Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

by Jane Mayer

The Kochs had previously disdained conventional politics, but now they became major Republican donors. “It was the investigation that got them to the Republican Party,” notes Kenneth Ballen, the former counsel to the Senate’s investigative committee. Before that, he points out, “Charles had been so far right he was off in the ether. They thought Reagan was a sellout. But they were worried about their business. It was about power.” Doherty saw the Kochs’ embrace of the Republican Party in much the same way. He credits the Kochs with being by far the largest funders of libertarian ideas but notes they also became “direct funders of Republican politicians for all the same reasons other businesses are. It confuses a lot of people in the libertarian world, who think of them as sellouts,” he conceded.