{"id":518368,"date":"2021-05-17T15:35:13","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T19:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=518368"},"modified":"2021-05-17T15:35:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T19:35:14","slug":"watchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-billionaires-us-political-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-billionaires-us-political-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog Group Demands Investigation Into Billionaire\u2019s US Political Spending"},"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\">18<\/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%2Fwatchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-billionaires-us-political-spending%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=518368&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><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-468292694-e1517269346559.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>A watchdog group filed a complaint with Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Friday, demanding investigation into a Swiss billionaire\u2019s involvement into the U.S. electoral process.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/02\/18\/conservative-coalition-dark-money-campaign-joe-biden-xavier-becerra-vanita-gupta-arabella-advisors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Americans for Public Trust\u2019s<\/a> complaint claims that Swiss-born <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2018\/01\/29\/wyss-sexual-assault-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss<\/a>, 85, who currently leads a reclusive lifestyle in Wyoming, \u201cindirectly funded federal electoral advocacy through his nonprofit organizations, the Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund,\u201d The New York Post <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/15\/watchdog-calls-for-probe-into-swiss-billionaires-political-spending\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"8.9028213166144\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cMr. Wyss indirectly funded federal electoral advocacy through his nonprofit organizations\u2026 The intended recipient of these funds was ultimately a variety of organizations whose primary purpose is to engage in electoral advocacy.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/a81M4xfdLf\">https:\/\/t.co\/a81M4xfdLf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Americans for Public Trust (@apublictrust) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/apublictrust\/status\/1394340603945684992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe law prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions to political committees whether directly or indirectly,\u201d the complaint reads.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2016, Wyss\u2019s non-profit fund and foundation donated $208 million to three non-profit funds that backed progressive causes, helping Democrats win the White House and control of Congress in 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/03\/us\/politics\/hansjorg-wyss-money-democrats.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according<\/a> to The New York Times (NYT). <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/03\/hansjorg-wyss-sexual-assault-donor-lincoln-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Swiss Billionaire Previously Accused Of Sexual Assault Donated To Firm With Ties To Lincoln Project)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although the billionaire\u2019s representatives claim that the donations to the non-profit funds were never meant for political campaigning, Wyss\u2019s organizations have directly sponsored groups that opposed former President Donald Trump, spending tens of millions of dollars for the cause, the NYT reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t see his name show up in FEC filings but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that he hasn\u2019t poured hundreds of millions of dollars into influencing US politics or policy,\u201d Anna Massoglia, an investigative researcher with the Center for Responsive Politics, said of Wyss, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/08\/swiss-billionaire-uses-his-fortune-to-help-sway-us-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according<\/a> to The New York Post.<\/p>\n<p>The Friday complaint also alleges that the \u201cHub Project,\u201d another Wyss-funded group, managed $30 million in campaign spending to help Democratic congressional candidates in the 2018 election cycle \u201cthrough its affiliated trade groups and through its super PAC, Change Now.\u201d However, the \u201cHub Project\u201d was not registered as a political committee to avoid FEC\u2019s oversight, the complaint says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce it became clear that there was a lot of interconnectivity, we felt it was important to ask for an investigation to see if in fact Wyss was essentially funneling money as a non-American citizen into the American election system,\u201d Adam Paul Laxalt, outside counsel for Americans for Public Trust, told the New York Post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A watchdog group filed a complaint with Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Friday, demanding investigation into a Swiss billionaire\u2019s involvement into the U.S. electoral process.Americans for Public Trust\u2019s complaint claims that &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278341,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-468292694-e1517269346559.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Watchdog Group Demands Investigation Into Billionaire\u2019s US Political Spending","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-518368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-468292694-e1517269346559.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Watchdog Group Demands Investigation Into Billionaire\u2019s US Political 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