No Labels using dark money to fund campaign for unnamed third party candidate
No Labels’ bid to run a third party presidential candidate in 2024 has sparked a number of questions about political motivations. Chief among them: Who, exactly, is paying for this thing?
The centrist group consists of a constellation of entities, some of which disclose donor names. But the main one is a nonprofit which, unlike political parties, does not have to reveal the names of its funders. And in an interview with POLITICO, its CEO, Nancy Jacobson, declined to do so, saying simply that it was a “mixed” pool of individual contributors including “people that want to help our country.”
Ryan Clancy, the group’s chief strategist, said the group doesn’t discuss individual donors as a matter of protecting their privacy and safety.
“We know how the game is played these days, which is (if) people don’t like your organization, what’s the easiest way to destroy it? Well, go find the donor list and go start intimidating them in their place of work and harassing them on social media,” said Clancy.
No Labels’ refusal to reveal donor identities has worsened tensions in Washington, where a smattering of Democratic and anti-Donald Trump conservatives have accused the group of potentially kneecapping President Biden’s reelection. They say that unlike other nonprofit groups, No Labels is essentially running a presidential campaign without the requirements that apply to formal political parties; namely disclosures.
Experts in campaign finance law say that the organization is walking right up to the line of what is permissible. [Continue reading…]