Among the top 100 individual donors to political groups, more than half gave primarily to Democrats or their allies. Among groups that funneled more than $100,000 to allies, the top of the list tilted overwhelmingly toward Democrats — a group favoring the GOP doesn’t appear on the list until number 14.

At least, that is, among those groups that must disclose what they raise and spend.

WASHINGTON — For as often as Democrats attack the conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch for their heavy spending on politics, it’s actually the liberal-minded who shelled out the most cash on last month’s midterm elections.


The two biggest super PACs of 2014? Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC — both backing Democrats.

In all, the top 10 individual donors to outside groups injected almost $128 million into this year’s elections. Democratic-leaning groups collected $91 million of it.

Among the 183 groups that wrote checks of $100,000 or more to another group, Democrats had a 3-to-1 cash advantage. The biggest player was the National Education Association, at $22 million. Not a single Republican-leaning group cracked the top 10 list of those transferring money to others.

These figures are based on an Associated Press analysis of data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics from reports filed with the Federal Election Commission through Nov. 16 and with the Internal Revenue Service through Aug. 4. The data covers super PACs, earmarked donations to nonprofit groups, and money sent to party-aligned independent expenditure committees.

There is one large caveat in the numbers, however: They do not cover most of the donations to and from nonprofits, named 501(c) groups for the tax code that governs them. The spending by these groups has become a major force in elections since the Citizens’ United decision by the Supreme Court permitted gifts to those groups from businesses and unions.


Because they are not technically political, these nonprofits, such as the Koch-backed conservative network of Americans for Prosperity, do not face the same disclosure rules as overtly political groups. That leaves a gaping hole in the effort to follow all the money in politics, especially among Republican patrons who tend to favor those organizations that do not have to disclose how they raise or spend donations.

The Kochs’s biggest machine, Americans for Prosperity, employed 550 staffers and spent more than $125 million on these elections, advisers said. It is impossible to know how large of a share of that bill the Kochs themselves footed.

Associated Press

Congressional inquiry clears IRS of collusion charges

WASHINGTON — An 18-month congressional investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s mistreatment of conservative political groups seeking tax exemptions has failed to show coordination between agency officials and political operatives in the White House, according to a report released Tuesday.

The IRS has admitted that before the 2012 election it inappropriately delayed approval of tax exemption applications by groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement, but the IRS and its parent agency, the Treasury Department, have said that the errors were not motivated by partisanship.

Republican lawmakers, dismissing the administration’s denials, have suggested that the delays were not only politically motivated but were also orchestrated by the White House.

Some of the most strident comments have come from Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which has issued subpoenas to compel testimony from administration officials and held a series of tumultuous hearings on the IRS scandal.


Issa, who is stepping down from the chairmanship, has accused the IRS commissioner of engaging in a Watergate-style cover-up and accused administration officials of obstructing his investigation.

In a parting shot, Issa released the 226-page summary of the panel’s findings on Tuesday. It said that language used in e-mails collected by the committee suggested that IRS officials in the tax-exemption unit were trying to find ways to sanction groups they disliked.

New York Times

N.Y. congressman admits to tax evasion, refuses to quit

NEW YORK — US Representative Michael Grimm admitted Tuesday to federal tax evasion, pleading guilty to charges he had fought as he won reelection in November, but he remained determined to stay in office even with his sentencing now looming.

‘‘As long as I'm able to serve, I'm going to serve,’’ the Staten Island Republican said shortly after he entered a guilty plea to one count of aiding in the filing of a false tax return.

Grimm had been set to go to trial in February on charges of evading taxes by hiding more than $1 million in sales and wages while he was running a Manhattan health food restaurant.

During the hearing, Grimm, joined in court by two attorneys, acknowledged sending his accountant underreported receipts and using the leftover money to pay employees off the books and cover other expenses.

Sentencing was scheduled for June 8.

Prosecutors said a range of 24 to 30 months in prison would be appropriate, while the defense estimated the appropriate sentence as between 12 and 18 months.


House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, called on House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, to oust Grimm from the House.

Boehner has forced other lawmakers to resign for lesser offenses.

Boehner does not plan to comment on Grimm’s situation until the two discuss it, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said.