# The Bench **The Bench** is a federal political committee, FEC **C00845271**, filing from **PO Box 15845, Washington DC 20003**, treasurer of record **Christopher Koob**. ## 🔴 It is the fifth committee found at PO Box 15845 | Committee | FEC ID | Treasurer | |---|---|---| | [[United Futures PAC]] | C00960385 | **Christopher Koob** | | [[Lower Costs Now]] | C00961276 | Steven Mele | | [[New Path PAC]] | C00963470 | Jeremy Begun | | [[Bold America]] | C00854299 | **Christopher Koob** | | **The Bench** | **C00845271** | **Christopher Koob** | [[Bold America]]'s page carried an open question — *"a fifth committee at PO Box 15845"* — and this is it. Three of the five share the same treasurer. The address is on the committee's own pre-general Form 3X, file **2039300**, field 4; the treasurer is fields 16 and 17 of the same record. See [[PO Box 15845 DC Three Committee Cluster October 2026]]. ## One donor, 97.7% of the money | Line | Figure | |---|---| | Cash on hand, 2026-10-01 | $233,252.42 | | **Total receipts, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-14** | **$3,582,235.41** | | — of which **[[Stephen Mandel]]**, one Line 17 row dated 2026-10-01 | **$3,500,000.00 — 97.70%** | | Total disbursements, same period | $3,647,129.81 | | Cash on hand, 2026-10-14 | $168,358.02 | | Cycle to date: receipts | $11,037,370.78 | | Cycle to date: disbursements | $11,885,363.56 | The committee's own summary arithmetic closes: $233,252.42 + $3,582,235.41 − $3,647,129.81 = $168,358.02. Everything else it itemised in the fortnight is small-dollar giving, much of it earmarked through ActBlue. ⚠️ **Line 17 is Other Federal Receipts, not a candidate contribution.** The $3.5 million went into the committee's non-contribution account — the account a hybrid committee may spend without limit on independent expenditure — and nothing on this page presents it as money given to a candidate. The donor's row carries a running aggregate of **$7,400,000.00** against an amount of $3,500,000.00, which indicates earlier money from the same payer that has not been traced to a filing here. That column is maintained by the filer and is not published as a total. See [[Mandel 3.5M to The Bench October 2026]]. ## It also funds another committee in the same cluster The Bench appears on **[[People Over Politics Action Fund]]**'s third-quarter report as a **$100,000.00** payer — the same Leawood, Kansas committee that **[[United Futures PAC]]**, at the same post-office box, funded with **$6,250,000.00**, and which has spent **$4,096,741.00** against [[Roger Marshall]] in [[KS-Sen-2026]]. Two committees at one mailbox pay into the same recipient at two orders of magnitude apart. ## What to watch - **Its own Schedule E.** It disbursed $3.6 million in a fortnight; which races that bought is the next question, and the report naming it in full is not due until after the election. - **A sixth committee at PO Box 15845.** - **Whether [[Stephen Mandel]]'s $7,400,000.00 aggregate resolves** to filings this site can read. ## See also - [[Stephen Mandel]] · [[Mandel 3.5M to The Bench October 2026]] · [[Mandel 2.5M to MD PAC October 2026]] - [[PO Box 15845 DC Three Committee Cluster October 2026]] · [[United Futures PAC]] · [[Lower Costs Now]] · [[Bold America]] · [[New Path PAC]] - [[People Over Politics Action Fund]] · [[KS-Sen-2026]] · [[Kansas Senate Outside Money 2026]] - [[Hybrid PAC]] · [[Dark Money]] · [[Independent Expenditure]]