Schumer-linked PAC received $81M from ‘dark money’ group while criticizing special interests.
Affiliated Super PAC Rakes in Millions from Secret Donors, Undermining Schumer’s Stance on Dark Money
A super PAC associated with Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has generated substantial funds from a liberal advocacy group supported by undisclosed contributors, despite the Senate majority leader’s vocal opposition to ”dark money” and special interests, according to records.
Schumer has consistently criticized campaign finance laws that allow anonymous-backed organizations to spend large amounts on elections, condemning the “dark money interests fueling today’s GOP.” However, the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC accepted over $81 million from Majority Forward, a dark money nonprofit group that supported Democratic candidates and funded shadowy pop-up super PACs in the previous election cycle, as revealed in campaign finance disclosures.
Undermining Schumer’s Vows
These significant cash transfers appear to contradict Schumer’s promises to combat dark money, which he has described as a “cancer” that obscures the identities of those “spending billions to sway our democracy.” The top Senate Democrat has joined forces with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in supporting the DISCLOSE Act, which would require super PACs and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups like Majority Forward to disclose their donors who contribute more than $10,000 in a given election cycle.
“There’s nothing wrong with so-called dark money — the American political system owes its existence to anonymous political speech,” stated Tom Jones, president of the conservative American Accountability Foundation watchdog group. “What is wrong — and frankly embarrassing — is Senators Schumer and Whitehouse blathering on about the boogeyman of dark money one day and using it to prop up their majority the next.”
Close Ties and Financial Transactions
Majority Forward’s president, J.B. Poersch, also serves as the head of Senate Majority PAC, and the two entities share personnel and office space. Additionally, Majority Forward has paid Senate Majority PAC for insurance, IT security, and salaries, as indicated in campaign finance disclosures.
Since the beginning of 2023, Majority Forward has directed $8.75 million to Senate Majority PAC, including a $6 million transfer in June. Going back to 2015, the nonprofit group’s payments to the PAC total $136 million, according to a review of federal filings by the Washington Examiner.
“This is nothing but a hypocritical and pathetic hit job coming directly from Mitch McConnell and National GOP leaders who have taken every chance to enable dark money groups to support their unpopular agenda and fringe candidates,” responded Sarah Guggenheimer, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC.
Grants and Pop-Up Super PACs
Between July 2019 and June 2022, Majority Forward received over $271 million and distributed grants to various left-wing activist groups, including the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Emily’s List, Priorities USA, and the Lincoln Project, an anti-Donald Trump super PAC with ties to the Democratic Party, according to tax forms.
In 2022, Majority Forward also received $1 million from America Votes, a liberal voting rights advocacy group, and shared an office and personnel with the Right to Vote Foundation, according to corporate records in Washington, D.C.
In the same year, Majority Forward fully funded a pop-up super PAC called 53 Peaks with $3 million. This super PAC sponsored ads against Joe O’Dea, who ran unsuccessfully against Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), according to disclosures. Majority Forward also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2022 on ads targeting Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) through a Facebook page called Wisconsin Forward.
Continued Financial Support
Senate Majority PAC has also received over $16 million between February and June from wealthy liberal donors, including George Soros, a Hungarian American philanthropist, as it prepares for the 2024 Senate elections, according to disclosures.
Alongside the pro-GOP Senate Leadership Fund super PAC, which is aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Democratic-aligned committee spent hundreds of millions of dollars combined on the 2022 elections. Senate Leadership Fund has close ties to One Nation, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group that served as its primary funder in 2022.
Selective Criticism
Schumer has previously criticized the Judicial Crisis Network, a right-leaning 501(c)(4) courts group, for “concealing their donors” after it contributed significant funds to support the nominations of Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. However, the senator has not taken financial action against left-leaning dark money hubs like the court-packing group Demand Justice, which provided funds in 2022 to support the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Demand Justice was co-founded by Schumer’s former communications director, Brian Fallon, who will be stepping down from the group this fall.
“Democrats claim to hate dark money, but cycle after cycle, they line their pockets with it to fund their radical and out-of-touch candidates,” remarked Tate Mitchell, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Schumer’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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