We at the Center for Responsive Politics are pleased to announce that our previously nameless gathering place for staff meetings, interviews with reporters and celebrations of all kinds now has an identity: the Colbert Super PAC Memorial Conference Room.

The renaming was made possible by a generous, and unsolicited, grant of $136,000 from the Ham Rove Memorial Fund. Before it was laundered — whoops, we mean “transferred” through a series of perfectly legal maneuvers — the money originated with comedian Stephen Colbert’s super PAC, Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. Ham Rove was, well, a ham that Colbert claimed was the super PAC’s chief adviser.

The only string attached is the renaming of the conference room, which will become official with the hanging of a plaque provided by Colbert. Frankly, the room needed a little personality.

Colbert’s super PAC raised more than $1.2 million this cycle, the vast majority of it from small donors giving $200 or less. The group spent just $79,493 on a series of brief, and frankly odd , political attack ads — including one that targeted Colbert himself. But, after spending on administrative costs, the super PAC still had more than $773,000 left when the election was over. Of course, what the super PAC did most effectively was raise public awareness about the complexities, and sometimes absurdities, of the post-Citizens United world of campaign finance.

Last month, Colbert announced he was closing Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. He turned the remaining money over to the Colbert Super PAC SHH Institute, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization. Nonprofits like Colbert’s are allowed to participate in political activity in much the same way a super PAC can, but with far less scrutiny and little oversight — key concerns we’ve been exploring in our ongoing series on shadow money Colbert highlighted that, as well.

Colbert, with the assistance of campaign finance lawyer Trevor Potter, then announced the money would be transferred to yet another 501(c)(4) group, from which the money could be disbursed with no requirement that its final destination be disclosed publicly.

“You’ll know, but nobody else will,” Potter told Colbert in the segment, which can be viewed here

In our role as an observer of the world of political influence and the most complete and user-friendly source of information on campaign finance and lobbying, we’re scrupulous about remaining nonpartisan. We’re very careful about our funding sources (and transparent — our list of donors can be found here ). We do not accept donations from corporations, trade associations or labor groups, but we had never been offered money by a political committee until we were contacted by Colbert’s team several weeks ago.

“Like many Americans, we at CRP have concerns about outside groups, especially nonprofits that are raising money from secret sources and spending it to affect U.S. politics and policy,” said CRP Executive Director Sheila Krumholz. “But in this case we know where this money came from and that it was raised and spent not just to get a laugh, but also to educate people about how these groups operate and their impact on the democratic process. “We accept the responsibility to use the money to continue to educate people — though probably with fewer laughs — about the need for effective and meaningful disclosure of money in politics,” Krumholz said.

Last night, Colbert announced the grant money on his television show — along with similar donations to the Campaign Legal Center, the Yellow Ribbon Fund and several Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. In explaining his donations to CRP and the Campaign Legal Center, Colbert said the money was given in memory of Ham — but not because either he or Ham Rove appreciated our work.

“Just think — as tidal wave of money continues to engulf politics and these advocates for transparency continue to moan about how powerless they are to stop it, little Ham here will be…watching the whole thing unfold with relish, and maybe a little dijon,” Colbert said.

Watch the full clip below.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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