The days of gun-ban billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s millions being spent in secret without television viewers being aware he is behind some advocacy advertisements might soon be coming to an end.
Three transparency groups—The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation—have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require that Bloomberg’s name appear on TV commercials that are paid for by his Independence USA PAC.
“Efforts to obscure the true funding of political messages have recently proliferated as individuals increasingly turn to political action committees with opaque or misleading names to hide funders’ identities,” the groups wrote in their complaint. The groups believe the ads should state that Bloomberg is responsible for them since he provides all of the super-PAC’s funding.
