Powell Earned Thousands in Consulting Fees for Progressive Dark Money Groups While Pledging to Shut Them Down

by Ken Shepherd

(Photo credit Matt Johnson)

Denise Powell, who is running to flip Nebraska’s Second Congressional District blue, has a history of consulting for the very “dark money” groups she denounces and pledges to shut down.

As the Washington Free Beacon first reported last week, campaign finance disclosures submitted by Denise Powell’s campaign show the self-described small business owner as having earned at least $5,000 each in consulting fees for a number of 501(c)4 groups, including the Washington, D.C.-based progressive group the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Powell is also listed as having provided consulting services to the Omaha-based Nebraska Donor Alliance, an organization whose board is chaired by the daughter of University of Nebraska Regent Barbara Weitz.

Critics on both the left and right have attacked such organizations as “dark money” groups because of their donor anonymity, with Powell herself making the end of dark money a key plank in her campaign platform.

“In Congress, I will… Overturn Citizens United and get dark money out of politics once and for all,” Powell pledges on her campaign website’s priorities page.

Powell, derided earlier this year in her heated Democratic primary campaign as “Dark Money Denise,” has defended her support from left-leaning independent-expenditure groups.

“I have been fighting for great candidates, fighting to stop abortion bans, fighting for our public schools,” Powell told First Alert 6 in a May interview. “And I am hoping that is what voters are going to remember, not these sort of desperate lies that are really just a distraction from the real issues that are keeping people up at night.”

Powell similarly defended her support by independent-expenditure groups in a statement last month to The Plains Sentinel.

“I’m really proud of some of the organizations that are in my corner,” Powell said. “I mean, the organizations that are behind me are organizations like EMILY’s List, like Elect Democratic Women, BOLD PAC, which is the Hispanic Caucus. It’s not surprising to me that so many people see this opportunity here.”

“It’s unclear exactly how much money Powell personally made from groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.

“Her financial disclosure states that she earned nearly $160,000 from her consulting firm in 2024, but federal ethics rules only require Powell to list entities that paid her more than $5,000 rather than disclosing the specific amounts. That means she’s made at least $25,000 from the five ‘dark money’ entities,” noted the Washington Free Beacon, adding that the Powell campaign did not return a request for comment.

The Plains Sentinel has reached out to the Powell campaign for comment on the Free Beacon’s reporting.

The Plains Sentinel has also reached out to The Sixteen Thirty Fund for comment on its business relationship with Powell and her campaign promise to end “dark money.”

— Ken Shepherd is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. He is a former editor at Fox News Digital and the Washington Times.