Tax-exempt groups can keep donors secret

last updated 8 January 2015

A federal court ruled this week that tax-exempt groups that are spending millions on campaign ads can continue to conceal the identities of their donors. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed a lower court ruling that directed tax-exempt, so-called 501(c) groups to name their donors. “The statute is anything but clear,” the three-judge panel said, and added that the appeals court was “in no position” to assess the Federal Election Commission’s interpretation of its confusing regulations. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who sued the FEC last year in an effort to force disclosure, called the ruling “a blow against transparency in the funding of political campaigns.”