More dark money has made its way into the Alabama attorney general’s race and the campaign account of Katherine Robertson.
After receiving in late June a million-dollar donation from First Principles Action Inc., a Nashville-based nonprofit with almost no discernible history, Robertson reported another $100,000 donation from the same group on Monday evening.
Robertson’s campaign also submitted its required monthly financial report for July, ending the month with more than $1.1 million on hand. That amount didn’t include the additional $100,000.
It’s a staggering amount … and good enough for second in what is shaping up to be the most expensive AG’s race in state history.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell’s campaign also filed its monthly reports, hauling in more than $400,000 in contributions for the month. It also picked up several major contributions.
Cash on hand at the end of the month: $1.6 million and change.
Mitchell’s haul, however, came in more traditional ways—through individual contributions, well-known political action committees and some of the state’s most reliable big donors. His largest donations, aside from the $638,000 he transferred from an existing campaign account, were two $100,000 donations from the Business Council of Alabama’s PAC and a curious donation from a Chicago-based law firm, Keller Postman Law, LLC.
The overwhelming majority of Robertson’s cash, however, has now come from a single source whose funding is almost a complete mystery.
First Principles Action was formed less than a year ago, and as APR reported previously, has little background or available information. It’s operated by Peter Bisbee, the former executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association. It is housed in a Nashville office building, along with a smorgasbord of other businesses, including other offshoots of First Principles.
Where its funding originates is a mystery, although it’s likely that at least some of it flows through one of the many nonprofits and organizations controlled by billionaire Leonard Leo. Once the head of the Federalist Society, Leo has been instrumental in reshaping the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, with controversial conservative judges. Leo’s influence over RAGA, particularly when Bisbee was at the helm, is well documented.
The donations from First Principles to Robertson are perfectly legal under Alabama law, which allows for dark money nonprofits to contribute freely to campaigns in the state. Several (mostly half-hearted) attempts over the years by Alabama lawmakers to rewrite those laws and cut off the mysterious funding have failed.
