Politics

Fighting charity fraud could become more difficult under a Republican bill in Congress to prohibit the IRS from collecting the names of top donors to charities and other nonprofit groups, critics warned on Tuesday. Meant to protect the privacy of wealthy individuals who make anonymous, or "dark money," donations to politically active nonprofit groups, the…

One night in January, Donald Trump skipped a GOP debate and instead held his own televised fundraiser for veterans. At the end of the night, Trump proclaimed it a huge success: “We just cracked $6 million, right? Six million.” Now, Trump’s campaign says that number is incorrect. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually…

Despite a strict prohibition against electioneering, nearly 90 nonprofit churches, hospitals and schools in Illinois collectively donated more than $80,000 to local campaign groups over the past decade with little or no consequences, a Better Government Association analysis found. While nonprofits, such as trade associations and unions, are allowed to engage in some campaigning, the…

A former city employee sued Flint, Mich., and its mayor after being fired, alleging the city's head directed water-crisis donations to a campaign fund. The lawsuit, filed last week, claimed Maxine Murray, an assistant to Mayor Karen Weaver, came to city administrator Natasha Henderson "in tears" and confided that "she feared going to jail."...

Trump campaign’s adviser for veterans issues can’t account for $6 million the billionaire raised for veterans charities—and from the sounds of it, couldn’t care less. "I could ask, but it’s not high on my priority list," Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire state representative, said. Back in January, Trump skipped an Iowa presidential debate due to…

The president of the governing body for Iowa's public universities often has used his $5 million pledge to the Hawkeye football program to build his image as a successful businessman and philanthropist. But years after his 2008 commitment was touted at a news conference as the largest gift to Iowa athletics, Bruce Rastetter has given…

On January 11, Mothers Against Drunk Driving launched its #FightAffluenza advocacy campaign. Its goal: get Ethan Couch, the "affluenza" teen who in 2013 received 10 years probation on four counts of intoxicated manslaughter, tried as an adult, rather than as a juvenile. On Wednesday, Couch was sentenced to nearly two years in prison, in large part due to MADD's advocacy efforts...

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara now has New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in his crosshairs—investigating de Blasio's campaign fundraising activities as part of a widening probe into New York Police Department corruption, sources said last week. The feds are looking at how the mayor solicits campaign cash from members of the real-estate industry—and the fundraising…

Did you know there were an estimated 2,810 fundraisers for Congress held from 2013 to 2014? That’s just one of the eye-opening Sunlight Foundation statistics John Oliver cited on the April 3 episode of “Last Week Tonight” to paint a picture of how much time elected officials spend fundraising. Oliver dedicated the entire episode to the topic of congressional fundraising—and just how horrifying it is for everyone involved...

In an effort to provide grounding for Donald Trump’s claim that he gave more than $102 million to charity in the past five years, his campaign compiled a 93-page list of his 4,844 contributions. The Washington Post analyzed the list and found Trump hadn’t used his own money for any of those donations, many of which were free rounds of golf to his courses, provided for charity auctions and raffles...