Cynical Koch Brothers First To Back Bachmann

[Mother Jones] In late May, KochPAC, as Koch Industries' PAC is known, donated $10,000 in one day to Bachmann-linked committees—$5,000 to her 2012 congressional re-election committee and $5,000 to her political action committee, MICHELE PAC, according to the most recent records available. (That's short for Many Individual Conservatives Helping Elect Leaders Everywhere PAC.) The two checks weren't KochPAC's first contributions to Bachmann. According to federal campaign records, the committee has given $25,000 to the Minnesota congresswoman since 2006, excluding the May donation.

Koch Brothers money trail:
The brothers fund free-market think tanks, right-leaning academic organizations, and conservative political advocacy groups, such as the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which cultivated the tea party. The political action committee for the Kochs' massive conglomerate, Koch Industries, has also given generously to big-name conservative politicians throughout the country at both the federal and state level.