An Arizona political non-profit that spent millions in 2012 supporting Republicans and opposing President Obama told the IRS in September that it would not spend money to influence elections, according to documents obtained by ProPublica.
The organization, Americans for Responsible Leadership, run by a group of mostly little-known Arizona Republicans, also spent millions of dollars on ballot initiative efforts in Arizona and California. Its $11 million donation to a California group prompted a lawsuit from California’s campaign finance watchdog, which eventually forced it to disclose that it served only as a pass-through for the donation.
ProPublica obtained Americans for Responsible Leadership’s application for federal tax-exempt status, as well as applications submitted by a number of other conservative “dark money” groups active in the 2012 elections, after submitting a public records request to the Internal Revenue Service.
MORE: Americans for Responsible Leadership’s IRS Application Published | TPMMuckraker.