Staff Reports
An unknown group connected to a powerful Democratic lawyer, Marc Elias, sent over $2 million to a super PAC supporting President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign. The group, called Bright Future Fund, quietly gave this money to Future Forward, a super PAC staffed by ex-White House officials. Future Forward is spending lots of money on ads to help Biden beat former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
Mysterious Elias-linked dark money group routes $2 million to PAC supporting Biden’s reelection https://t.co/Ppp56Rqpnn via @dcexaminer
— MIMSYPICKTRIS 🇺🇸 (@Picktris66) May 23, 2024
The fact that a little-known group like Bright Future Fund is backing Future Forward is not surprising in political spending. However, it highlights how anonymous donors are heavily supporting Biden’s reelection despite the president often speaking out against so-called dark money. Biden has said dark money “erodes public trust.”
Most of Future Forward’s money comes from its affiliated nonprofit group, which also doesn’t have to report its donors to the IRS. Although, some legal experts have recently criticized parts of Future Forward’s financial disclosures.
In another instance, a contributor listed under Bright Future Fund mistakenly sent $2.6 million to a group supporting Democratic candidates. This group had an address linked to a charity in Kansas City, Missouri, which is not allowed to donate to political campaigns. The charity’s director of development said they do not give to political groups.
An FEC spokeswoman said it’s the responsibility of the committees, not the FEC, to get the correct information on their reports. She mentioned that they can always fix any mistakes by submitting a new report. However, it is unclear who else is leading or funding the Bright Future Fund organization because no financial disclosures are available for them.
A separate super PAC with the same name as Bright Future Fund confirmed that they are not the group that funded Future Forward. The treasurer for this group said they have no ties to Future Forward or any other organization. Future Forward did not respond to a request for comment.
