Module 2: Series Song, NINE SHELLS

SERIES SONG — MODULE 2: “NINE SHELLS” Persona: SIEGE (West Coast G-Funk / Political Hip-Hop) Source: Module 2 — “Reading the Map: Decoded”

[Intro: Sound of cups shuffling on a table. Voice, close mic:] Pick one You already lost That’s the game Three shells on a table but the money’s in none of them Because there’s nine

[Beat drops]

[Verse 1 — The Entities] (c)(3) — that’s the charity the one you think is clean Tax-deductible donations but the donors stay unseen Schedule B is filed but redacted from the view One point eight million of them and they never answer you

(c)(4) — social welfare that’s the name they like to use Forty-nine point nine on politics and nothing left to lose No Schedule B since twenty-eighteen not for them or you The donor writes the check and disappears without a clue

Super PAC — unlimited spending every dime disclosed But route it through a (c)(4) and the donor door is closed The filing says the name the name’s a shell the shell’s a wall And the citizen reads “corporation” and learns nothing at all

[Hook] Nine shells on the table which one got the money Nine shells on the table and they think it’s funny Nine different filings and they all look clean But the stack is one operation you have never seen Nine shells Read the map Nine shells Learn to track

[Verse 2 — The Stack] DAF — donor-advised fund — two-thirty-four billion in the vault Fidelity Charitable Schwab NPT it’s nobody’s fault You deposit get your write-off recommend where it goes The grant arrives as Schwab not you and nobody ever knows

Private foundation — Gates and Ford and Koch they play it straight Schedule F shows every grant the most transparent in the state That transparency is why the smart ones left the room DAFs took their money and their name just met its tomb

LLC — limited liability privacy machine Delaware won’t show the members and the registry is clean Donate to a Super PAC the PAC reports the shell Who owns the LLC? In fifty states you cannot tell

Trust — at the top of every stack the origin the source The document is private and there is no public course Chase the money backwards through the (c)(4) through the PAC Hit the trust and that’s the wall — you don’t come back

[Hook] Nine shells on the table which one got the money Nine shells on the table and they think it’s funny Nine different filings and they all look clean But the stack is one operation you have never seen Nine shells Read the map Nine shells Learn to track

[Bridge: Half-time. Bass and voice. Close mic. Teaching.] Five-twenty-seven — politics disclosed if they file right (c)(6) — trade associations spending in the night Chamber of Commerce two billion lobbied not a name on file Nine types nine rules and they taught you zero for a while

You learned charity in church You learned nonprofit in school But nobody taught you the stack Nobody taught you the tool They didn’t want you reading 990s They didn’t want you checking names They didn’t want you at the table They wanted you watching the game

[Beat SLAMS back]

[Verse 3 — The Call] Now you got the decoder ring the reference and the map Nine entities laid bare every single legal trap Not a trap because it’s hidden — a trap because they knew You would never learn the filing structure built in front of you

Same officers three boards same donor two receipts Same mission different filings same address different streets That’s entity laddering Module 4 is where we go But today you learn the pieces and tomorrow watch the show

Pull the EOS search the name confirm the letter code (c)(3) or (c)(4) now you reading the road Hit ProPublica look at the 990 see the names Cross-reference every officer and watch them play the game

You were never taught the rules — that era’s over now We published every entity and taught you every how Nine shells on the table but the money isn’t gone It’s in the filing and you’re reading it from here on

[Hook — Final] Nine shells on the table which one got the money Nine shells on the table it was never funny Nine different filings and now you read them clean The stack is one operation and it’s finally been seen Nine shells Read the map Nine shells WE’RE on track

[Outro: Cups shuffling sound. Then silence. Then voice:] Pick one [3 seconds] Or read all nine [Beat cuts. Done.]