Complaint alleges Iowa Values was formed to boost Ernst’s candidacy, not promote social welfare
In December of 2019, Ernst was caught illegally working with Iowa Values
End Citizens United (ECU) today filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to seek an investigation into Iowa Values, a dark money group formed by Senator Joni Ernst’s top political aides to help with her own re-election. The complaint states that Iowa Values falsely registered as a social welfare nonprofit because it solely exists to elect Senator Ernst and does not promote any social welfare. Click here to read the complaint.
“Senator Ernst’s campaign is a shining example of how corrupt Washington politicians break the law to protect their own interests,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United. “Iowa Values is a political group disguised as a social welfare nonprofit. Senator Ernst has realized that Iowans have abandoned her, so she’s turned to dark money to bankroll her re-election. We urge the IRS to investigate Iowa Values and hold it and Senator Ernst accountable.”
As a 501(c)(4) organization, Iowa Values must operate “exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.” To meet this standard, it must be “primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the people of the community.” The complaint states that Iowa Values’ official statements reveal that its primary focus is to re-elect Senator Ernst; the group and the Ernst campaign share the same staff; and Iowa Values’ political activity increased immediately after Ernst announced her re-election campaign.
In particular, an Associated Press investigation from December of 2019 shows how Ernst was caught illegally working with Iowa Values to boost her re-election campaign, relying on emails and a strategy memo from the dark money group. The report revealed that Ernst’s campaign and Iowa Values hired the same consultants to simultaneously work for the campaign and run the dark money group to boost Ernst, which is potentially a violation of coordination laws.
In January, End Citizens United Action Fund released its first annual legislative scorecard that tracked and graded the efforts of every member of Congress on money in politics and government reform issues. Senator Joni Ernst received an “F” for failing to support common sense legislation that roots out corruption, increases transparency, and strengthens ethics in government. Ernst was also named to ECU’s list of most corrupt Washington politicians because of her record of putting corporate special interest donors ahead of Iowans.
ECU endorsed Theresa Greenfield in July 2019 because of her commitment to reform and making Washington work for Iowans. Greenfield, who rejects corporate PAC money, is running a grassroots campaign powered by small-dollar donors. In her first major policy announcement, Greenfield released a bold and comprehensive plan to end political corruption by getting big money out of politics and passing legislation that will ban dark money and corporate PAC money.
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