Koch Industries, illegal activity; Triad scandal; new model for political influence and corruption

T]he Triad scandal of 1996 as a "historic" moment in American politics. There had of course been many bigger campaign scandals before then. But Triad was a new model. [Charles Lewis, head of Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, founder of the Center for Public Integrity] said it was the first time a major corporation used a tax-exempt nonprofit as a front group, or as he put it, "a cutout to secretly influence elections in a threatening way." After reporting on political corruption in Washington for years, Lewis concluded that "Koch Industries was the poster child of a company run amok." (176-177)