Court ruling stymies effort to bring more sunlight into campaign finance

Six years to the day after the U.S.Supreme Court handed down a ruling in the case ofCitizens United v. Federal Election Commissionwhich gave independent groups the ability to flood the political system with an unlimited torrent of cashan appeals court ensured that, for the foreseeable future, the linkages between a given political ad and whomever paid for it will remain largely opaque. On Thursday, a three-judge panel on the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld an FEC rule that only donors who explicitly specify their donations (greater than $1,000) be used for the purpose of furthering electioneering communication need to disclose their identities. Donors who give money not explicitly direct toward campaign ads (both TV and Web-based) aren't required to make their identities publiceven if those funds are ultimately put toward campaign ads. The arc of campaign finance law has been ambivalent, bending toward speech and disclosure, wrote Judge Janice Rodgers Brownbrief submitted in the case. Rather than unveiling 'all contributors' as BCRA requires, the Disclosure Regulation has allowed those financing electioneering communications to continue to hide behind dubious and misleading names in conflict with BCRAs goal of increased disclosure. Tara Malloy, deputy executive director of the pro-campaign finance reform group the Campaign Legal Center, called the decision disappointing. all but guarantees that there will be no disclosure of the donors funding the vast sums already being spent on political advertising by 501(c)(4) and other groups in the 2016 election cycle, she said in a statement. Once again, the Court of Appeals has effectively sanctioned the wholesale evasion of federal disclosure laws. Neither Supreme Court precedent nor the underlying statute provided any justification for the FEC to adopt a rule narrowing disclosure. Some political groups, on the other hand, cheered the ruling. Dan Epstein, executive director of aKoch brothers-affiliated nonprofit called Cause of Action,toldPolitico that the decision represented a victory for free expression. 'This ruling should send a clear message to opponents of the First Amendment that their misguided efforts to silence political debate arent compatible with the Constitution, Epstein said. The right to privacy in ones political commitments outweighs the right of taxpayer subsidized politicians to force the public identification of those for whom they disagree. Fred Wertheimerpresident of the advocacy group Democracy 21, which supports Van Hollen, told the Associated Press thatno decision has been made has been made as to whether or not they will appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Illustration by Jason Reed