Hiding the Identities of Mega-Donors

Republican consultant Sean Noble was ready when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled corporations could spend freely in federal elections. Less than a year after the 2010 Citizens United decision, he had $62 million at his disposal, which he poured into that year’s midterm elections on behalf of GOP candidates and causes. To this day, no one knows where Noble’s opaquely named nonprofit group, the Center to Protect Patient Rights, got that money.

What is known is where it went. According to the group’s annual IRS disclosure, more than half the cash was parceled out to four other conservative nonprofits—the American Future Fund, the 60 Plus Association, Americans for Job Security, and Americans for Tax Reform—that in turn spent $30 million to help elect Republican congressional candidates. The $9 million Noble’s nonprofit gave to 60 Plus, which advocates for privatizing Social Security (singer Pat Boone is the group’s frontman), accounted for more than half of its 2010 revenue of $16 million, IRS records show.