The Dark Money of Dallas Woodhouse

Dallas Woodhouse was selected by the NCGOP last weekend as its new executive director. He's also the founder and director of a 501(c)4 outfit which he calls Carolina Rising. Investigative researcher Greg Flynn did a little digging into that "dark money" closet, and we quote Greg at length:

A recent sliver of sunlight reveals slightly more about the dark money group Carolina Rising than previously known. The 501(c)4 organization led by Dallas Woodhouse filed its first tax return, for the 2014 tax year, on August 12th. The return shows income of $4,880,000 and expenses of $4,799,344 for the period beginning March 25, 2014 and ending December 31, 2014. The bulk of expense payments was $4,654,645 to Crossroads Media, LLC, in Alexandria VA, for TV and cable ads. The revenue came in donations from two unnamed contributors, one in the amount of $4,820,000 and another in the amount of $60,000.

The document lists 3 Raleigh based officers: Dallas Woodhouse as President and Treasurer, his father-in-law Duane Ischer as Director (listed elsewhere as Secretary), and environmental engineer Todd Brozell, another Director. No salary was paid directly to Woodhouse but $72,000 was paid to his wholly owned company Solutions NC, Inc., for management services.

Woodhouse has consistently declined to name Carolina Rising’s donors. The existence of just two donors in the IRS filing is in contrast to statements Woodhouse made to the Center for Public Integrity in November 2014 when it profiled the group’s election year spending.

“Woodhouse did say Carolina Rising is funded by multiple donors. 'we have a large, diverse donor body that we have brought into this mission of helping the Republicans tell their story in North Carolina.' “

If the statement is true, it suggests that funding passes through one or more other entities before arriving at Carolina Rising, on its way to Crossroads Media, LLC.

Siphoning off a bit for "management services." NCGOP better get ready for that same siphon hose.