Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Koch Front Group, Emboldening Dark Money Donations

In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court sided with the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity Foundation, ruling that California cannot require charities soliciting contributions in the state to report the identities of their major donors. This is a win for Charles Koch’s network and others who use dark money donations to benefit their regressive political agendas. 

The Koch network has long used dark money campaigns to capture a number of institutions created for the common good, from higher education to the courts, as well as state and federal politicians. It has eroded trust in government and advanced privatization and corporatization, which have contributed to our current capitalist crisis. These campaigns are an implementation of raw power by some of the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the world. They have used the ability to infuse their money and influence without accountability to ensure favorable outcomes for their agenda both state and nationwide, at the expense of We the People. 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta -- produced by a majority partisan bench -- allows the Koch network to bypass long-standing confidential disclosure rules for groups given the privilege of non-profit status. In this case, the state required private disclosure of major donors and used that information as part of its oversight. The Court struck down those decades-old rules.  

But the bigger impact of the decision, as noted in the dissent, is that the partisan “marks reporting and disclosure requirements with a bull’s-eye.” It signals that the Court could strike down the For the People Act, if it were to pass, and other measures designed to shed light on the dark money distorting our elections and our public policy, including the courts, education, climate, and so much more. We know the harmful impact dark money brings with it, because we’ve seen it happen over the last decade thanks to the Court’s partisan decision in 2010 called “Citizens United.” 

That ruling has allowed for the influx of massive media campaigns that helped their favored politicians who represent the best interests of wealthy corporations, not the common good. Our economy continues to serve the ultra-wealthy elite on the backs of the working poor. Our democracy is in shambles with a House, Senate, and judiciary filled with corporate-backed politicians. Politicians and organizations funded by the Koch network are working in favor of corporate interests while trying to strip the public of our voting rights, reproductive freedoms, LGBTQ+ rights, climate protections, and access to healthcare. The federal judicial selection process has been manipulated by special interest groups, like the Koch network, that have poured untold millions of dollars into expensive campaigns to influence judicial nominations, judicial decisions, and judges -- with very little transparency about where the money comes from. And now we see the result of a Supreme Court packed with Koch-backed judges. 

More Koch network influence spells disaster for our climate, as well as realizing social and economic justice. For more than 45 years, Charles Koch and his allies have been advancing a political strategy that places profits over people and our planet.

We dissent.

UnKoch My Campus

BOLD ReThink

Lisa Graves, True North Research

American Promise Virginia

Our Revolution Virginia

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