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Kim Barker

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Kim Barker has been a reporter at ProPublica since 2010, writing stories on campaign finance and the aftermath of the BP oil spill that have run in outlets such as The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Salon. She's specialized in "dark money," or social welfare nonprofits that do not report their donors for election ads. In late 2009 and early 2010, Barker was the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, where she studied, wrote and lectured on Pakistan and Afghanistan and U.S. policy. She was the South Asia bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune from 2004 to 2009 and was based in New Delhi and Islamabad. At the Tribune, Barker covered major stories such as the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and rising militancy in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Her book about those years, "The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan," was published by Doubleday in March 2011.

Articles

How the IRS’s Nonprofit Division Got So Dysfunctional

Yesterday, 5:14 p.m.

The IRS division responsible for flagging Tea Party groups has long been an agency afterthought, beset by mismanagement and financial constraints.

IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups

May 13, 5:40 p.m.

The IRS’s Cincinnati office last year sent ProPublica the unapproved applications for several conservative groups.

Inside Game: Creating PACs and then Spending Their Money

March 15, 12:55 p.m.

The California consulting firm
Russo, Marsh and Associates has tapped into Tea Party true believers, and made
millions as a result.

IRS Should Bar Dark Money Groups From Funding Political Ads, Lawsuit Says

Feb. 20, Noon

A former Illinois congressional candidate joins forces with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to challenge IRS oversight of social welfare nonprofits.

Controversial Dark Money Group Among Five That Told IRS They Would Stay Out of Politics, Then Didn’t

Jan. 2, 12:34 p.m.

Americans for Responsible Leadership, which California officials have accused of “campaign money laundering,” promised the IRS it would not engage in elections, a confidential filing shows.

In Montana, Dark Money Helped Democrats Hold a Key Senate Seat

Dec. 27, 2012, 12:40 p.m.

With control of the Senate at stake, liberals hit the streets and bought ads for a libertarian candidate who likely siphoned crucial votes away from the Republican challenger.

Karl Rove’s Dark Money Group Promised IRS It Would Spend ‘Limited’ Money on Elections

Dec. 14, 2012, 11:19 a.m.

Crossroads GPS, which has spent tens of millions from secret donors on elections, told the IRS in its 2010 application that its efforts would focus on education, policy-making and research.

Check ’Em Out: Donations to Dark Money Group Revealed

Nov. 8, 2012, 3:06 p.m.

ProPublica and Frontline are putting checks written to Western Tradition Partnership online. Released under a court order last week, the records give a rare look inside the controversial dark money group.

Key Montana Senate Race Draws Deluge of Dark Money

Nov. 5, 2012, 2:20 p.m.

More TV ads have been purchased in the race than in any other Senate contest in the country, including many paid for by outside money groups.

Dark Money Group’s Donors Revealed

Nov. 5, 2012, 10:19 a.m.

Bank records released under a court order show that Western Tradition Partnership’s donors included an Oklahoma businessman, a Colorado builder and other dark money groups linked to Ron Paul. 

Dark Money Group’s Bank Records Suggest Ties to Campaign Work

Nov. 2, 2012, 9:58 p.m.

Bank records released Friday by a
Montana district court judge show that the wife of a key player for Western
Tradition Partnership signed many of the group’s checks. She runs a company
that did work for candidates.

A Pop-Up Problem

Nov. 1, 2012, 7 a.m.

By the time the Internal Revenue Service discovers that a group has crossed the line from nonprofit promotion to politicking, many operators have boarded up shop and moved on.

More Evidence Key Dark Money Group May Have Misled IRS

Oct. 30, 2012, 7:57 p.m.

Western Tradition Partnership’s alleged big donor said he had actually never heard of the group.

Documents Found in Meth House Bare Inner Workings of Dark Money Group

Oct. 29, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

Boxes of records turned over to Montana authorities show that a top person from Western Tradition Partnership interacted with candidates and helped shape their election efforts, possibly violating laws that bar coordination between campaigns and outside groups.

Did the Dark Money Group that Spurred a Landmark Ruling Mislead the IRS?

Oct. 22, 2012, 10 a.m.

A nonprofit group that filed a lawsuit that led the Supreme Court to apply its Citizens United decision to states told the IRS that it wouldn’t intervene in elections – after it already had.

Dark Money Poured Into New Mexico Senate Contest

Sept. 27, 2012, 3:32 p.m.

An analysis of newly
available TV station political ad files shows how groups that don’t have to
report their donors played a major role in one race for an open U.S. Senate
seat

Flood of Secret Campaign Cash: It’s Not All Citizens United

Aug. 23, 2012, 2:13 p.m.

The Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Elections Commission and Congress have all played a role in the emergence of undisclosed contributions in the 2012 elections.

No Tax Returns for You, Dark Money Groups Say

Aug. 22, 2012, 9:19 a.m.

Some politically oriented social-welfare nonprofits dodged ProPublica’s requests for IRS filings or refused to provide them as required

Dark Money: Methodology

Aug. 18, 2012, 11:25 p.m.

How we calculated the numbers in our Dark Money application.

How Nonprofits Spend Millions on Elections and Call it Public Welfare

Aug. 18, 2012, 11:25 p.m.

Some tax-exempt groups underreported their political activities in 2010 to the IRS, ProPublica finds, using tactics that are being used to pour dark money into campaigns on an even larger scale this year.

Kim Barker

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