The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has spent decades as one of DC’s most formidable lobbying forces
Four Democratic congressional primaries in and around Chicago on Tuesday have turned into the most expensive test yet of a question the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) would rather not answer: what happens when your money is so toxic you have to pretend it isn’t yours?
Aipac, one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying forces supporting Israel, and affiliated political action committees have spent at least $13.7m across four Illinois races, according to an investigation by WBEZ, Chicago’s public radio station, funneling it through a pair of Super Pacs so determined to hide their origins that they don’t mention Israel once in their ads, with anodyne-sounding names: Elect Chicago Women, and Affordable Chicago Now.