The IRS should enforce rules about political activity and pass-through contributions against three dark money groups connected to former Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder. CREW has submitted a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig to inform him of the bribery conspiracy committed by Householder and affiliated dark money groups Generation Now, Partners for Progress, Inc. and The Coalition for Growth and Opportunity, Inc. which are currently under investigation.

Larry Householder was arrested for accepting $60 million in bribes from dark money groups for pushing through a $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants. Generation Now, Partners for Progress and The Coalition for Growth and Opportunity are dark money groups that put millions into running TV and radio ads for the bailout. Generation Now also put at least $1 million into getting Householder elected as Speaker.

Generation Now and The Coalition for Growth and Opportunity are also directly tied to Householder through his chief political strategist Jeff Longstreth and Eric Lycan, who was treasurer for both groups. Longstreth incorporated Generation Now and “oversaw political activities” for The Coalition for Growth and Opportunity. Federal officials have also revealed recordings showing that Householder secretly controlled Generation Now, which has been described as Householder’s “slush fund.”

Dark money groups have been allowed to interfere in our elections and flout regulations for far too long. There are few cases more clear and pressing than the one made against Householder, Generation Now, Partners for Progress and The Coalition for Growth and Opportunity, and the IRS must take this opportunity to enforce anti-corruption rules.

Read the letter here.

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