Way Back money reaches Idaho under Gary Raney/Judith Ellis and is deployed into candidate-specific primary spending

The Western Futures→Way Back→Idaho branch now answers the local-steering/use question at Defend and Protect Idaho. Way Back PAC, whose Jan. 2026 FEC filing identifies Western Futures Fund as its connected organization, made a primary-verified $25,000 payment to Defend and Protect Idaho on Sept. 12, 2025 and FEC-derived reporting for Apr. 1–Jun. 3, 2026 reports another $350,000 to the Idaho PAC. Once the money reached Idaho, local leadership is identifiable: Defend and Protect Idaho’s own website lists Judith Ellis as treasurer, and contemporaneous Idaho Capital Sun reporting identifies former Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney as the committee leader/chairman. The same reporting says the PAC spent more than $752,800 in the 2026 Republican primary, supporting 23 candidates and opposing 14. Reported examples include roughly $18,000 supporting Sen. Jim Guthrie, nearly $19,000 supporting Rep. Ben Fuhriman, more than $25,000 supporting Sen. Jim Woodward, $27,234.53 supporting Megan Blanksma, $97,874 opposing Sen. Dan Foreman, and nearly $65,500 opposing Sen. Christy Zito. Raney told the Idaho Capital Sun that Way Back reached out to his group and was interested in its perspective on Idaho politics, and he said the groups found their missions aligned. This establishes a documented division of roles: outside/federal PAC money enters an Idaho PAC, while identifiable Idaho PAC leadership directs candidate-specific independent expenditure activity. It does NOT establish that Western Futures Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Way Back PAC, or any upstream donor selected the individual Idaho candidates, messages, vendors or expenditure amounts. Same-dollar tracing from any particular WFF donor into a particular candidate communication remains unproved.