Republican Group Under Fire After Accepting $1.67 Million from Soros
The article discusses the surprising donation of $1.67 million from George Soros’ Open Society Action Fund to the International Republican Institute (IRI), a Republican-aligned association founded during the reagan administration. The grant, awarded in 2023, was intended to support capacity building for East Asian diaspora communities, specifically aiding persecuted Uyghurs in china, whose mistreatment has been described as genocide. This unexpected funding has drawn criticism from conservative watchdogs, including Peter Flaherty of the National Legal and Policy Center, who urged the IRI to sever ties with Soros-related entities due to their support of left-wing causes and alleged undermining of democratic norms. The IRI confirmed the grant was a one-time acceptance solely for the Uyghur support project and stated it does not plan to continue working with Soros-funded groups. The article raises concerns that such donations might be a strategy by soros and his son Alex, who now leads the fund, to influence both sides of the political spectrum and further a broader agenda seen by critics as detrimental to American values and national sovereignty.
In American politics, the name Soros has become synonymous with the bankrolling of left-wing and Democrat-backed causes, so why is a Republican organization accepting money from the Hungarian billionaire and his son?
Goerge Soros’ Open Society Action Fund has donated $1.67 million to the International Republican Institute for a grant dating to 2023 “to support the grantee’s work on capacity building for East Asia diaspora communities.” IRI is a Republican-affiliated group, having been started in the 1980s during the Reagan administration.
It said the money was for supporting persecuted Uyghurs in China.
The Daily Signal reported that a conservative watchdog group is now calling for the relationship to be severed.
The Soros-backed Open Society Action Fund, typically known for donating to left-wing causes, contributed $1.67 million to the International Republican Institute.
The GOP-aligned group says the money was to support persecuted Uyghurs in China.
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National Legal and Policy Center President Peter Flaherty wrote IRI Chairman, Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, saying, “I write to ask that the International Republican Institute (IRI) sever its relationship with the so-called Open Society Action Fund, and any other entities founded and/or funded by George Soros.”
Flaherty wants the IRI to “publicly commit to refraining from any further solicitation or acceptance of grants from Soros-related groups or from the giving vehicles of other Left-wing billionaires.”
“Contrary to his embrace of the ‘open society,’ Soros, and many of the groups and projects he funds, seek to undermine free expression, individual rights, the rule of law and democratic norms,” the letter continued.
“[International Republican Institute] compromises its own mission by accepting support from Soros entities that also support governmental censorship, illegal mass immigration, ‘lawfare,’ and socialism.”
An IRI spokesman provided some insight regarding the acceptance of the grant. “The project in question is closed; IRI does not work with [Open Society Foundation] and has no intention of doing so again,” he said.
“IRI received a one-time grant to support persecuted Uyghurs in China, whose abhorrent treatment of Uyghurs was declared a genocide by the first Trump administration,” he added.
“IRI has been sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party due to its unwavering support for religious freedom in China, and we will never yield in defending the cause of freedom in the face of the totalitarian CCP.”
Flaherty told The Daily Signal he was “relieved to learn this is a one-time acceptance of a grant.”
“The Uyghurs are certainly a worthy cause,” he reacted. “But, if that is what the grant was for, why didn’t it say that on the Open Society database? There is something not above board about the whole thing.”
The cause in itself is a noble one. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, China’s targeting of the Uyghurs — a majority-Muslim ethnic group — ramped up in 2017 with actions like re-education camps, sterilization, forced labor, and more, with what many label a genocide having its origins dating further back to 2014.
The comments from the IRI seem naïve at best. A Soros grant will be at their doorstep again. But will the cause be one as humanitarian and morally just?
This grant is likely the Trojan horse to get in the door.
The pertinent question is obviously why Soros would offer money to Republicans. Soros’ son, Alex Soros, now heads the fund, and The Daily Signal noted that he promises to be more political in that role.
Making appeals across the political spectrum — not just to the left — adheres to that agenda.
If the goal is undermining American values and eroding our national sovereignty, the father and son duo would definitely see the value in approaching the other side of the aisle for a more holistic approach to their end goal.
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