Pro-Ernst dark money group may get sued over undisclosed finances

A group formed to support U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s re-election may face a lawsuit over its ongoing failure to disclose its fundraising and spending.

Iowa Values, created as a 501(c)4 political nonprofit, has not registered with the Federal Election Commission. The FEC has yet to act on a complaint filed more than a year ago, seeking to bring the group into compliance with campaign finance law.

The Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization supporting public access to the political process, has asked a U.S. District Court in Washington, DC to find that the FEC failed to comply with a court order to address the Iowa Values matter. If the court does so, federal law allows the center “to sue Iowa Values directly” to force disclosure of its financial activity. That option is on the table, an attorney for the center told Bleeding Heartland on February 8.

GROUP SOUGHT TO BUILD A “WINNING COALITION” FOR ERNST

Brian Slodysko reported for the Associated Press in December 2019 on emails and a strategy memo showing that Iowa Values, founded by Ernst’s political aides, “worked closely” with the senator’s campaign to promote her re-election. The memo described efforts to “isolate the ‘firewall’ slice of the electorate” for Ernst and target messages to those voters. It outlined plans for a “ground game” and paid advertising to mobilize key supporters.

Read more: https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2021/02/08/pro-ernst-dark-money-group-may-get-sued-over-undisclosed-finances/