Daily Beast: “Political donations by non-disclosing groups… have skyrocketed in recent years. During the 2018 election cycle, such groups provided roughly $178 million to federal political committees… In 2020, they’re on track to far surpass that total. By the end of June, non-disclosing groups had donated $177 million to federal political committees.”

“The result, experts say, has been an erosion of fundamental rules governing American elections and the growing amounts of money spent to affect their outcomes… The phenomenon is not confined to one political side or the other.”

“A new super PAC made a splashy entrance onto the Senate battleground scene last week, reporting millions in spending backing Democrats in key races. There’s just one problem: The ads don’t exist,” Politico reports.

“The group, Americans for Progressive Action USA, filed campaign finance reports showing more than $2.5 million in advertising and associated costs across a half-dozen Senate races last week. But six ad makers and advertising platforms listed in the filings said they’ve never heard of the super PAC and have no records of doing business with it.”

Robert Reich: “Over the last decade, half of all donations to Super PACs came from just 25 people.”

“If this isn’t the mark of a kleptocracy, I don’t know what is.”

“As President Trump raises money for his reelection campaign, he’s competing for cash with a growing mass of pro-Trump PACs, dark money groups and off-brand Facebook advertisers neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Trump’s campaign, which have pulled in over $46 million so far,” Politico reports.

Politico: “The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into Florida GOP Rep. Ross Spano over alleged campaign finance violations. Spano has denied any wrongdoing. The revelation came in an announcement by the House Ethics Committee, which has been asked by DOJ to defer its own probe into Spano while the criminal investigation unfolds. The Ethics Committee traditionally defers to law enforcement agencies while criminal cases are ongoing.”

“Spano, a 53-year-old former Florida state legislator who was first elected to Congress in Nov. 2018, has been under scrutiny for months over funds he loaned his campaign during last year’s race. Spano claimed initially that nearly $175,000 he loaned his campaign came from personal funds. But it was later disclosed that Spano had received $180,000 in loans from personal friends.”

“Rudy Giuliani is being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible campaign finance violations and a failure to register as a foreign agent as part of an active investigation into his financial dealings,” Bloomberg reports.

“The probe of Giuliani, which one official said could also include possible charges on violating laws against bribing foreign officials or conspiracy, presents a serious threat to Trump’s presidency from a man that former national security adviser John Bolton has called a ‘hand grenade.'”

“Two foreign-born donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee who helped Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate Democrat Joe Biden were arrested late Wednesday on criminal charges of violating campaign finance rules,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Florida businessmen, have been under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, and are expected to appear in federal court in Virginia later on Thursday… The men’s nationalities were unclear, though both were believed to have been born in former Soviet republics.”

USA Today reports both men were scheduled to be deposed this week by the three House committees leading the impeachment probe.