UPDATE: Tyler Higgs updated this article on October 21. Click here to skip to the updates below.

Second in a series by Tyler Higgs, an activist and former candidate for Waukee school board. He previously explored how to corrupt a school district. -promoted by desmoinesdem

Let’s say that you are a shady politician, and you want to take a whole lot of money from one source. Normally, campaign laws would require you to disclose your donor’s name, which could be problematic or politically damaging. Here’s how you can get around the laws:

1. Have your shady donor(s) hire an attorney to create a Limited Liability Company (LLC). That way, the business isn’t in the donor’s name and can’t be traced back to them. 2. Have your shady donor(s) put their money into the the LLC. 3. Accept all the money you want from the LLC. It doesn’t have to disclose who donated! 4. Hope your donor doesn’t send threats to people, exposing who they are.

A similar process seems to have occurred in Waukee.



Anna Bergman is a Waukee City Council member and the Republican nominee for Iowa House district 44, an open seat that both parties will target. Her campaign accepted a $20,000 contribution from an obscure company named “Drain the Water, LLC.” The company doesn’t appear to do any other business and is registered at the same address as a different company. It has all the appearances of being a shell company, including a lame pun name. $20,000 represents 95 percent of Bergman’s cash on hand as of July 14.

But appearances can be deceiving. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this donation and the unusual way it was made, so I asked simple questions that should be easy to answer, if the donation was ethical. I wanted to know who donated and why and what sort of business “Drain the Water” did.

I asked three people:

And that’s when I was threatened by Toby Torstenson.

Three points:

1. I NEVER emailed or contacted Toby Torstenson. I sent one email each to Lisa and Viki. His message to me appeared to be reacting to an email that Viki forwarded him. 2. It’s “you’re an idiot,” Toby. 3. When he says “My beliefs,” I believe he’s answering the question I asked Viki: “What are the political beliefs of the donor?” I infer that he is confirming he is one donor behind the $20,000.

But this is not about Toby Torstenson. It’s about Anna Bergman.

Bergman’s campaign accepted as much as $20,000 from a man who threatens strangers. I don’t believe people usually make threats out of fear that their totally ethical acts will be exposed. I also don’t think people typically just give friends $20,000.

The public can’t know what the Iowa House candidate may have promised to the owner of the excavating company. But I’ve seen enough to think it’s no wonder Bergman accepted this donation under the cover of darkness that an LLC provides.

If Bergman has any integrity left, she’ll donate this dirty money to a good cause. I bet it’d even be good politics. She shouldn’t want this guy’s dirty money if she really wants to empty the pond.

Appendix: How to Fight Corruption

I’ve learned a lot the past few weeks. This list is a reminder to my future self and, I hope, an aid to anyone else looking to fight corruption:

1. Care. You can’t care about everything all at once, and you can’t change everything. But don’t give up. Pick something to care about, big or small, and get passionate about it. Apathy is corruption’s bedfellow.

2. Start local and work your way up. It’s simple, you have a bigger impact locally. Your vote is a larger percent of the total, and when you ask questions, people are more likely to pay attention. Also, you’re more likely to have an impact locally. This will help with #1. It’s easier to care when you know you can make a difference.

3. Research issues. Whatever issue you care about, read up. Study it so that you know what questions to ask. I find campaign finance fascinating and like searching around to see who is buying our politicians.

4. Ask questions. Even if you don’t expect an answer or you expect a lie, ask the question. Make the corrupt official go on record refusing to answer the hard questions. Hope the public is smart enough to see through their facade.

5. Share the answers (or lack thereof). We don’t all have the time and resources to do this with every issue all the time, but if we share what we learn, we can accomplish more good than if we don’t.

6. Speak truth to power. Confront lies and spin with facts. Be respectful but firm. Sometimes it feels like no one else cares or no one else is listening, but speaking your truth is its own reward.

7. Expect to be challenged. Strive for growth. Yearn for truth, but also realize that some people can’t be reasoned with and agree to disagree. They’re just wasting your time. You might not be perfect, but you’ve done the work. Let the evidence guide you.

8. Celebrate. When we work to expose corruption, we add a cost to being corrupt. The politician still might accept the dirty money, but they’ll know they’ll be asked to publicly answer for it. Maybe another politician will see that and think twice before taking dirty money. We might not know when we make a difference, so celebrate the work you do, not the results you see.

Top image and sunshine graphic created by Tyler Higgs, used with permission.