Republican election lawyer Charlie Spies, Future Forward&#8217;s failure to disclose donors who\u200b routed money through the dark money affiliate is \u200da violation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-nevada-a-corrupt-cash-for-votes-scheme-is-hiding-in-plain-sight\/\" title=\"In Nevada, A Corrupt Cash-For-Votes Scheme Is Hiding In Plain Sight\">federal election law<\/a>. Spies noted that \u200bsimilar schemes have\u2063 led to federal charges and &#8220;major fines.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Future Forward USA Action admitted to making over $3 million in earmarked political contributions, where they apparently obscured \u200cthe true super PAC \u200cdonor&#8217;s identity by routing \u200dthe money through the nonprofit,&#8221; Spies told the \u200c <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;The U.S. DOJ has sent people to prison for this sort of illegal activity, and the FEC has imposed major fines on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-groups-slam-blatant-politicization-of-doj-over-fbi-raid-of-mar-a-lago\/\" title=\"Conservative Groups Slam \u2018Blatant Politicization\u2019 of DOJ Over FBI Raid of Mar-a-Lago\">conservative organizations accused<\/a> of less blatant \u200cearmarking.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s embrace of\u200c Future Forward \u200bcomes less than a year after he endorsed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.senate.gov\/news\/release\/whitehouse-cicilline-reintroduce-disclose-act-to-end-corrupting-influence-of-dark-money-in-american-democracy\">bill<\/a> from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) that promised to end the &#8220;scourge of dark money&#8221; corrupting American democracy. Biden told reporters in September that dark money, which consists of political \u2063contributions that cannot be \u2063traced to a donor,\u2064 &#8220;erodes public trust&#8221; and should be\u200b outlawed. The Senate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/news\/2022\/09\/with-deadlocked-vote-on-dark-money-disclose-act-fails-to-clear-senate\/\">deadlocked<\/a> 49-49 on the bill shortly after Biden\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2024\/president\/us\/general-election-trump-vs-biden-7383.html\">polls<\/a> show Biden in a statistical tie in a 2024 rematch against former President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign \u200dis suggesting the president could soon headline fundraisers for Future Forward. Biden campaign manager Jennifer O\u2019Malley Dillon in July called Future Forward\u2019s\u2063 work &#8220;critical&#8221; to the president\u2019s 2020 victory and said the super\u200c PAC would &#8220;again \u2063play a key role&#8221; supporting \u200bhis 2024 bid.<\/p>\n<p>Future Forward&#8217;s latest FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/pdf\/411\/202307319588929411\/202307319588929411.pdf\">filing<\/a>, meanwhile, suggests the super PAC has continued to use its\u200b dark money affiliate as\u2064 a vehicle to obscure its donors from \u200bthe public. The super PAC in public filings claims it raised just $67,000 in the first half of 2023. But weeks earlier, it told the <em>New York Times<\/em> it had raised $50 million during that time, indicating that the overwhelming majority of those funds flowed through Future Forward USA Action. The super PAC&#8217;s dark money affiliate does not have to report its 2023 finances to the IRS until after the \u20642024 \u2063election.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It looks like Biden&#8217;s preferred Future Forward super \u2062PAC is violating the FEC&#8217;s donor\u200d disclosure laws by laundering dark money donations through its related Future Forward USA Action \u2062nonprofit,&#8221; \u2062Paul Kamenar, counsel to the National Legal \u200dand Policy Center watchdog group, told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2063 White House did not \u2063return a request\u200c for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice has a history of prosecuting political activists for using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-hawley-files-counter-complaint-against-senate-dems\/\" title=\"Sen. Hawley files counter-complaint against Senate Dems\">dark money groups<\/a> to\u200b launder funds to super PACs. Federal authorities sentenced Joseph Fuentes-Fernandez, the leader of a Puerto Rico-based super PAC, to\u200c 14\u2063 months\u2062 in prison in 2022 for laundering political contributions to the entity through two affiliated nonprofits.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The purpose \u200dof \u2062routing these \u2064donor funds through the nonprofit entities was exclusively to conceal the true identities of the donors,&#8221; the\u200d Department of \u2062Justice said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/president-and-treasurer-super-pac-sentenced-dark-money-scheme\">statement<\/a> announcing the sentence. &#8220;Fuentes \u200b\u2026 deprived the people of \u2062the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the FEC \u200dof information about the true source of hundreds of thousands of\u2063 dollars flowing into Puerto \u2064Rico\u2019s political system.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Years earlier, in 2017,\u2062 the FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/legacy\/2017\/11\/ACU-Now-or-Never-PAC-letter-and-conciliation-agreement-11-3-17-2.pdf\">imposed<\/a> a $350,000 fine on nonprofit American Conservative Union for acting \u200cas a &#8220;pass through&#8221; to conceal the source \u200bof a $1.71 million super PAC contribution.<\/p>\n<p>Future Forward did not return a\u200d request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biden, who previously criticized dark money&#8217;s impact on democracy, is now supporting a super PAC called Future Forward. However, experts claim this group employed an unlawful strategy to hide its contributors. Despite being an unpopular Democrat, Biden&#8217;s endorsement raises concerns about his stance on campaign finance transparency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":1999734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1999733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999733","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\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1999734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}