What House of Cards gets wrong about money in politics - Byron Tau - POLITICO.com:
2) A super PAC was the wrong choice
Why even use a super PAC for the ad campaign? There are better
options to move shadowy, anonymous money around. Namely, a 501(c)4
nonprofit.
“If you’re going to funnel foreign money into an election, put it
into a trade association or 501(c)4 that doesn’t have to disclose its
donors,” said Adam Smith, communications director of the group Public
Campaign. “If getting it to the super PAC is that important, just have
the 501(c)4 make the donation.”
These nonprofits are not required to disclose their donors.Better
yet, they don’t have to disclose anything about their spending until
more than a year after election day.
The Tusk plot to funnel Chinese money into a campaign would have been
much more effectively done through a nonprofit than a super PAC. And
the cash and spending would have been much harder to track for nosy
journalists and political operatives.