The FEC reports that, just yesterday, a group called Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies donated $100,000 to benefit the U.S. Senate campaign of libertarian Republican Rand Paul. The spending was for advertisements to benefit the Rand Paul campaign. To be precise, the advertisements blasted Democratic candidate Jack Conway.

What is this Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies organization, and why has it donated $100,000 for political television commercials to help Rand Paul beat Jack Conway? Don’t feel bad if the answers don’t come to mind right away. You’re not supposed to be able to answer those questions. The answers are a secret.

Using new campaign finance loopholes, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies has purposefully concealed the sources of the money it’s using to help Rand Paul. Under ordinary campaign finance avenues, the group would be limited in the expenditures it could make, and it would be legally required to make public the names and occupations of its donors. The people at Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies didn’t want the public to know who was supporting Rand Paul, though. Wouldn’t you love to find out what it is that they’re trying to hide?

The thing about true mysteries like this one is that no one can say for sure what’s behind them. There are hints about what might be going on behind the scenes at Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, however.

Those hints come in the form of donations made to American Crossroads, a political action committee that’s associated with, but not identical to, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies. Take a look at the donations made to American Crossroads, and two professional groups stand out right away: Oil and investments. There’s a heavy geographical bias as well, for Gulf Coast states where a few people are making a killing from the dirty and dangerous practice of offshore drilling for oil.

Rand Paul just so happens to be advocating for a radical deregulation of the oil and investments industries. So, are corporations from these industries are making an investment in Rand Paul by funneling money through Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies? It looks like a strong possibility, but then, with the organization operating in the shadows, anything’s possible.