A rare look inside the Koch brothers political empire

By Matea Gold, WashPost, Updated: February 5 at 2:19 pm

The labyrinthian design of the political network backed by the Koch brothers and their fellow conservative donors serves several purposes, but one of the biggest is to ensure the privacy of its financial backers. As we detailed last month, the money flows through a complex maze of tax-exempt groups and limited liability corporations, creating multiple barriers that shield the identities of the donors. Such anonymous contributions should be allowed, Charles Koch has argued, to protect people from the attacks that he and his brother David and their company have fielded. Critics say the Kochs and their allies seek to influence elections without accountability.

Now a document published by Mother Jones provides a rare glimpse inside the closely held network. The spreadsheet — apparently left behind by a guest who attended a recent Koch-sponsored donor seminar at a resort outside Palm Springs — lists the names of more than 40 top donors, along with the senior Koch officials they met with during the three-day conclave.

This is not the first time we’ve learned the names of some of the Koch network donors. But the document reveals the vast resources of the group’s backers, which includes top corporate executives, hedge fund billionaires and longtime Republican financiers. Several of those in attendance also have been top contributors to American Crossroads, the super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove.

Among the notable attendees identified were:

*Papa John pizza chain founder John Schnatter
*Kenneth Griffin, chief executive of Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel
*Debra Waller, chief executive of Jockey International
*Silicon Valley real estate investor Carl Berg

(More here.)