Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democratic presidential hopeful, won a yearlong legal battle Tuesday against the Trump administration and dealt a blow against dark money in politics.
Mr. Bullock sued the Internal Revenue Service last year after President Trump’s administration removed a rule requiring nonprofit, politically active groups to disclose their donors.
However, moments before Mr. Bullock took the stage in the Democratic presidential debate, District Judge Brian Morris in Montana ruled that the measure should be reinstated.
Judge Morris said the IRS “must follow the proper notice-and-comment procedures pursuant to the APA [Advanced Pricing Agreement] if it seeks to adopt a similar rule,” in a docket given to ABC News.
The law required any group to name donors giving more than $5,000 in their tax returns, which the IRS would redact if the records were made public. This has become known as “dark money” since the Federal Elections Commission doesn’t require these donors be disclosed.
Mr. Bullock said in June that elected officials were “like NASCAR, sponsored by different companies. At least voters oughta know who’s doing the buying. Literally now, a Russian could give to the NRA, and not even the IRS would know.”
The Montana Democrat, who is running on removing money from politics, made his debate debut Tuesday night after not qualifying for the first debate.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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