A Tuesday Huffington Post piece on conservative donors’ attitudes toward a network of political financiers on the other side of the aisle downplayed the scale of the latter despite publicly available documents contradicting their report.
The story, by reporters Paul Blumenthal and Ryan Grim, reported on remarks made by Mark Holden, general counsel of Koch Industries, at a June retreat in Dana Point, California.
Holden was recorded discussing the Democracy Alliance, a secretive network of liberal and Democratic donors that has steered hundreds of millions of dollars to like-minded groups.
"They have 172 groups, 172," Holden said, according to the Huffington Post report. "I was really bad at math, but 172 is a lot more than 31," the number of groups supported by libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch.
Blumenthal and Grim say that that figure is inaccurate.
"The 172 groups are simply a list of organizations that do progressive work, though they are not part of the elite list of groups the DA is working to direct funding toward," they wrote. "That list includes only 20 groups."
In fact, Democracy Alliance president Gara LaMarche told attendees of the group’s April donor conference in Chicago that the Alliance supports 180 organizations.
In a presentation at that conference, a copy of which has been available online since July, LaMarche displayed a slide showing "funds raised for DA-recommended organizations."
In 2013, a graphic in the presentation revealed, DA steered $69.3 million to 153 organizations, including 132 on the group’s "progressive infrastructure map," the list of organizations that Blumenthal and Grim mentioned in their report.
According to LaMarche, DA is now "allowing contributions to any group on the Progressive Infrastructure Map, now grown to 180 organizations, to count toward a partner’s DA commitment."
DA partners must give at least $200,000 to recommended organizations each year. Its 180 "progressive infrastructure map" organizations are among the beneficiaries of those funds, and the Alliance has claimed credit for steering money to them.
Blumenthal and Grim also note that the smaller list of "aligned network organizations," as the core 21 groups are called, "includes only a small number of groups that are active in running advertising attacking candidates, which is a central function of the Koch political network."
However, that claim ignores the highly active and well-funded electioneering groups on the progressive infrastructure map. Those include Senate Majority PAC, by far the largest outside spender this election cycle, and NextGen Climate Action, the Tom Steyer-funded group that is aiming to spend $100 million by November.
Also on the list are House Majority PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, EMILY's List, League of Conservation Voters, and Planned Parenthood, all of which have devoted significant funding to attacking Republicans during the 2014 cycle. Super PAC Priorities USA, also on the list, has been quiet during the midterm race but is expected to be active in 2016.