The Media Fund is a 527 group

527 group

A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after "Section 527" of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code...

, active in U.S. politics

Politics of the United States

The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...

, which supported Democrat John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

's campaign for President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. It was formed in 2002, and is led by Harold M. Ickes

Harold M. Ickes

Harold McEwen Ickes was White House Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton. He is the son of Harold L. Ickes, who was Secretary of the Interior under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ickes is a graduate of Stanford University and Columbia Law School. Ickes was a student civil rights activist in...

, a former aide to President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

. Its chief fundraiser is Ellen Malcolm

Ellen Malcolm

Ellen R. Malcolm is an activist who has had a long career in American politics, particularly in political fundraising. She is an heiress of one of the founders of IBM....

, a former fundraiser for EMILY's List

EMILY's List

EMILY's List is a political action committee in the United States that aims to help elect female candidates to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984....

. Billionaire George Soros

George Soros

George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...

 was among the largest donors to the Fund. According to the New York Times, the Media Fund raised $45 million to run issue ads in key swing state

Swing state

In United States presidential politics, a swing state is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's electoral college votes...

s. The Media Fund is one of several 527 groups which supported Kerry; others include America Coming Together

America Coming Together

America Coming Together was a liberal, political action, 527 group dedicated to get-out-the-vote activities. ACT did not specifically endorse any political party, but mostly worked on behalf of Democratic candidates. It was the largest 527 group in 2004 and was planning to be involved in future...

 and MoveOn.org. After the election, the group experienced a dramatic drop in fundraising success; media reports speculated that major donors had given up on the organization, and were turning their attention to other, more long-term Democratic projects.

Legal Issues

Following the campaign of John Kerry, the Federal Election Commission

Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...

 unanimously voted to levy a $580,000 fine against the Fund. The penalty was the seventh largest in FEC history. The FEC determined that more than 90 percent of the $60 million raised by the Media Fund came from labor unions, corporations or from donors who gave more $5,000 — all contributions barred by federal election rules. Lyn Utrecht represented the Media Fund in the settlement. Erik Smith, president of the Media Fund, would later issue a statement pointing out that the FEC settlement did not find his group in violation of the law.The FEC had already fined a number of the other major 527s for illegal spending during the 2004 elections, including the Democratic-leaning groups MoveOn.org and the George Soros-backed America Coming Together, as well as the Republican-supporting groups Progress for America Voter Fund

Progress For America

Progress for America and its affiliate Progress for America Voter Fund are national tax-exempt organizations in the United States. PFA was established in 2001 to support George W. Bush's "agenda for America"...

 and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth , was a political group of United States Swift boat veterans and former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 presidential election campaign for the purpose of opposing John Kerry's candidacy...

.

External links and references

• "California Group Steps into Vacuum on Left", Washington Post, by Thomas B. Edsall and Chris Cillizza, October 23, 2005
• "FEC slaps Media Fund with huge fine", "POLITICO", by Kenneth P. Vogel, December 19, 2007