For decades, political corruption in the United States was associated with images of bribes, suitcases of money and agreements made behind closed doors; today the debate is different.
Academics, organizations dedicated to transparency and social researchers maintain that the main concern no longer lies solely in illegal acts, but in the growing weight that private money exerts on public decisions through fully legal mechanisms.
That is the starting point of The Dark Money Game, documentary produced by CNN and directed by Alex Gibney, based on the investigations of journalist Jane Mayer, author of the book Dark Money. The production examines how a network made up of billionaires, non-profit organizations and political groups has increased its ability to influence electoral campaigns, judicial appointments and legislative debates without, in many cases, being able to know the origin of the resources.
For many specialists, the change began in January 2010, when the Supreme Court resolved the case Citizens United against the United States Federal Election Commission.
The ruling determined that corporations, unions and other organizations could make independent political expenditures without limit, considering that these expenditures constitute a form of freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Fifteen years later, organizations such as the Brennan Center for Justice (a research center on democracy, law and public policy at the New York University School of Law), consider that that resolution redefined US political financing.
In an analysis published this year, the research center maintained that the 2024 federal election represented the consolidation of that model, registering an unprecedented influence of large donors and resources whose origin remains hidden from the electorate.
One of the concepts that gained relevance is the so-called dark money or “dark money”, a term used to describe resources intended to influence electoral processes by organizations that, under US law, are not required to publicly reveal the identity of their funders.
The Brennan Center estimates that, during the 2024 election cycle alone, these types of organizations funneled at least $1.9 billion into federal elections, almost double the record recorded in 2020. The institution warned that the resources cannot be accurately tracked through current transparency mechanisms.
Beyond the amount, researchers warn about the transformation of the system. According to the Brennan Center, immediately after Citizens United, much of the spending went directly to political advertising; Currently, a growing proportion flows through multimillion-dollar transfers to independent political action committees and other structures that make it difficult to identify the origin of financing.
In the 2022 midterm elections, 21 of the largest donor families contributed $783 million, and billionaire donors contributed 15 percent of all funds in the federal elections.