DARK MONEY: A Must See Around The US Midterm Election

Dark Money is a must see around the midterm elections. It will help people to better understand the questions to ask about the candidates and the entities that are supporting them. It also enables the audience to understand how the US democratic system is being manipulated by the powerful force of “dark money” and how it works. 

What is Dark Money?

It is basically a campaign finance strategy or vehicle that bypasses the old methods of donations and lobbying. Dark money is a term to describe how money can be donated into non-profit 501-4C entity without having to reveal its donors. These non-profit entities can be created by corporations and were enabled by Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision that allows corporations or unions to spend money in elections and exercise their free speech, under the First Amendment. They typically are groups with particular ideological or policy interest that they are looking to drive. These non-profits are created to target particular campaigns.

Whoever is driving these entities vet candidates and then support the candidate, who will execute their agenda once he or she is in office. As a result, the entire election system is already controlled from the first step of the candidate’s consideration into a race. The number of non-profits 501-4 have increased, which means that there are more legislative bodies that are targeted or controlled by dark money. This targeted activity also extends to the judicial system. 

Dual-Role of Investigative Reporting and Campaign Finance Oversight

The film does a great job in explaining and reminding the audience how dark money works in different scenarios, throughout the unfolding of the film’s journeys. In particular, Dark Money focuses on a case in Montana, where a politician’s campaign finance is actively investigated by a local reporter and the Commissioner of Political Practices.

Dark Money uses the case to illustrate the impact of what happens to a state. If the legislature is controlled by a corporation then the people are being governed by a corporation that is advancing its own interests rather than the people’s interests. The local reporter, John Adams, shows the important role that muckrakers (or the media) like himself have in the process of exposing corruption and reaching the populace on the issue. The audience is left with the importance of the intertwining roles of investigative journalism and campaign finance oversight. At the same time, the audience is left feeling that these fights will always be understaffed and underfunded. 

Conclusion: Concrete Steps, Please

Dark Money wraps up with the Federal Election Commissioner quitting her job under the Trump administration and explaining that this dark money may be coming in from foreign countries or the wild wild west of the internet, which both pose even greater challenges to our democracy since none of it is currently accountable. What would be helpful is for the film to end on how the audience can combat the dark money issue.

The film leaves the audience feeling that the issue is much bigger than ordinary citizens can tackle. It does provide hope from the Montana case, where it ends in success, but the film falls short in helping the viewer to understand how he/she can be empowered to make a difference. If the goal of Dark Money is to inspire change, then it needs to help the audience understand what they can specifically do. 

What would you do to stop dark money from permeating through all levels of federal and state government?

Dark Money was released on July 13, 2018. You can watch it for free online.