New GOP group allows anonymous donations

WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie have launched a new group that allows U.S. Republicans to give anonymously to discredit Democrats.

American Crossroads GPS raised $5.1 million in its first month, Politico reports. The parent group, American Crossroads, has raised only $4.7 million in the months it has been in existence.

While the parent group was organized under a section of political fundraising law that requires it to report the source of donations, American Crossroads GPS can promise anonymity as long as it devotes its efforts to "issues." It has told donors their money would be used for "hard-hitting issue advocacy," including research on "expense account abuses" by Democrats in Congress, making the BP oil spill "Obama's Katrina" and exposing the "healthcare rip-off."

American Crossroads has spent $600,000 on ads attacking U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., believed to be vulnerable in his bid for another term.

One Republican source, described as a "veteran GOP operative," told Politico anonymity has been a lure for donors who do not want open ties to Rove, one of the most controversial figures in the Bush White House. Gillespie became a counselor late in President George W. Bush's second term when he was trying to rebuild his popularity.