Rove Gets Permission to Hide His Donors

The IRS quietly granted 501(c)(4) nonprofit status to Karl Rove’s political group Crossroads GPS, according to Open Secrets.

Rick Hasen: “That implicitly gives a green light to ‘social welfare groups’ to spend enormous sums on political ads, all without disclosing where these groups get their money… For anyone worried about the effect of money on American politics, super PACs are a pernicious development. But at least contributions to super PACs have to be disclosed. Crossroads GPS found a way around that requirement.”

“The Crossroads GPS decision is likely to open the door to more shadow super PACs set up as nondisclosing social welfare groups.”