Dark Money Trace

In 2021-2022, Barre Seid transferred his 100% ownership of Tripp Lite to the Marble Freedom Trust (a Leonard Leo-aligned 501(c)(4)). Marble Freedom Trust then sold Tripp Lite to Eaton Corp, realizing approximately $1.6 billion — the largest single contribution ever made to a politically-active dark-money group. This is the canonical dark-money case for the post-Citizens-United era because the 501(c)(4) wrapper allowed Seid to monetize a closely-held private company through a politically-controlled entity without triggering capital-gains tax and without donor disclosure.

Future Forward USA spent approximately $440M in independent expenditures supporting the Harris-Walz 2024 campaign and opposing Trump - the largest single super PAC outlay on the Democratic side of the cycle. Super PAC direct donors disclosed; the affiliated 501(c)(4) Future Forward USA Action's donors are not. Substantial individual disclosures showed Reid Hoffman, Dustin Moskovitz, Michael Bloomberg, and a small number of other megadonors as the largest contributors.

Make America Great Again Inc., the principal Super PAC supporting Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, reported approximately $250M in IE spending. Super PAC donors are disclosed, but a portion of MAGA Inc's funding originated with its sister 501(c)(4) Make America Great Again Action whose donors are not (= partial tier).

Preserve America PAC, the principal pro-Trump 2024 super PAC, received $100M+ from Miriam Adelson during the 2024 cycle - the single largest individual contribution of the cycle. The super PAC's direct contributions are disclosed; some auxiliary spending came through affiliated c4 channels that are not. Connects the Adelson dynastic wealth (already documented in heirs ledger via Sheldon ? Miriam) to the 2024 dark-money trace.

Senate Majority PAC spent approximately $88M on IE ads supporting Raphael Warnock's 2022 Georgia Senate runoff against Herschel Walker. Partial disclosure: SMP donors are reported, but its 501(c)(4) sister Majority Forward's are not.

Senate Majority PAC (the principal Democratic Senate super PAC) and its affiliated Duty & Honor c4 spent approximately $53M in the Wisconsin 2024 Senate race defending Sen. Tammy Baldwin against Eric Hovde. Direct super PAC spending fully disclosed; the affiliated c4 vehicle's spending was not. Baldwin held the seat by a narrow margin (~30,000 votes).

Defend American Jobs PAC (a crypto-industry-funded super PAC, primary funders Fairshake / Coinbase / Ripple) spent ~$40.5M supporting Bernie Moreno and opposing Sherrod Brown in the Ohio 2024 Senate race — one of the most-expensive single-race independent expenditures in Senate history. The PAC's 2024 disclosure showed crypto-industry corporate treasuries as the largest direct contributors. Combined Fairshake / Defend American Jobs / Protect Progress crypto-PAC network spending in 2024 cycle exceeded $200M across all races.

Senate Leadership Fund spent approximately $32M on IE ads supporting JD Vance's 2022 Ohio Senate campaign against Tim Ryan. SLF discloses its direct donors but receives substantial transfers from its 501(c)(4) sister organisation One Nation, whose donors are not disclosed (= partial disclosure tier).

FEC Schedule A: One Nation, a 501(c)(4) that does not disclose its donors, contributed $28,000,000 across 1 itemized receipt to Senate Leadership Fund in the 2024 cycle. The contributions themselves are disclosed; the original donors behind them are not.

SLF spent approximately $23M on IE ads supporting Thom Tillis's 2020 Senate re-election against Cal Cunningham. Partial disclosure: SLF's donors are documented, its sister 501(c)(4) One Nation's are not.

DonorsTrust (the conservative donor-advised-fund clearing house) made grants totaling approximately $20M to The 85 Fund during the 2022-2023 period, alongside grants to Concord Fund, Heritage Foundation, and dozens of other right-aligned c4/c3 recipients. DAF structure means original-donor identities are never disclosed (DAF advisors are the legal donor of record). Two-hop chain: original donor ? DonorsTrust ? recipient c4. Reported via DonorsTrust IRS Form 990 filings, but identity of the original DAF account-holders is opaque.

One Nation (the McConnell-aligned 501(c)(4) sister to Senate Leadership Fund) spent approximately $15M in issue advertising targeting Sherrod Brown in Ohio's 2024 Senate race, alongside the Defend American Jobs crypto-PAC spending and AFP Action's independent expenditures. One Nation does not disclose donors. Brown lost the race to Bernie Moreno.

AIPAC's United Democracy Project (UDP) super PAC spent approximately $14.5M in the June 2024 NY-16 Democratic primary supporting George Latimer over incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman — among the largest amounts ever spent by an outside group in a House primary. UDP is partially disclosure-tier 'partial' because the super PAC's spending is disclosed but a meaningful share of its donor base comes through pass-through 501(c)(4) channels (AIPAC's own c4 plus c4 contributions from other pro-Israel donor networks). Substantial individual disclosures showed $14M+ from financial-sector donors including hedge-fund managers and private-equity executives.

One Nation spending against Bob Casey in the Pennsylvania 2024 Senate race, paired with Defend American Jobs and other Republican-aligned outside spending. One Nation donor list not disclosed. Casey lost the race to Dave McCormick by ~17,000 votes - one of the closest Senate races of the cycle.

Majority Forward (the Schumer-aligned 501(c)(4) sister to Senate Majority PAC) spent approximately $10M defending Sherrod Brown in Ohio's 2024 Senate race against the One Nation / Defend American Jobs / AFP outside spending. Majority Forward donor list not disclosed. Brown still lost the race.

Crossroads GPS spending supporting Susan Collins's 2020 Senate re-election against Sara Gideon. Crossroads GPS is a 501(c)(4) and does not disclose its donors.

Sixteen Thirty Fund (the largest 501(c)(4) in the Arabella Advisors-managed left-aligned network) distributed approximately $8M to issue-advocacy groups during 2022-2024, with documented giving patterns that include post-Musk-acquisition criticism of X (formerly Twitter) and related tech-platform-accountability advocacy. Sixteen Thirty Fund is itself dark-money (501c4 donors not disclosed); downstream sub-grants opaque.

Defend American Jobs PAC spent approximately $7.8M in Pennsylvania 2024 supporting Dave McCormick against Sen. Bob Casey. Crypto-industry funding pattern same as Ohio + Wisconsin. McCormick won the race by a narrow margin (~17,000 votes) — among the closest Senate races of the cycle.

Defend American Jobs PAC spent approximately $6.5M in the Wisconsin 2024 Senate race against Tammy Baldwin / for Eric Hovde. Same crypto-industry funding pool as the Ohio race against Brown (Fairshake / Coinbase / Ripple corporate treasuries). Hovde lost the race; the PAC's spending in the cycle nonetheless illustrates the systematic deployment of crypto-industry money across Senate races involving candidates perceived as friendly to regulatory crackdown.

American Action Network (501(c)(4) sister to House Republican super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund) issue-advocacy spending supporting Mike Johnson's House Republican leadership in the 2024 cycle. AAN donor list not disclosed. The c4-to-super-PAC transfer pattern routes opaque-donor money into Johnson-affiliated House race spending.

Americans for Prosperity Action (the Super PAC arm of the Koch network's flagship 501(c)(4)) reported approximately $4.5M in independent expenditures supporting Ted Cruz's 2018 Senate re-election against Beto O'Rourke. The 501(c)(4) source funding is itself disclosure-anonymous.

Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action — the Koch network's 501(c)(4)-affiliated super PAC arm) spent ~$4.2M in the Ohio 2024 Senate general supporting Bernie Moreno, after switching from initial backing of Matt Dolan in the GOP primary. AFP Action's funding chain runs through the 501(c)(4) Americans for Prosperity which does not disclose donors; the underlying Koch network's corporate-treasury and family-trust sourcing is structurally shielded under current FEC/IRS rules.

AFP Action ad spend supporting Mike Lee's 2022 Senate re-election against independent Evan McMullin. AFP's parent 501(c)(4) does not disclose donors.

American Crossroads (the Rove super PAC) spent in 2024 cycle independent expenditures supporting Republican candidates including Trump-allied messaging. Super PAC donors disclosed; companion 501(c)(4) Crossroads GPS's donors are not (Crossroads GPS already documented separately). The c4-to-super-PAC structure is the Citizens-United-era prototype that American Crossroads pioneered with sister Crossroads GPS in 2010.

Restoration PAC (principal funding: billionaire Dick Uihlein) spent approximately $2.5M in independent expenditures targeting Liz Cheney in the August 2022 Wyoming Republican primary, supporting challenger Harriet Hageman. Cheney lost by 37 points. Restoration PAC discloses its donors (primarily Uihlein), but the broader Uihlein-aligned 501(c)(4) infrastructure does not.

Concord Fund (formerly Judicial Crisis Network, the Leonard Leo-aligned 501(c)(4)) ran approximately $2.2M in independent issue advertising in Maine during the 2020 cycle in support of Sen. Susan Collins, after her Kavanaugh and Barrett confirmation votes. As a c4 it does not disclose donors; the Leo network's funding sources have been linked through subsequent IRS Form 990 disclosures to a single $1.6B trust donation from Barre Seid in 2022 plus reciprocal grants among Leo-network entities. The Collins spend is part of a broader pattern of the Concord Fund / 85 Fund / Marble Freedom Trust ecosystem deploying judicial-confirmation-themed advertising in close Senate races.

Heritage Action for America (Heritage Foundation's 501(c)(4) lobbying arm) ran issue advertising in Maine during the 2020 cycle supporting Susan Collins's reelection after her Kavanaugh confirmation vote and ahead of her Barrett confirmation vote. Heritage Action donor list not disclosed. Same period as Concord Fund / Judicial Crisis Network spending (already documented in DB).

Club for Growth Action IE spending supporting Chip Roy's 2018 House campaign for TX-21. Club for Growth's sister 501(c)(4) does not disclose donors.

Demand Justice, a 501(c)(4) focused on progressive judicial nominations, has channelled bundled contributions through affiliated PACs supporting Chuck Schumer's 2022 Senate re-election infrastructure. Two-hop chain: Demand Justice donors anonymous → affiliated PAC → IE / coordinated party spending.

House Freedom Fund (the Freedom Caucus's leadership PAC) IE + bundled contributions supporting Thomas Massie's 2022 House re-election. Funding model includes a 501(c)(4) layer that does not disclose donors.