Appeals Court: Koch Bros Must Reveal Donor Names

Courthouse News reports:

A conservative political advocacy group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers must reveal the names of its largest donors to the California attorney general, three judges of the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday. The panel overturned U.S. District Judge Manuel Real’s 2016 ruling that allowed donors to Americans for Prosperity to remain anonymous.

In its lawsuit originally filed against former Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2014, the foundation – which qualifies as a tax-exempt charity – claimed the names of its donors are constitutionally protected, and that disclosing them would cause donors to stop contributing out of fear of threats and harassment from the group’s enemies.

Harris’ office made the demand of Americans for Prosperity and the Thomas More Law Center, a legal organization founded to “restore and defend America’s Judeo-Christian heritage” by opposing, among other things, “the imposition of Sharia law within the United States.”