COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dark money groups at the center of Ohio’s biggest corruption trial and conviction have renewed talks about transparency in politics and changing the way campaigns are funded.
A jury convicted Larry Householder and Matt Borges Thursday of their roles in a multi-million dollar bribery scheme that prosecutors say was possible because of what's called a 501(c)(4), an IRS-recognized nonprofit entity that isn't required to disclose its donors. The groups can spend unlimited amounts of money to lobby for or against legislation, ballot measures and candidates, the law says no one can personally benefit.
“The fact that this particular set of charges included evidence of personal benefit may have made it an easier case,” said Steve Huefner, The Ohio State University law professor.
Huefner explained there are strict rules around these nonprofit groups, but there is a lot of gray area, too.
“They have become a way for individuals and organizations with significant amounts of money to use that money in influencing political behavior,” he said.
He said using a 501(c)(4) wasn’t the crime in the Householder-Borges trial. Rather, that the defendants were bribed, Huefner said it’s not always easy for prosecutors to make that case.
“The challenge for the prosecutor is to show that there’s actually been a bargain-for deal that the elected officials said I will do this because you’ve given me money,” he said.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as Secretary of State Frank Larose, tried to get laws on the books in 2020 requiring 501(c)(4)s to be transparent in political donations, but without success.
Brian Calfano, Spectrum News political analyst, said any legislation looking to require the nonprofits to disclose donors won’t have much success either.
“It will be challenged immediately, it will end up in federal court and the district court will essentially stay the legislation unless the Supreme Court decides it wants to reopen this larger issue,” said Calfano.
But, he does believe a bill requiring 501(c)(4)s to disclose how the money is being used would be more likely to pass.
“We can get some specific legislation passed on a bi-partisan basis to effectively say this doesn’t touch the basic mechanism of donors contributing however much they want anonymously to the 501-C4, but it prevents the politicians taking that money and make it into a personal slush fund,” he said.
Either way, Huefner believes some kind of campaign finance reform could help prevent political corruption in the future.
“Efforts to create greater transparency with respect to that type of political contribution I think ought to be considered,” said Huefner.