The organization housed itself in the same building that served as Buchanan's 1992 campaign office, and shut down just days before Buchanan opened his 1996 campaign effort in the same building. At the same time, she was paid thousands of dollars a month to wind down Buchanan's first presidential campaign, Federal Election Commission records show. Buchanan was its unpaid chairman. American Cause was granted tax-exempt status as an educational group, barring it from supporting political candidates.
Violators are subject to taxes and possible loss of their tax-exempt status.
Scott Mackenzie, the Buchanan campaign treasurer who worked for American Cause, said the group was kept separate from presidential politics and used only to educate the public about issues such as health reform and trade. Mackenzie said Buchanan's campaign rented American Cause's donor list for market rates and purchased its furniture and equipment after it shut down. Other presidential candidates, including Bob Dole and Lamar Alexander, have previously come under criticism for forming nonprofit educational groups in off-election years. The criticism prompted Dole in 1995 to close his nonprofit Better America foundation and return money to donors. The organization has not released a list of its donors.