Pennsylvania super PAC gets 'dark money' infusion

In the home stretch of the 2014 election, a new super PAC with ties to Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., finds itself flush with “dark money,” according to a new campaign finance filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The sole donor to Prosperity for Pennsylvania is listed as nonprofit Green Orchard Inc., which gave $100,000 on Oct. 6, and has previously helped bankroll several conservative political causes.

The Prosperity for Pennsylvania super PAC itself has not yet reported spending money this election cycle.

Green Orchard itself is a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based “social welfare” nonprofit, as groups formed under Sec. 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code are known.

Such nonprofit groups are not required by law to reveal their donors, even when contributing to super PACs, which must disclose their funders. A super PAC accepting money from a "dark money" nonprofit group needs only to list the nonprofit's name and address when identifying it as a donor.

Green Orchard formed in December 2012, according to state records, and it describes its mission in tax filings as supporting “economic freedoms,” “free market reforms” and “alternative educational options” by giving out money to “like-minded” organizations.

Philadelphia attorney Brian Sullivan is listed as Green Orchard’s sole director and treasurer on its 2013 tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.

When asked by the Center for Public Integrity about Green Orchard recent six-figure contribution to the Prosperity for Pennsylvania super PAC, Sullivan responded: “That’s what the people wanted to do.”

He continued, before hanging up: “That’s all I can really say. Thanks. Bye.”

During its first year of existence in 2013, Green Orchard raised nearly $3 million, nearly all of which was doled out to other groups, IRS records indicate.

There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.

This story is part of Primary Source. Primary Source keeps you up-to-date on developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics. Click here to read more stories in this blog.

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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.