Shadowy anti-prop donors revealed

An Arizona-based non-profit corporation that figures significantly in ballot-measure campaigns here and in California drew at least some of its money from two other non-profits.

One of the groups is controlled by Sean Noble, an Arizona political consultant who has had ties to the Koch brothers, billionaires with a history of campaign spending targeted to push their conservative agenda.

The revelation of donors behind Americans for Responsible Leadership brought renewed criticism of the "dark money" allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which allows corporate donors to direct money for political purposes without disclosing contributors' identities. And it drew cries of foul from the two Arizona campaigns that have been targeted by the group, who say out-of-state interests are unfairly intervening in Arizona's election.

On Monday, Americans for Responsible Leadership released its donor list after a fast-paced legal battle with a California campaign-finance watchdog agency. The list consisted of a single donor, Americans for Job Security, which got its money through a second intermediary, the Center to Protect Patients Rights, according to a letter Americans for Responsible Leadership sent to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Americans for Responsible Leadership said that at least the $11million it sank into two California ballot measures came through these groups. It did not disclose the names of individuals who donated to the two groups.

Common Cause of California had asked the commission to investigate the group, accusing it of attempting to "manipulate" the state's election. Americans for Responsible Leadership is working in California to defeat a temporary tax increase and to promote an effort to drastically change the state's campaign-finance system, including banning the practice of political contributions by payroll deduction, which labor unions rely on to raise political money.

Common Cause spokesman Phillip Ung said the release of donor names was "a victory for Californians and our disclosure laws."

"I don't think we're going to get individuals' names," he said. "The best we can get right now is this disclosure until we strengthen our laws ? which is better than we were getting before."

The California campaign watchdog agency had alleged that Americans for Responsible Leadership's failure to disclose its donor groups amounts to money laundering under that state's Political Reform Act. The state's attorney general has vowed an investigation. The group could be subject to criminal penalties and civil fines up to the amount of the contribution.

Unlike California, Arizona law does not require non-profit corporations to disclose donors. And so it remains unclear whether the $1.5million the group has spent to fight two Arizona propositions also came from the two other non-profit groups.

Americans for Responsible Leadership has spent $925,000 opposing Proposition 204, which is promoting a dedicated sales tax for education. It has spent $600,000 opposing Proposition 121, which would replace Arizona's partisan primary-election system with a "top-two" primary.

Watchdog organizations said the emerging details highlight the even greater influence money has played in campaigns in the wake of the Citizens United ruling.

"Now we have donations that can be both unlimited and anonymous, and neither of those things were true prior to Citizens United," said Daniel G. Newman, president and co-founder of MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization in California that tracks financial influence on politics. "We have unlimited secret money that is flooding our democracy."

Viveca Novak, editorial and communications director at the Center for Responsive Politics, agreed. Citizens United, she said, made it "crystal clear" that it's OK for groups such as Americans for Responsible Leadership to spend on politics and go beyond their earlier mission of issue advocacy.

They can now create layers of non-profit corporations to put money directly into efforts to support or defeat a candidate or an issue, and to do it anonymously, she said.

Federal tax records show Noble is the executive director of the Center to Protect Patient Rights, based in Phoenix. It raised $61.8million in 2010, according to public filings. During the 2010 campaign cycle, the center sent money to another non-profit corporation, Americans for Job Security, to help elect Republicans to Congress. Tax records from 2011 were not readily available.

Noble also is founder of DC-London, the political-consulting firm that is running the Arizona campaign against Prop. 204.

Americans for Job Security is a registered "business league" under IRS regulations and is an independent committee registered in Alexandria, Va. It spent $9million in this election cycle, according to online Federal Election Committee records. Most of the money went to a Virginia media company, Crossroads Media LLC, in an effort to oppose President Barack Obama's re-election.

According to tax filings, Noble's Center to Protect Patient Rights in 2010 gave $4.1million to Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers' non-profit group, which contributes to political campaigns.

Critics also point to other cases that link Noble to the Koch brothers, although without disclosure of the center's individual donors, it's impossible to establish a firm link. Noble did not return a phone call seeking comment.

One of the center's founding board members, Heather Higgins, is a key presenter at Koch fundraisers and her Independent Women's Forum has received money from a Koch-controlled foundation, according to public filings.

Former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams is president of Americans for Responsible Leadership. He did not return a call seeking comment, but last week told The Republic he made decisions on where the group spends its money.

Robert Graham, a businessman running for state Republican Party chairman and listed on public records as an Americans for Responsible Leadership director, has told The Republic, "We have received contributions from all types of individuals and entities," in Arizona and out of state.

He did not respond to The Republic's questions about whether money to fight Arizona's two propositions came from the same non-profit groups.

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