# "Dark money" donor gives 1.6 BILLION to conservative organization **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 22, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124 "2022-08-22T22:51:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/1 "2022-08-22T22:51:13Z")
Yeah, I know it’s his money, but this story isn’t getting the attention I think it should. > **[Massive dark money windfall: New conservative group got $1.6 billion from...](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/22/politics/dark-money-donation-conservative-group-invs/index.html)** > > A new group led by a prominent conservative lawyer has received $1.6 billion from one donor -- the largest single contribution to a politically focused nonprofit that's ever been made public, and a fortune that could be used to fuel right-wing... ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/2 "2022-08-22T22:53:11Z")
Black money? Do you mean “Dark money”? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/3 "2022-08-22T22:54:23Z")
Close enough. I’m already anticipating people saying that this much money could pay for a lot of prenatal care, kids’ school lunches, etc. and yeah, they’re right. I realize it’s his money and he can do whatever he wants with it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/4 "2022-08-22T22:57:21Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Close enough. Only if you want it to be confused with money coming from Black donors. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/5 "2022-08-22T22:59:15Z")
I’ll ask the mods to edit it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/6 "2022-08-22T23:00:16Z")
Done. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/7 "2022-08-22T23:01:03Z")
Thanks! I think you actually did it before I sent the message. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/8 "2022-08-22T23:03:34Z")
We’re trying out a new precog mod. Actually I was just reading your thread. * * * ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/9 "2022-08-22T23:07:40Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ll ask the mods to edit it. Thanks. I didn’t mean to derail the thread. Dark money is an existential threat to democracy. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/10 "2022-08-22T23:13:07Z")
That’s OK, Elmer. Problem fixed. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/11 "2022-08-22T23:13:48Z")
koch giving some off the books? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/12 "2022-08-22T23:14:02Z")
This flips [the dark money advantage](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/27/politics/dark-money-democrats-joe-biden/index.html) decisively back in favor of Republicans/conservatives. Expect more hand-wringing and frantic calls to progressive sugar daddies. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/13 "2022-08-22T23:51:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Expect more hand-wringing and frantic calls to progressive sugar daddies. Light up the Soros-Signal at once! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/14 "2022-08-23T02:59:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I realize it’s his money and he can do whatever he wants with it. No, no, no, there’s limits on what Mr Dark Money can do with his (her?) money. He can’t phone up members of Congress and say, “If you vote for the following bills, I will pay you gobs of money.” That would be a bribe. Very, very bad. Not allowed to do that with your money. Of course, nothing wrong with Mr Dark Money phoning up those same members of Congress and saying, “I just donated gobs of money to Foundation X, with instructions that they are to use those funds to support the election campaigns of those who vote for certain bills, and to use those fundts to strongly oppose the election campaigns of those who vote against those bills.” That’s perfectly okay. But no, Mr Dark Matter can’t do whatever he wants with his money. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-money-donor-gives-1-6-billion-to-conservative-organization/970124/15 "2022-08-23T03:46:17Z")
OK, OK, OK, he can do whatever he wants with his money, up to a point. I remember when Alan Greenspan started a fund with $1 million of his own money to provide Viagra to men who otherwise might not be able to afford it, when the drug first came out. I was one of the few people I spoke to who said pretty much the same thing, although I did agree with quite a few people that more impotence could probably be prevented, or treated, by implementing diabetes screening and smoking cessation programs.