FOX News host Bill O'Reilly claimed that the progressive activist group MoveOn.org is getting “stealth money” from “shadowy, stealth money men.” He also claimed that “they got around the McCain-Feingold [Campaign Finance Reform Act] where, at least you know who was buyin' the [political] ads.” In fact, the law requires MoveOn Voter Fund and MoveOn PAC to disclose all their donors. O'Reilly also claimed that unlike FOX News' parent company, News Corporation, Air America Radio has “been bought by crazy fanatics on the left” and told listeners, “they just got $13 million, and we're gonna tell ya who we think it came from 'cause they never will.” But in fact, neither Air America Radio nor News Corporation -- nor, for that matter, the company that syndicates O'Reilly's radio show, Westwood One -- disclose its investors to the public.

On the December 10 broadcast of the nationally syndicated Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, O'Reilly cast MoveOn and other liberal groups as a secretive conspiracy:

O'REILLY: But if you have, now, the Democratic Party being threatened by shadowy, stealth money men, running this outfit MoveOn, that's big trouble. That's big, big trouble for the country. Something's gonna have to be done about it. I think Bush is gonna do something.

Because they got around the McCain-Feingold [Campaign Finance Reform Act] where, at least you know who was buyin' the [political] ads. And now, all the money's goin' into these websites where you don't know anything about it. They're private concerns. And, trust me when I tell you, 'cause I have experienced this firsthand. Every day of my life.

These are vicious, vicious people. They will print anything. They will try to take you apart any way they can. They don't care about the truth. They care about destroying people with whom they disagree. And, there's no check or balance on 'em.

The law requires political organizations, including MoveOn.org Voter Fund and MoveOn PAC, to file periodic reports with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) disclosing “the names and addresses (and occupation and employer if an individual) of all persons who contribute $200 or more after July 1, 2000, and of all persons receiving expenditures of $500 or more after July 1, 2000,” according to the IRS website. These reports are filed on Form 8872. While MoveOn also maintains a 501(c)4 organization (another type of federal nonprofit status), which is not required to disclose its donors to the public, 501(c)4 groups are prohibited under federal election law from engaging in “express advocacy” (defined as urging the election or defeat of a candidate for federal office), including donations to political parties at the federal level.

The IRS notes: “All of these notices, reports, and returns (except for Form 1120-POL [“U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Political Organizations”]) are to be made publicly available by the IRS and by the organization. Penalties are provided for failure to comply with these requirements." Indeed, such reports are easily accessible to the public through the Center for Public Integrity's user-friendly database. They are also available directly from the IRS. The Center for Responsive Politics, another nonprofit that tracks money in politics, has gathered a list of MoveOn PAC's contributors from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) here. They are also available directly from the FEC.

O'Reilly also claimed that Air America Radio is a particularly secretive enterprise funded by “stealth money” from “crazy fanatics on the left” and that “you never know what they're doing, these guys.” He contrasted Air America Radio with publicly-traded media companies like News Corporation, Viacom (a subsidiary of which, Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, manages Westwood One, O'Reilly's radio syndicator), and General Electric:

O'REILLY: Now, some might say, “Well, O'Reilly, you work for Rupert Murdoch, he owns the News Corporation, which owns FOX News Channel.” But this is a public company, with a board of directors. All right, now there have been media barons ever since the media was invented. Always been media barons.

But, when you have a public company that issues statements that people know who's on the board, how much money they make, what they own -- that's what it's all about. I mean we don't have any problem with Viacom or -- General Electric or News Corporation. We know who those people are.

These other people are shadows. And they are using their acquisitions to influence the country.

But while it's true that Air America Radio has not disclosed the source of $13 million in new financing, which it announced on December 8, this kind of “stealth” is consistent with the practices of thousands of other privately held companies. Even publicly traded companies like GE, Viacom, News Corporation, and Westwood One are not required to disclose their shareholders to the public and do not do so; boards of directors simply supervise management on behalf of shareholders.