“The Koch brothers’ political machine is expanding into new states and recruiting new donors as it seeks to shape the Republican Party — and its presidential field — headed into 2016,” according to confidential donor briefing documents obtained by Politico.

“The documents detail plans to beef up the network’s state-of-the-art data system, and pay hundreds of staff embedded in local communities across the country in preparation for get-out-the-vote efforts that are unprecedented from a third-party group.”

Charles Koch told USA Today he is “considering throwing his political might into the Republican presidential primary for the first time and is likely to provide financial help to several contenders before settling on a single candidate.”

Koch, his brother David and their team have identified five candidates who have the right message and “a good chance of getting elected.” They are Gov. Scott Walker, Jeb Bush and Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio.

“His comments came a day after his brother David Koch lavishly praised Walker during a speech in New York — prompting immediate speculation that the brothers has settled on Walker as their choice. In a statement, David Koch insisted that he was not endorsing anyone.”

Mother Jones: “At their most recent retreat in southern California two weeks ago, the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch and 450 of their donor-allies announced plans to spend $889 million over the next two years to influence state and federal elections and shape the national discourse. The money would go to bankrolling political activity, funding think tanks and academic research, and fueling grassroots organizing efforts around the country—all in support of the Kochs’ pro-business, free-market-centric ideology. That eye-popping, nine-figure goal made national headlines, but what wasn’t reported was that the Kochs and their allies were already well on their way to banking that huge amount of money.”

“Donors at the Palm Springs confab pledged $249 million toward funding the Koch brothers’ grand plan, according to two sources with knowledge of the fundraising haul.”

“Democratic lawmakers say they are deeply worried about how much money Charles and David Koch plan to spend on the 2016 elections,” The Hill reports.

“The billionaire brothers have played a massive role in GOP politics in recent years and were seen by Democrats as a major reason why Republicans recaptured the Senate in 2014. Now, the Kochs are focused on the big prize: the White House.”

First Read comments on plans by the Koch brothers to spend nearly $900 million on the 2016 election noting that, “If the past is any indication, most — if not all — of that money will be in anonymous contributions not tracked by the Federal Election Commission. So fellow political reporters: Don’t rely on FEC data to tell you which party has the financial advantage in the upcoming presidential contest; those numbers are only telling you PART of the story.) ”

“The Koch Brothers and their backers have built an entire political party outside of the official Republican Party structure. It’s not too different from what organized labor did in the ’70s and ’80s. The big difference: There’s a lot more money and sophistication in today’s politics than what we saw 30-40 years ago.”