Groups fined for concealing funds from Arizona 'dark money' group

WASHINGTON — Three groups have agreed to pay $233,000 to settle a complaint saying they violated campaign-finance laws by hiding the receipt of funds from a Phoenix-based committee then backed by the conservative Koch brothers.

The groups used the funds to run ads supporting Republican House candidates in the 2010 election.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission in 2014, announced the settlements Wednesday.

Agreeing to pay civil penalties were the American Future Fund ($140,000); the 60 Plus Association ($50,000); and Americans for Job Security ($43,000).

The agreements between the three and the FEC state that each received millions from the Center to Protect Patient Rights in Phoenix, now known as American Encore.

The groups had said the funds were for general use, but Sean Noble, executive director of the Center to Protect Patients Rights, told a reporter the funds were directed specifically for ads.

Noble couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

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With all three groups, Noble’s firm Noble Associates also served as a contractor to help the receiving group produce the ads, according to the agreements.

Noble, a former chief of staff to Arizona Congressman John Shadegg, is known for his role in distributing tens of millions of dollars in anonymous donations to conservative campaigns, most recently in support of Doug Ducey’s campaign for governor. Because the origin of the donations is unknown, the funds are commonly referred to as "dark money."

The settlements involving Americans for Job Security and the 60 Plus Association state the FEC found “reason to believe” the groups violated federal campaign-finance laws by not disclosing CPPR as the donor.

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But the two groups agreed to the settlement without “admitting or conceding any violation of law.”

American Future Fund did not contest it violated the law by failing to disclose the center as a donor.

The commission closed the file without taking action against the Center to Protect Patient Rights (now American Encore) and several individuals who were named in the original complaint.

Noah Bookbinder, executive director of CREW, said the “case sends an important signal that groups that brazenly disregard the law will be held accountable.”