Mounting concerns over dark money in the 2024 campaign

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The numbers are in and the public islearning more about how much each presidential candidate has raised heading into the final weeks of the 2024 election.

While a lot of that information is publicly available some of it is not, a reality leading to new concerns about the power of dark money.

The 2024 political campaign is on track to become the costliest in history, with Kamala Harris raising a billion dollars over three months.

Additionally, filings with the Federal Election Commission show just three people donated roughly $220 million in the three-month period ending on Sept. 30.

Miriam Adelson gave $95 million, Elon Musk gave $75 million and Midwestern packaging magnate Richard Uihlein gave $49 millionto groups backing Trump’s candidacy.

In these cases, the F.E.C. filings provide details about where the money is coming from.

Concerns are mounting over groups that may be shielding the donors behind the donations.

In an interview with The National News Desk, Government Accountability Institute Vice President Eric Eggers laid out details in a new report.

What you might end up with is political candidates or potentially public officeholders who are beholden to people that we don’t actually know. There’s no transparency.”

Eggers also wrote the 2008 book "Fraud, How the Left Plans to Steal the Next Election"and has been looking into the left-leaning group ActBlue, which does notrequire donors to provide their CVV, the security code on the back of credit cards.

“Money could be coming from foreign sources when credit cards don’t require three or four-digit CVV that helps identify the donor to the money," Eggers added.

The Committee on House Administration is now investigatingActBlue, with GOP members raising concerns in a letter to the FEC, arguing ActBlue's donor procedures are "painfully outside the norm" and that its practices "invite the possibility of foreign donations."

During a May 16 hearing Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said, "Only American citizens should be contributing and voting in our elections.”

Concerns over dark money have been raised by the left as well. For years, most Democrats have been pushing for the overturning of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court Case that enabled Corporations and wealthy donors to spend unlimited funds on elections.

During his Aug. 20 speech at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said, "Billionaires in both parties should not be able to buy elections, including primary elections. For the sake of our democracy, we must overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision."

Leading up to Election Day, voters should expect to hear more about who gave what.

The question for many after the election is what those high-dollar donors will get in return, should their preferred candidates or causes win.