"This torrent of secret money exploits a provision in federal election law that allows super PACs, which must publicly disclose the identities of their contributors, to accept donations from certain nonprofits, trade groups, unions and shell corporations..."

.@FoxNews "The American Forge Coalition has sent out a flurry of mailers to voters this month accusing vulnerable Republicans of not being conservative enough. Some believe it's a coordinated effort by the left to depress GOP voter turnout" Link in thread

.@BrennanCenter "More secrecy than ever. Top donors increasingly choose to hide their identities. Donations from dark money groups in the top 40 have increased to 13 times the amount in 2014, and they now comprise 27 percent of the giving at that level" Link in thread

at @OpenSecretsDC " ... since the primaries, outside spending has exploded. As of Oct. 20, outside groups have spent $1.3 billion on the midterms, with a heavy focus on the most competitive Senate races..."

at @nytimes "The reports laid bare the phenomenon that has defined the midterm money competition: Democratic candidates are dominating in fund-raising. But when you include super PACs and other outside groups, Republicans have a huge financial advantage" Gift link in thread

Healthcare companies (artificial persons) are among the biggest spenders in elections. Gift link in thread

"In June, the Supreme Court struck down limits on the amount of coordinated spending that party committees could do with candidates. That was a major change, probably the largest in campaign finance since the 2010 Citizens United..." gift link in thread

“As former elected officials from both political parties who have witnessed our broken campaign finance system from the inside, we know firsthand that the explosion of dark and corporate money in politics since Citizens United has eroded Americans’ trust in our elections."