“The decision will have a major effect on the 2018 midterm elections, as dark money groups will now have to disclose contributors if they spend $250 or more to advocate for or against the election of a federal political candidate.”

“Dark money spending exploded after the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision opened the door for corporations and unions to legally spend unlimited sums on elections as long as organizations remained independent from political parties and candidates’ campaigns. Dark money groups have already spent $65 million on the 2018 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.”

“Before the ruling went into effect, the top dark money spenders included the Republican-aligned business lobby U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Democratic Party nonprofit Majority Forward and Charles and David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity. If these groups spend another dollar to call for the election or defeat of a federal candidate, they will be required to disclose all contributors above $200 to their political operations.”

“This is happening as a result of six years of litigation by CREW. The group filed a complaint with the FEC against Crossroads in 2012. The complaint alleged Crossroads broke election law by spending more than 50 percent of its funds on political campaigns while failing to disclose its donors.”

“CREW’s complaint relied on a Bloomberg report about a Crossroads fundraising event where Rove boasted to potential donors that a contributor had given $3 million to fund election ads to help Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel’s 2012 campaign against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). Federal election law requires the disclosure of donors who donate to outside groups like Crossroads for the express purpose of supporting or opposing a specific candidate. Crossroads did not disclose that or any other contributor.”

“An investigative report by the FEC general counsel found that Crossroads didn’t comply with certain campaign finance laws but also stated that the regulation mandating disclosure only when a donor explicitly gives money to fund ads in a particular race allowed the group to keep donors hidden. FEC commissioners split along ideological lines, 3-3, on whether Crossroads violated campaign finance rules and on whether to close the file on the group, effectively killing CREW’s complaint.”

“CREW filed a lawsuit in 2016 in response to this dismissal and challenged the underlying regulation that protected Crossroads and all other dark money groups from disclosing their donors.”