User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Black Rock Group

Black Rock Group is a political consulting firm with its head office in Alexandria, Virginia, managed by Michael Dubke and American Crossroads political director Carl Forti.

Other associated organizations
Black Rock Group shares office space with American Action Network, a group that promotes 'center-right policies,' Americans for Job Security (AJS) which Dubke and Carney also founded, Crossroads Media, a media company service serving American Crossroads. Black Rock Group shares office space with Crossroads Media and American Crossroads at Suite 555 at 66 Canal Center Plaza along the western bank of the Potomac River, approximately 7 mi south of downtown Washington, D.C..

ajs Tim Dunn, an oilman from Midland, Texas, who is vice chairman of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) and who runs another political group, Empower Texans, which supports Republican candidates and has taken in funds from Donors Trust and “Americans for Job Security,” a Koch-tied dark money group that was slapped with a severe fine by the FEC for its involvement in a dark money shell game intended to disguise the origin of its funds. ajs run

The American Future Fund is affiliated with the Center to Protect Patient Rights.

According to campaign finance expert Jan Baran, a member of the Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, the January 21, 2010 ruling in United States Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FECcase, which greatly expanded the role of corporate money in politics,  was praised by  conservatives and libertarians and criticized by liberals and campaign finance reformers.

American Action Network
The American Action Network, which was established in 2009, qualified for the Internal Revenue Service special status as a social welfare, tax-free 501(c)(4) organization. The AAN can "accept secret donations and engage in some political advocacy." To "qualify for this special status, an organization cannot spend the majority of its money on politics, and its primary advocacy must be on issues."

In a 2010 article by the Center for Public Integrity, investigative journalist Peter H. Stone, reported that the "conservative" American Action Network, which was established in 2009, had become a "leading independent player" by 2010, spending "$26 million out of some $30 million" to "help Republican candidates" through "political ads and activities" via "secret donors." In 2010 GOP-leaning 501(c)(4) groups accounted for almost $74 million of the $89 million reported to the FEC, according to CRP.