{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223063542/http://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/sen-whitehouse-applauds-administrations-effort-to-crack-down-on-dark-money-activities-", "Sen. Whitehouse Applauds Administration’s Effort to Crack Down on “Dark Money” Activities", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Tuesday, November 26, 2013\n            \n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tProvidence, RI \u2013 U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the statement below today regarding the Obama Administration\u2019s newly proposed guidance to limit political activity by 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations:\n\u201cSince the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to big money in elections in its disgraceful Citizens United decision, political groups posing as \u2018social welfare\u2019 organizations have abused their nonprofit status.\u00a0 They run ads targeting candidates for office and raise millions of dollars in secret donations that evade campaign finance disclosure laws.\u00a0 Some groups appear plainly to have lied to the IRS about their activities \u2013 which are supposed to be primarily geared toward \u2018social welfare\u2019 \u2013 and then hidden behind vague rules to avoid prosecution.\u00a0 Today\u2019s proposed guidance is badly needed, and could ultimately help crack down on the unlimited, secret spending plaguing our elections and corrupting our democracy.\u201d\nSenator Whitehouse has long been a leading voice for campaign finance reform in the Senate.\u00a0 Last year he led the fight to pass the DISCLOSE Act, which would have put an end to secretive campaign spending by strengthening disclosure laws for nonprofit 501(c)(4) groups and others.\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223063542/http://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/sen-whitehouse-applauds-administrations-effort-to-crack-down-on-dark-money-activities-"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.194564323872328, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}