Billionaire Democratic Funder Faces IRS Probe for Tax Avoidance | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Simons-backed groups funds ads opposing Tillis, tax cuts for 'wealthy'

    RALEIGH     Billionaire Jim Simons, a major contributor to a Democratic political candidates, funds, and causes, has come under fire from federal investigators, a move that has not gone unnoticed by the North Carolina Republican Party.

    The Washington Free Beacon reported that at a Senate committee hearing this week on the "Abuse of Structured Financial Products," senators from both parties blasted Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund run by Simons, that has used creative accounting methods to shield itself from more than $6 billion in federal taxes.

    Bloomberg.com reported that the Internal Revenue Service is challenging a "particularly aggressive" technique used by Simons, which led to Renaissance skirting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for himself and other investors. Simons' estimated net worth is $15 billion.

    One group that has benefited from Simons' largess is the Senate Majority PAC, a group founded by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that works to elect Democrats to the Senate. The Washington Free Beacon report said that on one day in March, Simons gave $2 million to the Senate Majority PAC and $1 million to the House Majority PAC. Citing CQ Roll Call, the Free Beacon said that Simons has donated nearly $13 million to Democratic candidates, committees, and interest groups since 2008.

    Will Allison, a spokesman for the state Republican Party has lashed out at Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, whose GOP opponent in November, House Speaker Thom Tillis, has been the target of attacks by the Senate Majority PAC. The campaign watchdog group OpenSecrets.org reports that as of July 22, the Senate Majority PAC has spent more than $5 million attacking Tillis and more than $1.4 million backing Hagan.

    One Senate Majority PAC ad shows a woman whispering into a microphone while Tillis made his May 6 primary night victory speech back. That ad repeated an assertion, debunked by WRAL News, that Tillis raised taxes on 80 percent of North Carolinians.


    "The reality is that Senate Majority PAC is run by Harry Reid and relies on huge donations from people like James Simons, anti-Second Amendment billionaire Michael Bloomberg, and radical left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer so they can deceive North Carolinians by airing false attack ads against Thom Tillis," Allison said.

    "It's quite pathetic that Kay Hagan has spent the last several months attacking private American citizens for daring to exercise their First Amendment rights, but is now silent when one of her main political benefactors is under investigation," Allison said.

    Hagan has criticized Charles and David Koch, billionaire industrialist brothers who have contributed heavily to groups backing Tillis and critical of Hagan. Hagan's campaign Web page invites visitors to "Take a stand against the Koch brothers."

    Hagan's campaign office did not respond to a request for a comment on the Simons investigation or the Republican assertion.

    The Senate Majority PAC has paid for other anti-Tillis ads mentioning tax cuts for the wealthy. Two are posted below.