Rickett$, Joe todd

=ran ads ~ djt, then became big backer
nepotism trust fund baby= ---an 3 23a right-wing billionaire financial tycoon's project to turn a tiny, rural Wyoming community into his own personal playground was dealt a surprising setback when local officials shot him down, The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-joe-ricketts-shut-down-by-wyoming-commission" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reported</a> on Wednesday.Joe Ricketts, founder of the predecessor company to online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade, earned approval to create a luxury resort on his ranch in Bondurant, a community of Sublette County with barely 100 people — sparking outrage from locals. But his latest bid to expand that resort just failed in a surprising vote of the area's board of commissioners.<div id="story_page_incontent_p2_target" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5155643920455169" data-ad-slot="6339868799" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px; display: block;" /></div>"According to local outlet WyoFile, three out of five commissioners have historically voted with Ricketts," reported Noah Kirsch. "At last week’s meeting, however, commissioner Sam White unexpectedly joined the minority and rejected the bid to modify property near 'the riverbank at the head of the Upper Hoback River.' Ricketts was seeking to build a 'restaurant, gymnasium, bunkhouse and cabin village,' the outlet said. 'Your application is denied at this time,' White announced to Ricketts’ team. Doug Vickrey, who also voted against the proposal, was more forceful."“Remember that some things are not for sale,” said Vickrey, in a reference to the Wyoming State Code. “Folks, I’m going to tell you right now, I am one of those things. I am not for sale. So, I would like Mr. Ricketts to know that with all his wealth there are some things in this world money cannot buy, and by God I’m one of them.”His words were greeted with applause from residents, who had overwhelmingly opposed Ricketts' initial resort plan in the first place.This is not the only rural community Ricketts has interfered in. A massive fence guk around his ranch in the middle of the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana has become a hazard to wildlife, according to a 2022 report in The Guardian."Tensions are high in many communities across the Mountain West, which have increasingly become dominated by wealthy interlopers, particularly since the onset of the pandemic," noted the report. "During last week’s hearing, local journalist Joy Ufford commented on that trend in Sublette County (after receiving clearance from her editor), WyoFile reported. '[If] I don’t say something I’m never going to forgive myself,' she said. 'I’m going to be sick, sick, sick if Bondurant is sacrificed as a stepping stone to Jackson.'"Ricketts is also the father of former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, who was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/12/politics/pete-ricketts-senate/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">appointed by his successor</a> to the U.S. Senate on his way out the door due to the early resignation of Sen. Ben Sasse to take a position as president of the University of Florida.<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/conservatism" class="from-your-sitelink rm-stats-tracked" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">related: the other 'cancel culture': How a public university is bowing to a conservative crusade ›</a><div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.444px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">GOP governors ignore COVID-19 cases in their states to join Greg Abbott for yet another border stunt ›</li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 10px;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.444px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-joe-ricketts-shut-down-by-wyoming-commission" class="around-the-weblink rm-stats-tracked" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Billionaire Joe Ricketts Shut Down by Wyoming Commission ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/03/561830256/billionaire-owner-shuts-down-dnainfo-gothamist-sites-a-week-after-workers-unioni" class="around-the-weblink rm-stats-tracked" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Billionaire Owner Shuts Down DNAinfo, Gothamist Sites A Week ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/20/the-ricketts-family-was-a-big-backer-of-nevertrump-now-joe-ricketts-is-supporting-trump/" class="around-the-web__link rm-stats-tracked" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">After opposing Trump in the primaries, Joe Ricketts will give at least ... ›</a></li></ul></div><div></div>=<div><a href="https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/new-dark-money-group-in-wyoming-prompts-call-for-campaign-finance-reform/article_ca7b7c79-e116-5fe8-868d-d8f5cf018262.html">https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/new-dark-money-group-in-wyoming-prompts-call-for-campaign-finance-reform/article_ca7b7c79-e116-5fe8-868d-d8f5cf018262.html</a>
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</div><div><div>New dark money group in Wyoming prompts call for campaign finance reform</div><div>NICK REYNOLDS 307-266-0634, Aug 15, 2018 Updated Jun 25, 2019  0</div><div>Election Day</div><div> Some are calling for campaign finance reform in Wyoming after the appearance of a new dark money group.</div><div>
</div><div>File, Star-Tribune</div><div>NICK REYNOLDS 307-266-0634,</div><div>The registration of a new political action committee in Wyoming with dark money ties has one state legislator calling for a revival of a failed campaign finance reform bill in the coming session.</div><div>
</div><div>Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne – a chief architect of a failed financial reform bill put forth in the Legislature this past year – released a statement publicly condemning “dark money” political advertising in the 2018 gubernatorial race, specifically calling on all six Republican candidates as well as the state party to publicly condemn the various, anonymous mailers circulating this cycle.</div><div>
</div><div>On Monday, Zwonitzer, who serves as chairman of the Legislature’s Committee on Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions, claimed without specific evidence that “key Republican leaders in this state” have been behind numerous negative campaign mailings distributed throughout the state in the final weeks of the GOP gubernatorial race. His campaign finance bill, House Bill 67, will likely be revisited by his committee in the coming months, he said, and will be resubmitted in the upcoming legislative session.</div><div>
</div><div>“It’s only going to get worse from here,” he told the Star-Tribune. “We need to get some baseline laws in now.”</div><div>
</div><div>One group behind a set of mailers targeting Republican Mark Gordon, called Protecting Our Constitution, is neither listed with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office nor is it listed as an active political action committee with the Wyoming Board of Elections. The group shares an address and suite number with a Sheridan-based LLC called Advance LLC, which was incorporated anonymously in late March through a third-party corporate registry, according to documents filed with the secretary of state’s office.</div><div>
</div><div>PAC connections</div><div>
</div><div>But Zwonitzer’s chief concern lies with the latest PAC to appear on the state’s roster of political action committees, one which he said “set alarm bells” off in his head that a string of negative ad buys would be coming during the campaign’s final weeks. The group in question, called Jobs For Wyoming, bears eerie similarities to two other PACs involved in dark money-heavy races in Indiana and Tennessee, both of which were backed by GOP mega donor Joe Hollingsworth Jr., according to numerous media reports.</div><div>
</div><div>Jobs For Wyoming lists an anonymous P.O box in the Washington D.C. suburb of Herndon, Virginia, as its address and names two individuals – James McKay and Maria Wojchiechowski—as its chairman and treasurer. Registered with the state on Friday, it lists McKay’s phone number and Wojchiechowski’s email address on the form. That P.O. box, according to Federal Elections Commission records, has also been listed for the address of Convergence Media LLC, a D.C.-area media vendor that, most recently, has been utilized in races like that between Republican Rick Saccone and Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania. The firm is also a preferred vendor of the National Republican Congressional Committee and, on its website, touts its success in helping to elect Republican Karen Handel to victory in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, a race that was described as “the most expensive congressional election ever run.”</div><div>
</div><div>It is unclear what groups or individuals are behind Convergence Media: its filings with the Virginia Secretary of State list Delaware as its jurisdiction of formation, which has some of the least restrictive corporate filing laws in the United States. Two separate filings for Convergence Media there were both registered through third-party corporate registrars.</div><div>
</div><div>A phone call and email to both McKay and Wojchiechowski from the Star-Tribune were not immediately returned.</div><div>
</div><div>Jobs For Wyoming shares its treasurer with a PAC called Tennessee Jobs Now, a PAC organized by Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth was also behind a similar PAC called Indiana Jobs Now, which he used to help elect his son, Trey Hollingsworth, to Congress. Hollingsworth has not spent any money in Wyoming, according to campaign finance disclosures.</div><div>
</div><div>Wojchiechowski, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission, also served as treasurer for Donald Trump-supporting PAC called Future45, which committed nearly $25 million in opposition spending against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. That PAC, according to FEC filings, counts substantial financial support from billionaires Sheldon Adelson and TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, who owns a ranch roughly 45 minutes outside of Jackson. Both he, along with gubernatorial candidate Foster Friess, were prime contributors to a Mitt Romney-supporting PAC, Restore Our Future, in 2012.</div><div>
</div><div>Coincidentally, Friess joined both the Koch brothers and GOP donor Paul Singer in donating to Ricketts’ son’s 2014 campaign for governor in Nebraska, with Friess personally contributing $20,000, according to filings with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. Ricketts’ son also received $25,000 in campaign contributions from Susan Gore, founder of the Wyoming Liberty Group, which has pushed against substantial expansion of Wyoming transparency law and whose presence, a pro-transparency group based in Cheyenne said, may have led to the failure of House Bill 67 back in the spring.</div><div>
</div><div>State lags in transparency</div><div>
</div><div>Campaign finance transparency here in Wyoming is among the worst in the nation, said Phoebe Stoner, executive director of the left leaning Equality State Policy Center. According to Stoner, the bill introduced into the House last spring took some “baby steps” in closing the state’s most gaping loopholes in line with similar reforms passed by 40 other states. However, she believes the bill was never heard largely because those on the House floor were given “slanted definitions” of campaign finance’s purposes.</div><div>
</div><div>“For me it’s really simple. It has nothing to do with the fact these folks are sending out mailers and exercising their First Amendment rights,” she said. “Where the rubber meets the road for us if I’m a voter, it is my right to be able to understand who is on the ballot, what they’re about and who’s behind them. The issue is not centered in the First Amendment, the issue is centered in those independent expenditures.”</div><div>
</div><div>According to Steve Klein, a campaign finance policy analyst with the Wyoming Liberty Group, campaign finance laws serve only to restrict free speech. Though he said he supports many aspects of House Bill 67, he said he has reservations around how much speech can or should be regulated by the state, adding the opinion that onerous regulations on top of hard to understand campaign finance laws is an affront to free speech on its own.</div><div>
</div><div>“I don’t see a compelling interest for donors in reporting themselves to the government or revealing what candidates they’re supporting,” he said.</div><div>
</div><div>Klein also noted that candidates and PACs in Wyoming are already required to disclose their contributions and expenditures, and said that improving the state’s financial disclosure system when other priorities – such as opening the state’s books around taxpayer spending — are still on the table.</div><div>
</div><div>Stoner believes that greater campaign finance transparency should be a priority.</div><div>
</div><div>“I think that sounds like a really terrible excuse,” she said in response to Klein. “It’s not OK to deny voters what they have the right to have because we claim we don’t have the resources. If we don’t have that, we need the money to make that possible.”</div><div>
</div><div>She noted several easy to fix loopholes, including the addition of something called rolling reporting, which can help address the fact that the state lacks a mechanism to report on last-minute contributions. Under the current system, where expenditures only have to be disclosed up to seven days prior to the election, massive expenditures can be made in the key final days of a race, she said.</div><div>
</div><div>Letting loopholes like that stand, she said, only gives Wyoming a reputation as a place where rules are not enforced.</div><div>
</div><div>Though Wyoming has campaign finance laws, Stoner said the existing reporting requirements “don’t have any teeth.” Improvements in the law, similar to those in place in other states, could fix the problem.</div><div>
</div><div>“We saw this as a problem, and we tried to find a solution knowing the 2018 election was around the corner, and we didn’t,” Stoner said. “That was really disappointing.”</div><div>
</div><div>Follow politics reporter Nick Reynolds on Twitter @IAmNickReynolds</div></div></div>=32 millionaires/billionaires own nfl teams, plan to end knee?<a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/the-collision-sports-and-politics-etan-thomas-dave-zirin-december-1-2017/">https://kpfa.org/episode/the-collision-sports-and-politics-etan-thomas-dave-zirin-december-1-2017/</a>=<div class="GGD0W3FBKT" aria-hidden="false" style="font-weight: bold; float: left; top: 3px; left: 5px; margin-right: 110px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">American Opportunity Alliance</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; position: relative;"><div class="GGD0W3FBKS" aria-hidden="false" style="float: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both;"><div class="gwt-HTML" aria-hidden="false" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; border: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" max-width="max-width" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height">
<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">group of major GOP donors, led by New York billionaire Paul Singer, is quietly expanding its political footprint ahead of the midterm elections in an increasingly assertive effort to shape the direction of the Republican Party.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The operation was launched discreetly last year, with the previously unreported formation of a club called the American Opportunity Alliance to bring together some of the richest pro-business GOP donors in the country, several of whom share Singer’s support for gay rights, immigration reform and the state of Israel. Around the same time, Singer and his allies also formed a federal fundraising committee called Friends for an American Majority that raised big checks for a select list of the GOP’s most highly touted 2014 Senate hopefuls. Those candidates are among the big names expected at a two-day retreat organized by the American Opportunity Alliance set for the last week of February at a swanky Colorado resort. The closed-door event — which is also expected to draw House Speaker John Boehner and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, according to Republicans familiar with the plans — is seen in GOP finance circles as a grand debut of sorts for Singer’s still-amorphous club.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">( <a href="http://politico.com/tag/fundraising" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">POLITICO's full coverage of political fundraising</a>)<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">On its face, it in some ways resembles a much smaller-scale version of Charles and David Koch’s fabled network, which <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48277.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">brings together hand-picked operatives</a> and politicians twice a year at tony resorts to make presentations to dozens of rich conservatives. At the conclusion of the <a href="http://www.kochfacts.com/kf/koch_seminars/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">Koch </a><a href="http://www.kochfacts.com/kf/koch_seminars/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">seminars</a>, as they’re called, donors commit massive sums into a pool of cash disseminated to various Koch-backed groups for seven- and eight-figure advertising and organizing campaigns that have made them a force in Republican politics rivaling the official party.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">That doesn’t appear to be the goal of Singer and his donors. While many of them — including Singer himself — have attended the Koch seminars and also maintain their own independent spending groups, their approach with the American Opportunity Alliance is more donor-centric, focusing on comparing notes about one another’s political projects and funneling limited hard-money contributions effectively.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Still, the list of big-name pols expected at the American Opportunity Alliance’s upcoming Colorado gathering highlights the influence that only a few big donors can command in the post- Citizens United era, when a small group of wealthy individuals can reorder elections with just a few huge checks. That new reality has shifted some of the power and control once maintained by the parties and their candidates to factions of major donors, like the libertarian-infused Koch network on the right or the Democracy Alliance <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73534.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">club of major liberal donors</a> on the left.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">( <a href="http://www.politico.com//story/2014/02/barack-obama-fundraisers-2014-elections-103499.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">Also on POLITICO: Barack Obama fundraisers add up</a>)<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The ideological and tactical contours of Singer’s plans remain somewhat unclear, as does the membership of the American Opportunity Alliance, which is registered as a for-profit corporation in Delaware. If nothing else, though, the group appears to represent a new center of gravity in the world of GOP money, anchored by a famously prolific Republican bundler with a distinct ideological agenda.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Singer, who founded the hedge fund Elliott Management, has long been a key player in GOP money circles, espousing a nontraditional brand of conservatism that includes aggressive backing for gay marriage and immigration reform, as well as more traditional GOP stances like lower taxes and less government regulation. Contributors to the joint fundraising account for Senate candidates — a list that likely dovetails at least partially with the American Opportunity Alliance’s member rolls — include a mix of gay marriage supporters like <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/23344139-452/todd-ricketts-takes-over-superpac.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">Todd Ricketts</a> and billionaire investor <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/nyregion/the-road-to-gay-marriage-in-new-york.html?pagewanted=1&r=3&hp&" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">Cliff Asness</a>, as well as more conventional fiscal conservatives like brokerage titan Charles Schwab and real estate developer Harlan Crow.<p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The Colorado summit appears to be the first organized under the American Opportunity Alliance banner, but it comes after a series of other political gatherings organized by Singer and his cohort that paved the way for it. At the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Singer put together an economics panel featuring at least one congressman, plus he teamed with fellow hedge funder Dan Loeb — another prominent gay rights supporter — to host a dinner at the Hyatt Regency headlined by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; border: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" max-width="max-width" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; border: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" max-width="max-width" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height">
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; border: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" max-width="max-width" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height">And the Kochs are by no means the only rich guys aiming to elect more Republicans. As Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/paul-singer-republican-gop-fundraising-campaigns-donors-103600.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: inherit; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%;">reported</a> Tuesday:<blockquote style="border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 0px 1.4em 42px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" max-width="max-width" line-height="line-height" width="width" auto="auto" important="important">A group of major GOP donors, led by New York billionaire Paul Singer, is quietly expanding its political footprint ahead of the midterm elections in an increasingly assertive effort to shape the direction of the Republican Party.The operation was launched discreetly last year, with the previously unreported formation of a club called the American Opportunity Alliance to bring together some of the richest pro-business GOP donors in the country … Around the same time, Singer and his allies also formed a federal fundraising committee called Friends for an American Majority that raised big checks for a select list of the GOP’s most highly touted 2014 Senate hopefuls.Those candidates are among the big names expected at a two-day retreat organized by the American Opportunity Alliance set for the last week of February at a swanky Colorado resort. The closed-door event — which is also expected to draw House Speaker John Boehner and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte,according to Republicans familiar with the plans — is seen in GOP finance circles as a grand debut of sorts for Singer’s still-amorphous club. …[T]he list of big-name pols expected at the American Opportunity Alliance’s upcoming Colorado gathering highlights the influence that only a few big donors can command in the post-Citizens United era, when a small group of wealthy individuals can reorder elections with just a few huge checks.</blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; border: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" max-width="max-width" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height">Singer’s group is backing Alaska Senate Republican hopeful Dan Sullivan, who was appointed by Sarah Palin to serve as state natural resources commissioner. Sullivan used the position to advocate for his state’s right to exploit natural resources and against federal efforts to protect Alaskan land.=</div><div style="">=</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/05/nonprofits-backing-trump-have-deep-swampy-ties/">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/05/nonprofits-backing-trump-have-deep-swampy-ties/</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Outside groups mobilizing in support of President Trump have already spent tens of millions on his behalf—and may never have to reveal where they got the money.</div><div style="">
</div>Trump’s unprecedented move to register as a candidate for the 2020 presidential election on his first day in office blurs the line between groups spending in support of the president’s agenda and those supporting his re-election. Unlike their forerunner, Organizing for Action, which did not exist as a 501(c)(4) until after President Barack Obama’s re-election in 2012, political nonprofits have been active since the onset of President Trump’s first term as he’s taken on the roles of both candidate and president.Groups like the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=C90016478&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">45 Committee</a> that were established during the 2016 election have spent multiple millions of dollars on ad campaigns during Trump’s first 100 days in office. Trump’s supporters also include new names like Great America Alliance and Making America Great, whose operations and funding sources are still largely opaque though they’ve spent plenty backing Trump; they will not have to file reports with the IRS until next year, and even then won’t have to publicly name their donors — just some of the benefits of the 501(c) tax status. The nonprofits have publicly jostled to be the Trumpian counterpart to Obama’s OFA; but these groups have much more in common with each other—and the “swamp” of political insiders his campaign <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/11/06/donald-trump-why-you-should-vote-me/93398970/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">promised</a> to “drain”—than initially meets the eye.For instance, despite holding itself out as a “new” nonprofit launched to support President Trump’s agenda, records show Great America Alliance is actually a refurbished 501(c)(4) that has been around since 2013. An IRS Exempt Organizations Division official confirmed that Great America Alliance was once known as the American Dream Initiative (ADI), a politically active nonprofit with a history of spending undisclosed “dark money” in politics under the guise of issue advocacy.A page from Rove’s playbookGreat America Alliance is not the first politically active nonprofit crafted from the carcass of another group. Notably, the operatives behind dark money behemothCrossroads GPS appropriated an existing 501(c)(4) and rebranded it: It’s now One Nation. Tax lawyers have <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/05/roves-new-group-isnt-new-and-that-could-be-the-point/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">speculated</a> that this strategy can expedite the IRS approval process for tax-exempt status, which took Crossroads GPS <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/02/irs-gives-nonprofit-status-to-roves-controversial-dark-money-group/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">over five years</a>.ADI’s Form 990 from <a href="http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/462/767/2014-462767395-0bc44e31-9O.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2014</a> shows the group paid over $500,000—more than 83% of its total spending in 2014, though it’s supposed to spend less than half its funds on political activities—to <a href="http://www.onmessageinc.com/our-clients/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">OnMessage Inc</a>. for “media buy and production” of an ad attacking a candidate for Texas attorney general that ran just before a runoff election in that race. OnMessage <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2014&vendor=OnMessage+Inc" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">was paid</a> by over 40 political campaigns, outside groups, and party committees supporting conservative candidates or agendas in each of the last three election cycles. However, only two other nonprofit organizations in the Center for Responsive Politics’ comprehensive database of 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, 501(c)(5) labor unions, and 501(c)(6) trade groups filing tax returns with the IRS in recent years reported paying OnMessage Inc: the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/political-nonprofits/summary?id=200309803" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Republican Governors Public Policy Committee</a> in 2011 and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Future+Fund&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American Future Fund</a> in 2010, which also came under <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3036379/American-Future-Fund-W-Aff.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">scrutiny</a> for skirting restrictions on political spending.ADI reported no political activity to the IRS in 2014 and only <a href="http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2015/462/767/2015-462767395-0ce25443-ZO.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">an unusual $1 political contribution</a> the following year to “Grassroots Victory” with an address at the same location as ADI itself. In 2016, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington <a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/dark-money-uncovered/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">filed</a> both a federal criminal complaint and an IRS complaint against ADI and 10 other “social welfare” groups; CREW called for the FBI to investigate whether the groups violated their nonprofit status by acting as political organizations or significantly underreporting their political activity.After the Texas attorney general race in 2014, ADI appeared to go dormant. Then it got a fresh coat of paint in 2016 for its quiet rollout as Great America Alliance.Fresh faces, new scandalsIn late January 2017, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/gingrich-giuliani-trump-great-america-alliance-234386" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">announced</a> their “newly-formed” political nonprofit devoted to promoting President Donald Trump’s agenda: Great America Alliance. Two Republican political operatives who are now in charge of the group, Ed Rollins and Eric Beach, as well as its executive director, Dan Backer, also ran a super PAC supporting Trump in the 2016 presidential race called <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00608489" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Great America PAC</a>.  Great America PAC raised and spent millions in the last election cycle—but also became embroiled in several controversies. The super PAC mistakenly published emails and cell phone numbers of <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/21/20246/pro-trump-super-pac-mistakenly-publishes-private-donor-information" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">hundreds of donors</a>, became caught up in a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/24/exclusive-investigation-donald-trump-faces-foreign-donor-fundrai/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">fundraising scandal</a> for attempting to funnel money from a foreign donor into the U.S. presidential election, and parted ways with a political operative <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/politics/jesse-benton-rand-ron-paul-aide-convicted-trump-super-pac/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">convicted</a> of falsifying campaign records in a prior election.Blasted as a “<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263655-trump-campaign-calls-supporting-super-pac-a-big-league" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">big-league scam</a>,” Great America PAC was accused by many of being a <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/scammers-feast-of-trump-fundraising-disarray-223141" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">scam PAC</a>. Nevertheless, the group raised over $28 million during the 2016 cycle and spent over $26 million. Great America PAC paid more than $4 million to Beach’s firm, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2016&vendor=Frontline+Strategies+%26+Media" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Frontline Strategies and Media</a>, making the PAC the firm’s <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2012&vendor=Frontline+Strategies+%26+Media" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">top-paying client</a> that cycle.In 2014, ADI reported raising $600,000 from a fundraising campaign using in-person solicitation conducted by Frontline. The same year, ADI received $250,000 from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/political-nonprofits/summary?id=202303252" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Judicial Crisis Network</a> and $350,000 from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/11/wellspring-gives-big-boost-to-judicial-crisis-network-with-6-6-million-grant/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Wellspring</a>. Frontline Strategy’s $600,000 fundraising push—which matches the total amount donated by the Wellspring and Judicial Crisis Network—accounts for more than 90% of ADI’s revenue of $652,829 in 2014. Secret swamp connectionsGreat America Alliance is in good company with other 501(c)(4) nonprofits mobilizing for Trump’s agenda that also have financial ties to “dark money” groups that have gained notoriety over the years. Wellspring has bankrolled other groups with deep connections to the Trump administration as well, funneling $750,000 to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=C90016478&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">45 Committee</a> and $100,000 to “<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2014&vendor=Ar2+Inc" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">AR2 Inc</a>.,” the 501(c)(4) arm of the GOP “<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00542902&cycle=2014" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">America Rising</a>” network of opposition research groups. Although the groups appear to be disjointed and often even in competition with each other, the network of politically active nonprofits supporting Trump’s agenda share common vendors, staff, consultants, and funding sources.<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/chart-2.png" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;"><img class="wp-image-22529 aligncenter" src="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/chart-2.png" alt="chart (2)" width="620" height="473" srcset="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/chart-2.png 848w, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/chart-2-300x229.png 300w, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/chart-2-768x586.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; border: none; vertical-align: top; max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; display: block;" /></a>Much of this can be traced to two influential families of mega-donors: the Ricketts and the Mercers. Beyond just the money they bring to the table, members of each family have taken strategic roles in nonprofits as well as firms those groups hire.Todd Ricketts, who recently withdrew from consideration to be deputy secretary of Commerce due to the difficulty of disentangling himself from his business interests, has been a key player in “dark money” operations for years. In 2012, he took over a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called Ending Spending as well as its super PAC arm, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00489856&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ESA Fund</a>, formerly Ending Spending Action Fund, which were started by his father and fellow mega-donor Joe Ricketts. The super PAC spent more than <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00489856&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$15 million</a> in the 2016 cycle, and Ending Spending itself reported spending over <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90014697&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$2.6 million</a>. Because Ending Spending ran “issue” ads that most of the time need not be reported to the FEC despite being almost indistinguishable from direct advocacy, the total amount spent remains unknown but is likely much higher. Its donors may never be known.The Ricketts also helmed the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90016478&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">45Committee</a> and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00574533&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Future45</a>, which spent over $40 million in the 2016 election. 45Committee, another 501(c)(4), has continued <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/price-health-care-ads-234195" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">spending</a> to praise Trump’s nominees and policies, and has invested in other federal<a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/georgia-6th-district-ossoff-handel" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;"> races</a>. The family’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/20/the-ricketts-family-was-a-big-backer-of-nevertrump-now-joe-ricketts-is-supporting-trump/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">flip to support Trump</a> has been startling: During his campaign, Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/22/donald-trump-warns-owners-of-chicago-cubs-better-be-careful-after-funding-campaign-against-him/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">threatened to expose</a> the Ricketts’ family secrets after Joe and Marlene Ricketts gave more than $5.5 million to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib_all.php?cmte=C00603621&type=A&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Our Principles PAC</a>, which opposed Trump.Unlike the Ricketts, the Mercers kept a lower profile—until recently. Robert Mercer and his wife Diane are in the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">top 20</a> individual donors at the federal political level, which the Ricketts are as well. However, the Mercers’ <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/06/a-hedge-fund-house-divided-renaissance-technologies/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">contribution patterns</a> are more line with their reported rejection of the GOP establishment. Although the Mercers originally <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/recips.php?cmte=C00575373&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">spent</a> millions backing Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, when Cruz suspended his campaign they quickly <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">directed</a> their super PAC to support Trump, becoming among the first major donors on the “Trump train.” Ultimately they spent around <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib_all.php?cmte=C00575373&type=A&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$20 million</a> on behalf of Trump. The Mercers also leveraged the power of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/no-one-knows-what-the-powerful-mercers-really-want/514529/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Cambridge Analytica</a>, a firm that uses secret psychological methods to more effectively influence voters, to help the Republican nominee. The Mercers are investors in the firm. After the election, Robert Mercer’s daughter Rebekah joined forces with top Trump campaign advisers to form <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/77133d470c634a458b3198063af4a14b/trump-advisers-start-america-first-policies-nonprofit" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">America First Policies</a>. But a power struggle followed the emergence of more pro-Trump nonprofit groups in the unstable ecosystem, leading Rebekah Mercer to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/29/politics/mercer-trump-nonprofit/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">leave</a> America First Policies for another new pro-Trump nonprofit called Making America Great. There she joins ally David Bossie, whom she helped elevate to become Trump’s deputy campaign manager last year. As alliances continue to shift between factions, this tangled web of groups churning money from secret donors into the pockets of consultants doesn’t appear to be draining the swamp. Seems more like everyone’s dived in.=<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/03/big-revenues-for-group-providing-cover-for-gop-donors-too-embarrassed-to-publicly-support-trump-in-2016/">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/03/big-revenues-for-group-providing-cover-for-gop-donors-too-embarrassed-to-publicly-support-trump-in-2016/</a>
<div class="entry-content" style="margin: 5px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">billionaire-funded political organization operating <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390422-45Committee-2017-Form-990.html#document/p1/a408723" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">out of a P.O. Box in Herndon</a>, Virginia, with no employees or volunteers doesn’t exactly scream “social welfare.” But that’s precisely what a pro-Trump group, called 45Committee, claims it exists to do.New <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390422-45Committee-2017-Form-990.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">tax documents obtained by OpenSecrets</a> show that the group spent $45 million from the run-up to the 2016 presidential election into the early days of President Trump’s administration. The money that fueled the spending was raised from just a handful of wealthy, anonymous donors — most of whom gave more than $1 million each.Groups like 45Committee are not political committees, and therefore don’t have to disclose their donors to the public. They’re also not supposed to have politics as their primary purpose, but the IRS and Federal Election Commission have proven to be woefully ill-equipped at policing nonprofit political activity. As a result, these “dark money” groups have become the vehicle of choice for wealthy corporate and individual donors who want to spend heavily in elections without the public knowing who is filling their war chest.The filing, which was <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/pro-trump-dark-money-group-primarily-funded-seven-figure-checks/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">first reported by CREW</a>, shows that $30 million of the $46.3 million raised by 45Committee came from just four anonymous donors <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390422-45Committee-2017-Form-990.html#document/p16/a408424" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">who gave $7.5</a> <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390422-45Committee-2017-Form-990.html#document/p17/a408426" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">million each</a>.Reluctant Trump embraceThe <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90016478&cycle=2016" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">45Committee</a> and its sister super PAC, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00574533&cycle=2016" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Future45</a>, were formed in October 2015 with an aim to destroy Hillary Clinton’s nascent presidential campaign.The groups were backed by hedge-fund billionaires like Ken Griffin and Paul Singer, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/prominent-gop-donors-launch-new-groups-to-take-aim-at-hillary-clinton-1445984161" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">news reports</a>, and by early “Never Trumpers”-turned-Trump supporters, Joe and Marlene Ricketts, the owners of the Chicago Cubs.The Rickettses had been early backers of Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-Wis.) short-lived presidential campaign, giving $5 million to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00576108&cycle=2016" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Unintimidated PAC</a>, a pro-Walker super PAC. Early in 2016, Marlene Ricketts also gave $4 million to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00603621" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Our Principles PAC</a>, a super PAC for wealthy “Never Trump” donors.When the news came out that Ricketts was fueling the group, Trump launched a threatening tweet, saying the “Rickets [sic] family … better be careful, they have a lot to hide!”<twitterwidget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" data-tweet-id="701779181986680832" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div data-twitter-event-id="0" class="SandboxRoot env-bp-350" style="direction: ltr; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.4; white-space: initial; position: relative;"><div class="EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--edge js-clickToOpenTarget tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent" data-click-to-open-target="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/701779181986680832" data-iframe-title="Twitter Tweet" data-dt-full="%{hours12}:%{minutes} %{amPm} - %{day} %{month} %{year}" data-dt-explicit-timestamp="7:42 AM - Feb 22, 2016" data-dt-months="Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec" data-dt-am="AM" data-dt-pm="PM" data-dt-now="now" data-dt-s="s" data-dt-m="m" data-dt-h="h" data-dt-second="second" data-dt-seconds="seconds" data-dt-minute="minute" data-dt-minutes="minutes" data-dt-hour="hour" data-dt-hours="hours" data-dt-abbr="%{number}%{symbol}" data-dt-short="%{day} %{month}" data-dt-long="%{day} %{month} %{year}" data-scribe="page:tweet" id="twitter-widget-0" lang="en" data-twitter-event-id="1" style="overflow: hidden; cursor: pointer; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(225, 232, 237); border-radius: 5px; max-width: 520px; position: relative;"><div class="EmbeddedTweet-tweet" style="padding: 20px 20px 11.6px;"><blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded" cite="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/701779181986680832" data-tweet-id="701779181986680832" data-scribe="section:subject" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; border: none;"><div class="Tweet-header" style="display: flex;"><a class="TweetAuthor-avatar Identity-avatar u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex: 0 0 auto; height: 36px; font-weight: inherit;"><img class="Avatar Avatar--edge" data-scribe="element:avatar" data-src-2x="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874276197357596672/kUuht00m_bigger.jpg" alt="" data-src-1x="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874276197357596672/kUuht00m_normal.jpg" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874276197357596672/kUuht00m_normal.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; border-radius: 50%;" /></a><div class="TweetAuthor js-inViewportScribingTarget" data-scribe="component:author" style="margin-top: 2px; overflow: hidden;"><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><div class="TweetAuthor-nameScreenNameContainer" style="margin-left: 9px; display: flex; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-box-direction: normal; flex-direction: column; line-height: 1.2; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; min-width: 0px;"><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;" /><a class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" aria-label="Donald J. Trump (screen name: realDonaldTrump)" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: start; align-items: flex-start; font-weight: inherit;"><span class="TweetAuthor-name Identity-name customisable-highlight" title="Donald J. Trump" data-scribe="element:name" style="font-weight: 700; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 4px;">Donald J. Trump<div class="Icon Icon--verified " aria-label="Verified Account" title="Verified Account" role="img" style="display: inline-block; height: 1.25em; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain; vertical-align: text-bottom; width: 1.11111em; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" charset="utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2064%2072%22%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22none%22%20d%3D%22M0%200h64v72H0z%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%231da1f2%22%20d%3D%22M3%2037.315c0%204.125%202.162%207.726%205.363%209.624-.056.467-.09.937-.09%201.42%200%206.103%204.72%2011.045%2010.546%2011.045%201.295%200%202.542-.234%203.687-.686C24.22%2062.4%2027.827%2064.93%2032%2064.93c4.174%200%207.782-2.53%209.49-6.213%201.148.45%202.39.685%203.69.685%205.826%200%2010.546-4.94%2010.546-11.045%200-.483-.037-.953-.093-1.42C58.83%2045.04%2061%2041.44%2061%2037.314c0-4.37-2.42-8.15-5.933-9.946.427-1.203.658-2.5.658-3.865%200-6.104-4.72-11.045-10.545-11.045-1.302%200-2.543.232-3.69.688-1.707-3.685-5.315-6.216-9.49-6.216-4.173%200-7.778%202.53-9.492%206.216-1.146-.455-2.393-.688-3.688-.688-5.827%200-10.545%204.94-10.545%2011.045%200%201.364.23%202.662.656%203.864C5.42%2029.163%203%2032.944%203%2037.314z%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M17.87%2039.08l7.015%206.978c.585.582%201.35.873%202.116.873.77%200%201.542-.294%202.127-.883.344-.346%2015.98-15.974%2015.98-15.974%201.172-1.172%201.172-3.07%200-4.243-1.17-1.17-3.07-1.172-4.242%200l-13.87%2013.863-4.892-4.868c-1.174-1.168-3.074-1.164-4.242.01-1.168%201.176-1.163%203.075.01%204.244z%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E" xmlns:data="data"></div><span class="u-hiddenVisually" style="position: absolute !important; overflow: hidden !important; width: 1px !important; height: 1px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important;">✔<span class="TweetAuthor-screenName Identity-screenName" title="@realDonaldTrump" data-scribe="element:screen_name" dir="ltr" style="overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; flex-shrink: 1;">@realDonaldTrump</a></div></div><div class="Tweet-brand" style="margin-left: auto;"><a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/701779181986680832" data-scribe="element:logo" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;"><div class="Icon Icon--twitter " aria-label="View on Twitter" title="View on Twitter" role="presentation" style="display: inline-block; height: 1.25em; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain; vertical-align: text-bottom; width: 1.25em; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" charset="utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2072%2072%22%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22none%22%20d%3D%22M0%200h72v72H0z%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20class%3D%22icon%22%20fill%3D%22%231da1f2%22%20d%3D%22M68.812%2015.14c-2.348%201.04-4.87%201.744-7.52%202.06%202.704-1.62%204.78-4.186%205.757-7.243-2.53%201.5-5.33%202.592-8.314%203.176C56.35%2010.59%2052.948%209%2049.182%209c-7.23%200-13.092%205.86-13.092%2013.093%200%201.026.118%202.02.338%202.98C25.543%2024.527%2015.9%2019.318%209.44%2011.396c-1.125%201.936-1.77%204.184-1.77%206.58%200%204.543%202.312%208.552%205.824%2010.9-2.146-.07-4.165-.658-5.93-1.64-.002.056-.002.11-.002.163%200%206.345%204.513%2011.638%2010.504%2012.84-1.1.298-2.256.457-3.45.457-.845%200-1.666-.078-2.464-.23%201.667%205.2%206.5%208.985%2012.23%209.09-4.482%203.51-10.13%205.605-16.26%205.605-1.055%200-2.096-.06-3.122-.184%205.794%203.717%2012.676%205.882%2020.067%205.882%2024.083%200%2037.25-19.95%2037.25-37.25%200-.565-.013-1.133-.038-1.693%202.558-1.847%204.778-4.15%206.532-6.774z%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E" xmlns:data="data"></div></a></div></div><div class="Tweet-body e-entry-content" data-scribe="component:tweet" style="margin-top: 14px;"><div class="u-hiddenVisually js-inViewportScribingTarget" style="position: absolute !important; overflow: hidden !important; width: 1px !important; height: 1px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important;">I hear the Rickets family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $'s against me. They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!<div class="Tweet-metadata dateline" style="flex-shrink: 0; margin-left: auto; margin-top: 3.2px;"><a class="u-linkBlend u-url customisable-highlight long-permalink" data-datetime="2016-02-22T14:42:50+0000" data-scribe="element:full_timestamp" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/701779181986680832" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration: inherit; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit;">7:42 AM - Feb 22, 2016</a></div><ul class="Tweet-actions Tweet-action--newsActions" data-scribe="component:actions" role="menu" aria-label="Tweet actions" style="margin: 8.4px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; border: none; display: flex; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden;"><li class="Tweet-action Tweet-action--newsAction" style="display: inline-block;"><a class="Tweet-action--heart TweetAction TweetAction--heartEdge" title="Like" href="https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=701779181986680832" data-scribe="component:actions" style="background-color: transparent; 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min-width: 0px;">12.8K people are talking about this</a></li></ul></div></div></blockquote></div><div class="tweet-InformationCircle--bottom tweet-InformationCircle" data-scribe="element:notice" style="position: absolute; right: 0px; bottom: 3px; margin: 10px 18px 8px;"><a href="https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256" class="Icon Icon--informationCircleWhite js-inViewportScribingTarget" title="Twitter Ads info and privacy" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px; display: inline-block; height: 18px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain; vertical-align: text-bottom; width: 18px; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" charset="utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2072%2072%22%3E%3Cg%20transform%3D%22translate(8%208)%22%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23657786%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.8%22%20d%3D%22M28%203.11C14.278%203.11%203.11%2014.276%203.11%2028c0%2013.723%2011.166%2024.887%2024.89%2024.887S52.89%2041.723%2052.89%2028C52.89%2014.274%2041.724%203.11%2028%203.11z%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M28%2044.593c-1.718%200-3.11-1.393-3.11-3.112V30.076c0-1.718%201.392-3.11%203.11-3.11s3.11%201.392%203.11%203.11V41.48c0%201.72-1.392%203.113-3.11%203.113z%22%2F%3E%3Ccircle%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20cx%3D%2228%22%20cy%3D%2218.148%22%20r%3D%224.667%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M28%2056C12.56%2056%200%2043.44%200%2028S12.56%200%2028%200s28%2012.56%2028%2028-12.56%2028-28%2028zm0-49.778C15.99%206.222%206.222%2015.992%206.222%2028S15.992%2049.778%2028%2049.778c12.01%200%2021.778-9.77%2021.778-21.778S40.008%206.222%2028%206.222z%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E" xmlns:data="data"><span class="u-hiddenVisually" style="position: absolute !important; overflow: hidden !important; width: 1px !important; height: 1px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px) !important;">Twitter Ads info and privacy</a></div></div><div class="resize-sensor" style="font-size: small; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; z-index: -1; visibility: hidden;"><div class="resize-sensor-expand" style="position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; z-index: -1; visibility: hidden;"><div style="position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; transition: 0s; width: 510px; height: 213px;"><div class="resize-sensor-shrink" style="position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; z-index: -1; visibility: hidden;"><div style="position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; transition: 0s; width: 1000px; height: 406.344px;">After the tweet, Joe Ricketts donated another $1 million to Our Principles, and Trump upped the ante. In an interview with The Washington Post’s editorial board, Trump threatened to fund ads attacking the family, telling the public “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/03/21/a-transcript-of-donald-trumps-meeting-with-the-washington-post-editorial-board/?utm_term=.05d9c13a452d" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">what a rotten job they’re doing with the Chicago Cubs</a>.” (Seven months later, the Cubs won the World Series for the first time in more than 100 years).As it became clearer that Trump would become the Republican nominee, both 45-branded groups went largely silent. But in the final months of the election, Ricketts made good with Trump, took over the groups and rebranded them as pro-Trump vehicles.It was at this point that the 45Committee’s role became crucial because as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, it doesn’t have to disclose its donors. One fundraiser familiar with the Ricketts’ operation put it bluntly to Politico, saying “<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/secret-money-to-boost-trump-228817" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">There is a substantial appetite for a nondisclosing vehicle, because it’s embarrassing to support Trump</a>.”Together, the two groups spent more than $45.6 million in 2016, 98 percent of which came in the final two months of the election, helping Trump squeak out a historic victory. Nearly half of the total spending, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90016478&cycle=2016" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$21.3 million</a>, came from the nominally apolitical 45Committee.IRS accounting magicThe new 45Committee tax filing is a case study in how politically active nonprofits spend millions to influence politics, without disclosing their donors, while maintaining the illusion that they are a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization.The key, when it comes to filing a return with the IRS is not necessarily what a group spends on direct political activity; it’s what it does to make sure that that spending is less than half of its overall outlays. So to avoid raising alarm bells at the IRS, most groups spend heavily on grants to other politically active nonprofits and on “educational” or “issue” ads that have some vague attachment to the group’s stated mission.The 45Committee did both. It gave out more than $3.6 million in grants to other nonprofits, the largest of which was <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390422-45Committee-2017-Form-990.html#document/p23/a406987" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">a $2 million grant that went to Secure America Now</a>, which <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C90014176" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">spent $1 million</a> in 2016. It also gave to the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=National+Rifle+Assn&cycle=2016" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">National Rifle Association</a> and the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90013145&cycle=2016" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a>, both of which were very active in the 2016 elections.And then there are the ads. While 45Committee only reported $21.3 million to the FEC, the filing shows that it paid $38.3 million — more than 84 percent of its overall outlays — to media firms providing “<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390422-45Committee-2017-Form-990.html" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">media ad services</a>.”Aside from ads the group ran in the 2016 election aimed at hobbling Trump’s opponent, 45Committee spent at least <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/06/politics/45-committee-website-hacked/index.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">$4 million supporting Trump’s cabinet nominees</a> after the election. This is important because it establishes that the group has little-to-no mission beyond supporting Trump in one way or another. It does not have major initiatives beyond running ads, and all of the group’s ads benefit Trump in some way.If the IRS were to look at this activity, it may decide that the 45Committee provided excessive benefit to a single person — a big no-no for nonprofits. That person of course is Donald Trump. But for the IRS to rule on something like this, it would have to audit the 45Committee and conduct a “facts and circumstances” analysis of the groups activities, which is a longshot: The IRS only audits seven out of every 1,000 returns it receives from nonprofits every year.</div><footer class="entry-meta" style="line-height: 15px;">
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=<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" citation="citation" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 705px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">Digs into Semanal have turned up limited information. David Welch, a lawyer known in Southern California for <a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/news/the-new-owner-of-la-weekly-is-a-pot-lawyer-8516563" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" lnid="lnid" suing="suing" unlicensed="unlicensed" cannabis="cannabis" dispensaries="dispensaries" mpid="mpid" plid="plid" http="http" www.ocweekly.com="www.ocweekly.com" news="news" the-new-owner-of-la-weekly-is-a-pot-lawyer-8516563="the-new-owner-of-la-weekly-is-a-pot-lawyer-8516563" data-beacon-parsed="true" class="bn-clickable" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(13, 190, 152) 0px -2px 0px inset;">suing unlicensed cannabis dispensaries</a>, is listed as the registered agent in the California Secretary of State Business Database, according to LA Weekly’s sister site OC Weekly. Brian Calle, chief opinion writer for Southern California News Group, will take over editorial management of the site, the outlet <a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/news/brian-calle-la-weeklys-new-honcho-is-an-oc-weekly-scariest-person-8565478" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" lnid="lnid" also="also" confirmed="confirmed" mpid="mpid" plid="plid" http="http" www.ocweekly.com="www.ocweekly.com" news="news" brian-calle-la-weeklys-new-honcho-is-an-oc-weekly-scariest-person-8565478="brian-calle-la-weeklys-new-honcho-is-an-oc-weekly-scariest-person-8565478" data-beacon-parsed="true" class="bn-clickable" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(13, 190, 152) 0px -2px 0px inset;">also confirmed</a>.</div><div id="inline-newsletter_placeholder" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" citation="citation" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 705px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">Last year, OC Weekly named Calle one of <a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/news/ocs-scariest-people-2016-tony-rackauckas-pedophiles-and-trump-fans-galore-7621559" target="_blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" lnid="lnid" orange="Orange" county="County" s="s" scariest="Scariest" people="People" of="of" mpid="mpid" plid="plid" http="http" www.ocweekly.com="www.ocweekly.com" news="news" ocs-scariest-people-2016-tony-rackauckas-pedophiles-and-trump-fans-galore-7621559="ocs-scariest-people-2016-tony-rackauckas-pedophiles-and-trump-fans-galore-7621559" data-beacon-parsed="true" class="bn-clickable" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(13, 190, 152) 0px -2px 0px inset;">“Orange County’s Scariest People of 2016,”</a>pointing to his role in a number of blunders at his previous post.  </div><div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" citation="citation" data-beacon-parsed="true" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; width: 705px; max-width: 720px; min-width: initial;">It’s been a trying month for local news. Earlier this month, Joe Ricketts, the billionaire CEO of news organizations <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dnainfo-gothamist-shut-down_us_59fb891be4b0b0c7fa39122e" data-beacon="{" p="p" lnid="lnid" dnainfo="DNAinfo" gothamist="Gothamist" and="and" its="its" sister="sister" sites="sites" mpid="mpid" plid="plid" https="https" www.huffingtonpost.com="www.huffingtonpost.com" entry="entry" dnainfo-gothamist-shut-down_us_59fb891be4b0b0c7fa39122e="dnainfo-gothamist-shut-down_us_59fb891be4b0b0c7fa39122e" data-beacon-parsed="true" class="bn-clickable" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(13, 190, 152) 0px -2px 0px inset;">DNAinfo, Gothamist and its sister sites</a>, shut down the sites without warning just days after a number of staff members announced they had formed a union. The decision put 115 journalists out of work left <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/with-shuttering-of-gothamist-and-dnainfo-we-lose_us_59fc9e81e4b0baea26318175" data-beacon="{" p="p" lnid="lnid" a="a" gaping="gaping" hole="hole" mpid="mpid" plid="plid" https="https" www.huffingtonpost.com="www.huffingtonpost.com" entry="entry" with-shuttering-of-gothamist-and-dnainfo-we-lose_us_59fc9e81e4b0baea26318175="with-shuttering-of-gothamist-and-dnainfo-we-lose_us_59fc9e81e4b0baea26318175" data-beacon-parsed="true" class="bn-clickable" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(13, 190, 152) 0px -2px 0px inset;">a gaping hole</a> in coverage in the cities those outlets covered: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington huffpo</div>
<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/10/liberal-big-money-is-pouring-into-elections/">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/10/liberal-big-money-is-pouring-into-elections/</a>our principles pac ~ trumphttps://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00603621&cycle=2016
<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000000320&type=I&super=N&name=Ricketts%2C+John+Joe">https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000000320&type=I&super=N&name=Ricketts%2C+John+Joe</a>

Kendrick said she and her husband have made a “significant” donation to Our Principles, a super PAC formed in January that is now running an intense ad campaign against Trump. That makes them the second Major League Baseball owners to support the organization, which received its initial $3 million from Marlene Ricketts, the matriarch of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs.http://www.alternet.org/story/152420/6_right-wing_sports_team_owners_bankrolling_their_radical_agenda_with_your_tax_dollars

Waitt isn't the only billionaire who has recently returned to political giving. Leo Linbeck III, a Texas real estate magnate with a thin record of donations, gave nearly a million dollars to launch the <a target="self" href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/project-primary-mayhem-leo-linbeck">Campaign for Primary Accountability</a>, dedicated to make life miserable for longtime incumbents. Louisiana oil billionaire William Doré, content to sit on the political sidelines for years, <a target="self" href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/william-dore-rick-santorum-mystery-donor">gave $1.5 million</a> to a super-PAC supporting former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's presidential campaign. TD Ameritrade's Joe Ricketts, who six years ago didn't even donate to his son's US Senate campaign, has signaled his intention to <a target="_self" href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/05/joe-ricketts-man-behind-new-super-pac-loves-corporate-welfare">spend $10 million</a> trying to take down Obama this summer and fall. Super-PACs are the hot new accessory for the über-rich....<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/ted-waitt-icpurple-super-pac">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/ted-waitt-icpurple-super-pac</a>

===

So far in the 2014 election cycle, “Americans for Prosperity,” the Koch brother’s political front group, has aired more than 17,000 broadcast TV commercials, compared with only 2,100 aired by Republican Party groups.

"Americans for Prosperity" has also been outspending top Democratic super PACs in nearly all of the Senate races Republicans are targeting this year. In seven of the nine races the difference in total spending is at least <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/25/how-the-koch-brothers-are-dominating-the-senate-ad-race-in-one-chart/?tid=hpModule_ba0d4c2a-86a2-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394" style="">two-to-one </a> [2]and Democratic super PACs have had virtually no air presence in five of the nine states.

The Kochs have spawned several imitators. Through the end of February, four of the top five contributors to 2014 super-PACs are now giving money to political operations they themselves created, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

For example, billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and his son, Todd, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, have their own $25 million political operation called “Ending Spending.” The group is now investing heavily in TV ads against Republican Representative Walter Jones in a North Carolina primary (they blame Jones for too often voting with Obama).

Their ad attacking Democratic New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen for supporting Obama’s health-care law has become a template for similar ads funded by the Koch’s “Americans for Prosperity” in Senate races across the country.

When billionaires supplant political parties, candidates are beholden directly to the billionaires. And if and when those candidates win election, the billionaires will be completely in charge.

At this very moment, Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (worth an estimated $37.9 billion) is busy interviewing potential Republican candidates whom he might fund, in what’s being called the “Sheldon Primary.”

“Certainly the ‘Sheldon Primary’ is an important primary for any Republican running for president,” <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-25/ameritrade-s-ricketts-invites-wealthy-to-koch-style-group.html?alcmpid=" style="">says </a> [3]Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary under President George W. Bush. “It goes without saying that anybody running for the Republican nomination would want to have Sheldon at his side.”

The new billionaire political bosses aren’t limited to Republicans. Democratic-leaning billionaires Tom Steyer, a former hedge-fund manager, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have also created their own political groups. But even if the two sides were equal, billionaires squaring off against each other isn’t remotely a democracy.

In his much-talked-about new book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” economist Thomas Piketty explains why the rich have become steadily richer while the share of national income going to wages continues to drop. He shows that when wealth is concentrated in relatively few hands, and the income generated by that wealth grows more rapidly than the overall economy – as has been the case in the United States and many other advanced economies for years – the richest receive almost all the income growth.

Logically, this leads to greater and greater concentrations of income and wealth in the future – dynastic fortunes that are handed down from generation to generation, as they were prior to the twentieth century in much of the world.

The trend was reversed temporarily in the twentieth century by the Great Depression, two terrible wars, the development of the modern welfare state, and strong labor unions. But Piketty is justifiably concerned about the future.

A new gilded age is starting to look a lot like the old one. The only way to stop this is through concerted political action. Yet the only large-scale political action we’re witnessing is that of Charles and David Koch, and their billionaire imitators.

===

WASHINGTON -- Perhaps it wasn't how he hoped to make a splash, but TD Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts hit the political big time this week when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/us/politics/gop-super-pac-weighs-hard-line-attack-on-obama.html?hp" target="hplink">The New York Times reported</a> that the Wyoming-based billionaire had commissioned a plan for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/17/us/politics/17donate-document.html" target="hplink">a super PAC ad campaign</a> attacking President Barack Obama over his past association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Although Ricketts has now <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/ricketts-disavows-super-pac-proposal/" target="hplink">renounced the effort</a> -- one document states his preliminary approval to draft it -- and Fred Davis, the advertising maven who wrote up the plan, said it was <a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/fred-davis-joe-ricketts-respond-to-rev-wright" target="hplink">just one of many not adopted</a>, the proposed $10 million campaign has caused a furor.

Ricketts clearly has designs on joining that group of billionaires -- like Sheldon Adelson, Charles and David Koch, and Harold Simmons -- who are sweeping through the 2012 election as forces of their own nature.

He has already contributed more than a half-million dollars to super PACs in the 2012 cycle. The Campaign for Primary Accountability, which backs primary challengers to congressional incumbents, reported a $500,000 contribution, and Ricketts' own super PAC, the Ending Spending Fund, spent $250,000 to support Senate candidate Deb Fischer in her victory in Tuesday's Nebraska GOP primary.

Like many a staunch fiscal conservative, Ricketts is a self-made man. Born in Nebraska City, Neb., in 1941, he put himself through college, taking nine years to graduate from Creighton University while working to pay the bills.

In the 1970s, he co-founded the firm that would eventually become Ameritrade (later to merge with TD Waterhouse). The company was a pioneer in providing individual investors with the tools to trade, first through touch-tone phone services and later through the Internet with its well-known $8-a-trade offer.

As for Ricketts' politics, he had shifted away from the Democratic Party he supported in his youth.

"I started my political life as a Kennedy Democrat, and Johnson pushed me out because he spent too much money," Ricketts <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TA8-JShVyns" target="_hplink">explained in a video</a> announcing the launch of his Taxpayers Against Earmarks, the precursor group to the Ending Spending Fund.

Ricketts continued, "Reagan pulled me into the Republican Party, and [George W.] Bush pushed me out because he spent too much money."

A staunch opponent of both partisanship and wasteful spending is how Ricketts portrays himself and his political activism. But theory doesn't always conform to reality. Ricketts' monomania about spending drives very one-sided giving.

Ricketts' political contributions and his super PAC's actions are those of a person strongly based in the Republican Party. Since 1989, he has contributed more than $2.25 million to candidates and political action committees at the federal and state level. Only $11,600 has gone to Democrats, the biggest recipient being Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) with $5,100.

The Ending Spending Fund judges lawmakers based on whether they support capping federal spending, a singular interest that puts it squarely in line with the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. The super PAC's website characterizes lawmakers as <a href="http://endingspending.com/sheriffsandbandits/" target="_hplink">"sheriffs" and "bandits."</a> Only five House Democrats and two Senate Democrats make the "sheriffs" list and only two House Republicans appear on the "bandits" side.

The group's spending is even more telling. In 2010, the super PAC spent more than 90 percent of its funds attacking Democrats. Only $29,000 of the total $1.15 million went to ads trying unsuccessfully to save ousted Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), who had voted against practically every bill endorsed by the Democratic majority.

In the past, Ricketts' anti-spending mantra had zeroed in on congressional earmarks and wasteful spending. "I think it's a crime for our elected officials to borrow money today, to spend money today, and push the repayment of that loan out into the future on people who are not even born yet," he said in the video announcing Taxpayers Against Earmarks.

The Ending Funding Fund <a href="http://endingspending.com/fixing-the-budget/earmarks/whatsanearmark/" target="_hplink">defines earmarks</a> as provisions "inserted in the text of a Congressional bill or report that allocates money or a tax benefit for a specific project, program, or organization, circumventing a merit-based or competitive allocation process."

But Ricketts' intense dislike of wasting taxpayer dollars, especially those not procured through a "merit-based or competitive allocation process," didn't exactly extend to his own business.

In 2009, the Ricketts family won a bidding war to purchase the Chicago Cubs baseball team from the Chicago Tribune Co. for nearly $1 billion. Within 12 months, the family was pushing the state of Illinois to <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-11-11/business/ct-biz-1112-wrigley-bonds-ricketts-20101111_1_amusement-taxes-hotel-tax-bond-offering" target="hplink">borrow $300 million</a> to revamp the famed Wrigley Field where the Cubs play. But the proposal has yet to be approved, and now <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/rahm-emanuel-joe-ricketts-jeremiah-wright_n_1525541.html?ref=election-2012-blog" target="hplink">Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel</a>, former chief of staff to President Obama and a master of political hardball, has made it clear he's incensed about the Rev. Wright ad proposal and what an aide called the Ricketts' "blatant hypocrisy."

Down in Arizona, the Ricketts were successful in obtaining taxpayer money to build a new Cubs spring training facility. The voters of Mesa approved a ballot initiative to <a href="http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/2010/11/4323_mesa_voters_app.html" target="_hplink">provide $99 million in taxpayer funds</a> in 2010.

Publicly funded stadium expansions are just the type of wasteful spending that an article in <a href="http://www.american.com/archive/2008/april-04-08/a-closer-look-at-stadium-subsidies" target="_hplink">the magazine of the conservative American Enterprise Institute</a> argued against in 2008. Ricketts sat on AEI's board of trustees from 1999 to 2007.

Another area where Ricketts' political activism may come up against his personal interests is in his newly burgeoning media business. DNAInfo.com is a hyper-local journalism project founded by Ricketts as an alternative to both the mainstream press and partisan outlets. Even if DNAInfo.com maintains its objective stance, its founder and CEO's newfound political infamy <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2012/05/5934988/anti-obama-attack-plan-dnainfo-owner-joe-ricketts-comes-out-his-shell-" target="_hplink">has raised eyebrows</a>. huffpo

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