In late July, Politico reported that Third Way, a self-described centrist political group, met with Democratic chiefs of staff in the United States Senate to brief them about the danger to President Joe Biden’s reelection if a third-party presidential candidate runs from the center. The whisper candidate of choice is Sen. Joe Manchin . Another centrist group, No Labels, is reportedly looking to spend more than $70 million on such a bid.
But that’s not Third Way’s business model. According to the 990 tax forms filed by Third Way with the IRS, Third Way received $57 million in grants and contributions from 2019 to 2021. However, the lion’s share of this income, $36 million, or 63%, came from the Third Way Institute. This group is the 501 sister corporation of Third Way. Unlike a 501, donations to the Third Way Institute are tax-deductible.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501 organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity.
All this raises some interesting questions for Third Way and the Third Way Institute: What firewalls have Third Way instituted to ensure that no TWI dollars are being spent on this extensive political activity? Do TWI donors know that their tax-deductible contributions have been directly rerouted to a political entity? If they are aware of this, what checks has TWI shared with them to ensure they are not engaged in a fraudulent scheme? Has Third Way registered to lobby on any of this? Has the...