Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s new political fundraising group “Onward Together” will not have to reveal its donors, and so will apparently be open to the same kind of “dark money” she lambasted during the 2016 campaign.
The group was announced Monday by the former secretary of state on Twitter, as a way “to encourage people to get involved, organize, and even run for office.”
The site’s mission statement says it will “advance progressive values and work to build a brighter future for generations to come.”
“Resist, insist, persist, enlist,” says a quote from Clinton on the website.
Despite the more holistic approach teased in the mission statement, the site itself indicates that the primary function of the group will be to raise money. Along with the mission page, there is only an ability to donate to the group or to sign up to the email list. Should a user sign up, they are taken immediately to a donation page, as well as sent an email with a link to the donation page, as well as an encouragement to “chip in.”
Particularly notable is the group’s IRS designation as a 501(c)(4) non-profit, which allows it to take in money without revealing donor names — a type of donation that has become known as “dark money.”
Clinton lambasted the influence of dark money in U.S. politics during the campaign and targeted the Supreme Court over its controversial 2010 “Citizens United” ruling, which cleared the way for non-profits to spend unlimited sums of money via the 501(c)(4) designation.
Clinton called for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling and frequently said that Citizens United undermined the U.S. election system.
“We need a Supreme Court that will stand up on behalf of women’s rights, on behalf of the rights of the LGBT community, that will stand up and say no to Citizens United, a decision that has undermined the election system in our country because of the way it permits dark, unaccountable money to come into our electoral system,” she said at the Las Vegas presidential debate in October.
“Onward Together” could certainly choose to reveal the names of its donors, but is not required to by law, and there was no mention of such a choice during the announcement. A request for comment from Breitbart News was not immediately returned from “Onward Together.”
“Onward Together” isn’t Clinton’s first association with a 501(c)(4). The left-wing Center for American Progress is a 501(c)(4) and was founded by former Clinton campaign Chair John Podesta. The center is currently run by Neera Tanden — also a close Clinton ally.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY
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