Seven months ago reports surfaced that Koch Industries planned to spend almost $1 billion on the 2016 election. Now in the latest company newsletter, Charles Koch discloses how that money will be spread across the Koch Network and its allies according to the Wichita Business Journal. While Charles may think his latest newsletter will divert attacks on their immeasurable political spending, he’s actually revealed that the Kochs’ goals will be achieved by coordinated spending efforts across their political, advocacy, policy, and education efforts. Charles says the Kochs will channel about $300 million directly towards political spending and the rest is for “efforts designed to change policies and promote a culture of freedom in the United States,” according to the newsletter. But the claim that the other spending is solely charitable or unmotivated by their bottom line is an outright lie.
The money they fuel into “other initiatives” and their many issue-based front groups is part of an offensive to up their earnings — something they’ve repeatedly denied, even though all the evidence points in the opposite direction. This latest statement from Koch world is just a way to deflect from the blowback. The Koch brothers don’t actually prioritize criminal justice reform or scholarships. They only care about their profits.