{"id":2004469,"date":"2023-08-18T03:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T07:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-take-on-foreign-dark-money-groups-that-meddle-in-u-s-elections\/"},"modified":"2023-08-18T03:17:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T07:17:10","slug":"house-republicans-take-on-foreign-dark-money-groups-that-meddle-in-u-s-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-take-on-foreign-dark-money-groups-that-meddle-in-u-s-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"House Republicans combat foreign dark money groups meddling in U.S. elections."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-republicans-take-on-foreign-dark-money-groups-that-meddle-in-u-s-elections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2004469&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>In an underreported move on Aug. 14, the chairmen\u200b of the House \u200cWays \u200band Means Committee and \u2064the Oversight Subcommittee announced a joint examination into whether nonprofits have acted as a funnel for foreign funding intended to influence \u200ddomestic elections, in violation of U.S. law. The \u200ctwo respective chairs, \u200cReps. Jason\u2062 Smith, R-Mo., and David\u2062 Schweikert, R-Ariz., released an open letter soliciting input from the public.<\/p>\n<p>The Internal Revenue Service publishes Code 501, which regulates what different types of tax-exempt corporations can\u2064 claim as permissible activities.\u2062 The most familiar political nonprofit corporations allowed under this code are 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and \u2064527 groups, among several others. The IRS employs a large number of agents dedicated \u2063to tracking compliant activities and financial transactions\u2063 of these groups.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-384692867\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-09a494e551570c9672e30ef6800abaa3 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-09a494e551570c9672e30ef6800abaa3\"><\/div>\n<p>On the Ways and Means Committee website, members announced they are examining whether tax-exempt groups are violating the prohibition on certain activities, \u200dincluding funneling funding\u200b from foreign sources. An <a href=\"https:\/\/waysandmeans.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/RFI-on-501c3-and-c4-Activities-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">open letter <\/a>to these groups requests \u201cinformation and\u200b input on existing rules and regulations\u2063 governing them and foreign sources\u2063 of\u200b funding\u2062 for tax-exempt organizations and what, if any, policy \u200cchanges Congress should consider.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among other examples, the open letter cites news reports of the financial activities of a Swiss billionaire named Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss, who has used a network of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-hawley-files-counter-complaint-against-senate-dems\/\" title=\"Sen. Hawley files counter-complaint against Senate Dems\">dark money groups<\/a>\u200b to donate to radically leftist causes and campaigns in \u2064the U.S. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/03\/us\/politics\/hansjorg-wyss-money-democrats.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> in The New York Times in 2021, Wyss\u2019s foundations gave direct donations in the tens of millions to pro-Democrat and anti-Trump nonprofits:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Beneficiaries of his direct giving included prominent\u200c groups such as the Center for American Progress and Priorities USA, \u200cas well as organizations that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-81-election-fraud-cases-brought-to-courts-30-active-cases\/\" title=\"Report: 81 election fraud cases brought to courts, 30 active cases\">ran voter registration<\/a> \u2063and mobilization campaigns to increase Democratic turnout,\u2064 built media outlets <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210503090414\/https:\/www.newsguardtech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Courier-Newsroom-NewsGuard-Nutrition-Label.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused of slanting the news<\/a> to favor Democrats and sought\u200c to block Mr. Trump\u2019s nominees, prove he colluded with Russia and push for his\u200b impeachment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The conservative think-tank Americans for\u200d the Public Trust <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/26\/inside-swiss-billionaire-hansjorg-wyss-dark-money-dem-donations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed\u200b a complaint<\/a> at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over Wyss\u2019s financial activities, \u2063noting that under U.S. law, Wyss cannot directly <em>or indirectly <\/em>donate to federal \u200dpolitical campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>In my 2019 book, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whoownsthedems.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Behind the Curtain<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em> I attempted\u200d to chronicle the vast array of dark money nonprofit \u200borganizations used to spread hundreds of billions of dollars annually to the most radical of leftist causes \u2014 most of it exempt from taxes. I reached the conclusion that \u2062the amount of foreign influence in our body politic defies the imagination of most\u2062 American voters and desperately needs to be investigated. My book cites examples of\u200c foreign influence over environmental \u2062policy in blue states such as Oregon and Washington, promotion by the \u2064Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of radical protest movements, and foreign\u2063 funding of environmental donor networks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ab68d9265f175b89dad8162aa0e5af83 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ab68d9265f175b89dad8162aa0e5af83\"><\/div>\n<p>In\u2063 Chapter 3, \u201cGreenwashing,\u201d I cite a 2014 minority report by\u200d Senate Republicans investigating these suspicious foreign funding activities:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>An elite group of left wing millionaires and billionaires, which this report refers to as the \u201cBillionaire\u2019s Club,\u201d who directs and controls the far-left environmental movement, which in turn controls major policy decisions and lobbies\u200c on \u200dbehalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency \u200d(EPA). Even more unsettling, a \u2064dominant organization in \u200cthis movement is Sea Change Foundation, a private California foundation, which relies on \u200dfunding from a foreign company with undisclosed donors. In turn, Sea Change funnels tens of millions of dollars to other large \u200bbut discreet foundations and prominent environmental activists who strive \u2064to control both policy and politics.<\/p>\n<p>The report goes on to state, \u201cThe failure \u200cto openly acknowledge this force and the silence of the \u2063media with whom they coordinate\u200d further emphasize the fact \u200cthat until today, the Billionaire\u2019s Club operated in relative obscurity hidden under the guise of \u2018philanthropy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In later chapters,\u200b I write about Sea\u200b Change Foundation\u2019s off-shore foundation,\u200c Klein \u2063Ltd., with opaque funding which they then turn \u2063around and spread in a grantmaking process\u2063 for\u200b radical\u200c environmental groups. The founders of Sea Change still list themselves on its <a href=\"https:\/\/d.docs.live.net\/2ad3dfec3dbafb0b\/seachange.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a> as owners and operators of this foreign entity in Bermuda, now known as Sea Change Foundation International.<\/p>\n<p>Based in Bermuda, Klein Ltd., and Sea Change Foundation International are not subject to IRS reporting regulations. Contrary to the practice of many domestic charitable organizations, Sea Change Foundation\u2019s U.S. operation\u200d does not publish its IRS 990 forms \u2014 tax returns for\u2063 nonprofits \u2014 on its website.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, this joint open letter from Ways and Means and Oversight comes as welcome scrutiny into \u2064the decades-long practices\u200c of radical leftist nonprofits that \u200ddeliberately obfuscate\u2062 their funding sources. The extent to which such\u200d organizations use foreign funding to interfere in our elections demands urgent\u2064 attention.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f2ba7444ad7f2e1eac0fdd0da6bb5cc7 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f2ba7444ad7f2e1eac0fdd0da6bb5cc7\"><\/div>\n<p>The letter says, in \u2064part, \u201c[T]he Committee\u200c has learned that a\u200d [SuperPAC] recommended \u200cdonations to 501(c)(3) organizations as \u2018the single most effective tactic for ensuring Democratic victories\u2019 and that \u200blarge donations\u2064 from a\u2064 wealthy donor to state election offices in 2020 may have been done in a manner that\u2062 helps one political \u200bparty over another.\u201d It goes on to state the committee has found \u201csignificant amounts of\u2062 foreign money is flowing\u2064 through 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations\u201d to influence\u200c elections.<\/p>\n<p>The solicitation lists detailed concerns on the \u201cflow of funds into \u200cAmerica\u2019s political system and\u2064 elections\u200c under the guise of charitable, religious, or educational purposes or \u200bthe promotion of\u2064 social welfare.\u201d The\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-take-on-foreign-dark-money-groups-that-meddle-in-u-s-elections\/\" title=\"House Republicans combat foreign dark money groups meddling in U.S. elections.\">13-page letter includes extensive details<\/a>, three appendices, and 95 end notes.\u2062 For\u2063 reference, <em>Behind the Curtain<\/em> had one \u200bappendix and 278\u200b end notes. <\/p>\n<p>Smith and Schweickert close their letter with an ominous warning, noting the \u2062\u201cexpansion of politics into almost all aspects of life,\u201d potentially requiring Congress to close \u201cloopholes\u201d exploited by nonprofit organizations\u200d to influence\u200d elections, often with \u2063funds from foreign\u200b sources. <\/p>\n<p>Talk about a shot across the bow.<\/p>\n<p>If any justice still prevails in today\u2019s society, these congressional committees are about to make life very uncomfortable for \u2064these groups that circumvent the IRS tax code to funnel foreign money \u2062into advancing leftist campaigns.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ff5266b02f56168d69fae5b936a57be3 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ff5266b02f56168d69fae5b936a57be3\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an overlooked development on Aug. 14, the House Ways and Means Committee and Oversight Subcommittee chairs, Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and David, initiated a joint investigation. They aim to determine if nonprofits have unlawfully channeled foreign funds to influence domestic elections, breaching U.S. regulations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2125,"featured_media":2004470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2004469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2004469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2004470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2004469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2004469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2004469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}