The IRS letters that went out to politically-active nonprofit groups in 2010 and kicked up a House investigation two years later have fallen out of the headlines but they just might be havingan impact on this year's midterms.
Billionaire oil executives David and Charles Koch are now relying on Freedom Partners Action Fund, a new super-PAC, to run political commercials, while their nonprofit,Americans for Prosperity, has gone dark.
The shift in television ad buying occurred on Sept. 5, which was precisely60 days from the general election and a date that triggers additional disclosure rules for nonprofits such as AFP. The group did air political advertisements within that 60-day window in 2012, funding950 network and national cable spots in House and Senate races and 2,208 spots in the presidential, according to Kantar Media's CMAG data. Of course, that was before the Internal Revenue Service letters scrutinizing the political activity of so-called charitable groups and ensuing scandal became public.
By shifting ad spending to a super-PAC, the Kochs won'tneed to worry about whether the IRS decides to amend disclosure rules, impose new limits on campaign-related activities or if any of the ongoing legal battles trigger changes. "All these groups have to consider what that IRS might construe as political," said David Keating, the president of the Center for Competitive Politics, a conservative organization that is challenging campaign finance regulations.
The IRS flap was a "minor factor" in the decision to shift roles, according to a source familiar with AFP. Another driver, according to the source, was a reassessment of strategy after taking electoral losses in 2012 that included spending money earlier in the election cycle.
The move also puts the best-known Koch group further from thepublic eyeat least for the time-being. The Koch brothers have come under withering attacks from the left, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid excoriating them as "un-American" from the Senate floor while theAFL-CIO has launched a media campaign focused on "The Koch" sisterstwo women who are supposed to represent a counter-point to David and Charles Koch.
We'll continue with a strong push through the elections.
James Davis, Freedom Partners Action Fund
Freedom Partners Action Fund began appearing on disclaimers for television spots in Arkansas, Iowa and Oregon on Sept. 5, according theCMAG data. That dayAFP, which ran ads for most of this year, pulleddown all of their commercials, the data shows.
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