Colbert Quits Super PAC Game

But learns how to keep the money
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 13, 2012 10:29 AM CST

Stephen Colbert spent a lot of time hawking his super PAC, but in the end, he admits it was all for naught. And after taking all that money from "anonymous, scary donors," Colbert feared repercussions, he said on last night's Colbert Report. After trying to blame his woes on Jon Stewart and a glasses-wearing ham named "Ham Rove," Colbert brought former FEC chairman Trevor Potter on for advice on how to get "out of the game" and shut down his super PAC—while keeping the money.

Potter said it was possible, through the magic of a fund known as a 501(c)(4): Just pass it through one such fund into a secret, second 501(c)(4), alongside a letter describing what to do with the cash. Then, "no one ever knows what happened" to the money. "I love America!" Colbert said. Meanwhile, over at the Daily Show, Jon Stewart was furious at himself, Gawker reports: David Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell heaped praise on the general when she appeared on the show to plug her book, and Stewart never had an inkling of any affair. "I am the worst journalist in the world," he moaned. (More Stephen Colbert stories.)

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