By Josh Gerstein and Maggie Severns | POLITICO
A Supreme Court action Tuesday struck a blow to a conservative group’s effort to shield its donors and could lead to more disclosure of who funds so-called dark money groups.
The court’s unexpected action quickly set off a scramble among Washington operatives to change the way political nonprofits raise and disclose millions of dollars being spent on the midterm elections. The ruling invalidates, at least temporarily, a decades-old regulation that allows dark money groups to shield their donors.
“People are scrambling this afternoon. They’re saying, ‘We thought this was a problem for the next election,'” said Brett Kappel, partner at Akerman LLP. And for political nonprofits, “you’ll have to change the way you solicit funds.”
The decision Tuesday relates to a Federal Election Commission regulation that said independent political groups only had to name donors when their gifts were linked to specific sets of TV ads or mailers. A federal judge last month struck down that rule.
