Letter to Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Department of the Treasury and Charles Rettig, Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service - Reps. Crow, Deutch, Welch, and Cicilline Urge Sec. Yellen to Reverse Trump-era Rules that Protect Dark Money

Letter

Dear Secretary Yellen and Commissioner Rettig:

We write to urge the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to reverse the
Trump Administration's decision to eliminate disclosure requirements for certain tax-exempt
organizations that engage in political activity. As it stands, this policy weakens federal tax laws,
campaign finance laws, and longstanding efforts to prevent foreign interference in U.S. elections.

For decades, the Treasury Department and IRS required 501(c)(4) organizations and other taxexempt groups that are eligible to engage in political advocacy to identify, in confidential filings,
the names and addresses of individual donors who make significant financial contributions over
$5,000. In 2018, the IRS attempted to unilaterally eliminate this requirement. That same year, the
Senate voted in a bipartisan manner to overrule the IRS's action, and the rule was eventually
struck down by a Federal court. Despite the Senate vote and Federal court ruling, in May of last
year the Treasury Department and IRS finalized a regulation eliminating this longstanding
disclosure requirement, allowing 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5) and 501(c)(6) groups engaged in political
activity to hide the identities of major donors from the IRS.

Eliminating the requirement that tax-exempt groups disclose basic information about the source
of their contributions undercuts efforts to enforce prohibitions against foreign spending in U.S.
elections and detect other illegal activity. It also undermines the ability of the U.S. government to
police the wave of "dark money" that has flooded our political system in the decade since the
Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission. According to a
study by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, dark money groups have spent over $1
billion to influence U.S. elections since 2008.

As secret campaign contributions continue to pour into federal elections, this IRS rule is a major
step backwards for transparency and will allow dark money to continue to corrode our political
system. The IRS needs every tool at its disposal to ensure that these organizations are complying
with the law.

Reinstating this rule is a critical step in preventing special interests and foreign actors from
exploiting loopholes at the expense of the American people. We strongly urge you to reconsider
the prior administration's decision and reinstate the requirement that certain tax-exempt
organizations engaged in political activity disclose information about their major donors to the
IRS.

Sincerely,