Secret Money Blog

NPR's Secret Money Project has launched a new blog. The project is a joint venture between NPR and the Center for Investigative Reporting that will be tracking the hidden cash that influences this election cycle.

Here, NPR's money, power, and influence expert Peter Overby takes a look at a new liberal organization called Accountable America. Tom Matzzie, the former Washington director for Moveon.org, launched the group Friday. Its mission is to kneecap potential Swift-Boat style attacks against Barack Obama by threatening to expose the identities of donors that pay for the negative ads. It's a controversial plan. As Peter writes:

This raises all sorts of questions about First Amendment rights, of donors and of Accountable America. Conservatives call Matzzie's strategy McCarthyism. Judicial Watch, a usually conservative watchdog group, promptly suggested that Accountable America had violated a law originally enacted to stop Ku Klux Klan intimidation of African-American voters.

The Secret Money Project will be keeping an eye on this organization and others throughout the fall. You can click here for a list of several of the most influential outside groups and a rundown of the important players.

-- Evie Stone

4:08 PM ET | 08- 9-2008 | permalink

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