'Dark Money' Documentary Follows the Money in Politics
*By Max Godnick*
Ever since Watergate, investigative journalists have been urged to ["follow the money"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vETxuL7Ij3Q) to find the truth in politics. But how do you locate the funds that come from undisclosed donors?
"Dark Money" is a new documentary that aims to answer that very question. The film makes its national broadcast debut on PBS on Monday night, shining a detective's flashlight on mysterious corporate spending in politics.
"As a filmmaker, it was just a good mystery novel sort of spy thriller story that I knew we'd be able to tell," the film's director/producer Kimberly Reed told Cheddar on Monday.
The documentary extrapolates from a particular situation in Montana to explore a larger, more national problem in U.S. politics. Reed spends most of "Dark Money" tracking local journalist John S. Adams's attempt to uncover the truth about the funding behind her home state's tangled elections.
"I could see the storm brewing," Reed said. "It's a really good case study, because we can actually connect all of the dots."
Reed described "dark money" as any funding that "makes its way into an election, and you don't know where it's coming from."
Those contributions have been legally permitted ever since the 2010 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on *Citizens United v. FEC*, which established campaign spending as a form of First Amendment-protected political speech.
"That's just a recipe for corruption," Reed said. "I just think that our democracy was founded with the assumption that we're going to know who's trying to influence our politics."
She pointed to the hyper-centralization of dark money groups as the part of the problem that scares her most acutely. The unidentified financing stems from a small handful of groups, with just 15 organizations accounting for all dark money spending since 2010. The largest is Crossroads GPS, led by Bush-era political operative Karl Rove. The organization has since changed its name but still acts as the same entity.
Reed noted that the issue is non-partisan, with equal-opportunity offenders hailing from both sides of the aisle. But she did add that conservatives were the first to "weaponize" the funding tactic ー and the left has led the charge in finding legislative solutions.
With just weeks to go before the midterm elections, Reed cautioned voters and watchdogs alike to be mindful of this less-salacious corner of corruption and scandal ー the funding without high-profile names attached.
"Where we see big anonymous money going into elections, that's where we need to pay attention, especially if there's foreign influence behind it," she said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/shady-campaign-finance-stars-in-new-documentary).
After the Chicago teachers union voted to work remotely due to what they say is a lack of safety protocols amid the COVID-19 surge, the school system canceled classes on Wednesday, citing harm that remote learning has done to the city's children. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, joined Cheddar to discuss the issues surrounding the latest dispute between educators and schools. She said that the return to in-person learning would likely be halted until more COVID tests could be provided for districts. "This is a terrible situation for everybody, and we need the testing, and we need the masks," she said. "It's the omicron surge that has created this disruption, and we are trying to do the best we can. And this is the only school district that has this kind of action right now." The teachers might not be returning to their schools for at least two weeks amid the ongoing tensions.
Illinois State Senator Robert Martwick joins Cheddar News to discuss the new bill he co-sponsored allowing students in the state to take 5 mental health days without a doctor's note.
On Monday, President Biden announced his new plan to take on inflation by taking down the big meat monopolies - turning to the federal government's antitrust authorities to investigate the major meatpackers that control a significant share of the market. The White House plans to devote one billion dollars to aiding independent meat and poultry producers in an effort to undercut the few powerful meat producers that have control of the sector. Austin Frerick, deputy director of Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
As the pandemic drags on, so does the widespread great resignation. In November alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, marking a new record high, and showing a 9 percent jump from the month prior. On the flip side, the number of people filing tax paperwork to start new businesses is surging, with over 430,000 new businesses launching in November. Rhett Buttle, the founder of Public Private Strategies and national business advisor to the Biden for President campaign, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
California's new composting law will affect what residents do in their kitchens. As of this week, Californians will have to recycle excess food in an effort to reduce emissions caused by food waste. Cities and counties will turn recycled food into compost or use it as a renewable energy source. California's new law is the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the country. Rachel Wagoner, Director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery called the law 'the biggest change to trash' since recycling started in the 1980s. She joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
As the U.S. comes up on the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.,A.C. Thompson, investigative reporter at ProPublica, joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss updates to American Insurrection by FRONTLINE, ProPublica and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program. The documentary investigates the attack on the Capitol touched off by the lie that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump but with new information gleaned since the event including interviews with lawmakers and law enforcement and the evolution of groups like the Boogaloo Boys and the Proud Boys behind the attack. "In some ways those groups that were kind of the vanguard of January 6 are maybe no longer relevant because their message is everywhere," he said.
