When people hear the phrase “left-wing political machine,” they probably think of local activist groups, paid protestors, and maybe even out-of-state wealthy progressive donors writing checks from afar. That mental model would be both outdated, oversimplified, and a major underestimation.
What operates in Arizona today is far more sophisticated and opaque. It’s best understood not as a movement (as the Left likes to brand themselves), but as a syndicate: multiple non-profits leveraging tax-deductible contributions to advance shared political goals through a permanent, year-round infrastructure.
Our newly released report, prepared in conjunction with the Arizona Liberty Network, examined the financial transactions between a consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the Grand Canyon State, and illuminates just how far-reaching this system is…in Arizona, this liberal syndicate has its fingerprints on almost every lever of government.
A National Pipeline, Not a Local Movement
When examining the financing of the liberal syndicate, it’s important to note that virtually all of their funding comes from out of state sources. National, and in some cases multinational, donors and foundations are the primary sources of money. The NGO network also utilizes direct taxpayer subsidies through grants at the federal level.
Most of the individual donors and foundations bankrolling the syndicate provide their giving through a financial instrument known as a donor-advised fund (DAFs). A DAF lets wealthy progressives make tax-deductible contributions to a private fund, which then routs their donations to ideological nonprofits.
The other major trough of funding for the network comes from taxpayers in the form of government grants. The most notable federal agency providing these funds was USAID, which contributed over $50 million last cycle to progressive “philanthropic” organizations that then participate in political advocacy in Arizona.
From there, the money gets funneled through a web of intermediary organizations. Arabella Advisors (recently defunct and being replaced by Sunflower Services), Tides, and their affiliated funds dominate this space. These groups aggregate all that tax-advantaged and taxpayer-backed dollars, then redeploy them nationwide. Arizona is one of their preferred destinations.
Our report tracked more than 180 financial transactions, primarily from 2023 and 2024 alone. Altogether, the upstream sources pushed over $1.8 billion into the liberal NGO network, with nearly $200M ending up with organizations operating in Arizona.
So, this is no organic grassroots “movement.” It is a sophisticated syndicate: part tax-subsidized, part tax-advantaged, and built to operate year-round…
Wealthy leftists outside the state are paying big money to deepen the blue in Arizona.
An investigative report by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) and AZ Liberty Network (AZLN) documented the way national organizations are funding to strengthen Democratic politics in Arizona: Donor Advised Funds, dark-money intermediaries, and teachers’ unions.
AFEC and AZLN found the flow of funds totaled over $1 billion, at least.
Per the report, these tax-advantaged funds don’t arrive in Arizona directly. The millions change hands between different organizations before coming into the state, sometimes multiple times, effectively turning the money dark.
“Money enters the system tax-free, travels invisibly, and reemerges as ‘local’ influence with national fingerprints erased,” reads the report. “The result is a tax-advantaged, publicly underwritten, and union-fueled political machine that dwarfs traditional party structures, and it has reshaped Arizona’s civic landscape. It is not organic, spontaneous, or homegrown—it is manufactured, calculated, and imported, creating an institutionalized system of progressive infrastructure.”
The money flow begins with what the report calls “Upstream Sources.” Two cost-saving vehicles make the funding flows a reality: tax-advantaged Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) and direct taxpayer subsidization available through federal grantmaking. The former includes funds like Fidelity Charitable, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Rockefeller Advisors. The latter vehicle largely operates through USAID. This agency gave the Tides Center $25 million to combat “misinformation.”
In 2024, the report found the Upstream Sources spent over $33 million in Arizona in non-federal races — a key year for determining which party would control the state legislature.
Altogether, Upstream Sources sent over $1 billion to organizations that acted as intermediaries — “Intermediary Organizations” — such as Sunflower Services (until recently, Arabella Advisors), Tides Nexus, and networks backed by billionaires George Soros or Hansjörg Wyss. Soros and Wyss also act as Upstream Sources.
From there, these funds finally make their way into Arizona. Top recipients that received millions include One Arizona, LUCHA, ACE, Chispa, Arizona Mirror, and the Copper Courier: the “Arizona Groups,” per the report.
The report alleged that the last two nonprofits listed, Arizona Mirror and Copper Courier, are news sites run by “Democratic operatives.”
Arizona Groups spent over $7 million to support down-ticket legislative Democrats, and nearly $5 million against the Republicans.
Further on the report mapped out how teachers’ unions fund local political action committees to influence Arizona races.
“These taxpayer-funded transfers, ostensibly for professional development or services, ultimately help free funds to support the same partisan infrastructure advancing the Left’s political objectives across Arizona,” stated the report.
Additionally, the report noted that the Arizona Education Association shares its headquarters building with other progressive organizations, such as One Arizona.
AFEC’s press release on the report interpreted the flow of funds as national influencing of local issues.
“This isn’t activism, it’s a professional, tax-advantaged political operation designed to look local but controlled from afar,” stated AFEC. “Arizona isn’t changing — it’s being engineered. Conservatives need a clear roadmap, strong counter-infrastructure, and strategic engagement to protect the state’s future and preserve local control.”
AFEC President Scot Mussi told “Winn Tucson” that the report was inspired by the USAID scandal around the time of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. That prompted curiosity about the origins of funding for Arizona’s major progressive political organizations.
Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, joins Kathleen Winn on WINN TUCSON KVOI 1030 to discuss the Club’s newly released “Arizona’s Liberal NGO Syndicate Report.” Mussi breaks down how a coordinated network of national nonprofits and political intermediaries… pic.twitter.com/9QjDCpQUD5
Arizonans are bracing for what one online commentator called “Scottsdale Riots Round 2,” after the “No Kings Rally” was announced to take place at the intersection of Camelback and Scottsdale Roads on Saturday.
Arizona online commentator “₿ased male™,” a Scottsdale resident, called upon Arizonans to “avoid Fashion Square and look out for the self-professed organizer,” whom he identified in screen captures as Shea Najafi, founder of Scottsdale Women Rising and Civics 101 Happy Hour.
Sharing the post, Kari Lake, Senior Advisor for U.S. Agency for Global Media, commented, “They are pulling a page from their old playbook.”
The rally is being put on by “the 50501 national movement” (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement). This is the very same group that attempted to force entry into the Arizona Capitol in February, and according to its website, has branded President Donald Trump a “traitor to the American people.”
“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services,” the group claims. “They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies.”
The group accuses the President of “authoritarianism,” for enforcing federal immigration laws, and urged the American people to work for “removing the regime,” citing low approval in a single CNN poll, despite the aggregate polling from RealClear Polling showing Trump at a respectable 46.8%. A CBS poll released this week even found 54% of Americans approved of Trump’s approach to deportation, seemingly defying the ‘No Kings’ narrative.
“₿ased male™”, shared a screenshot of the rally’s purported demonstration route to X, indicating a gathering at the intersection of Tatum Blvd. and Bell Rd.
Research completed by DataRepublican indicated that funding for the No Kings Rally has flowed from a variety of radical leftist sources including George Soros’ Tides Center, Reproductive Freedom for All, Color of Change, Black Voters Matter Fund Inc, and the American Civil Liberties Union. DataRepublican further traced taxpayer funding through two layers of organizations back to the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the National Endowment for Democracy.
In a statement to X in seeming anticipation of the rally, Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky wrote, “The right of citizens to peacefully assemble and protest is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and part of our nation’s political tradition. However, the City of Scottsdale will not tolerate mob violence, theft, destruction of property, attacks on law enforcement or other disorderly activities that endanger our community. Public safety is non-negotiable. I am in regular communication with Chief LeDuc and have full faith and confidence in @ScottsdalePD’s level of preparedness and their commitment to take whatever steps are necessary to protect our community.”
On Wednesday, a similar demonstration in Tucson turned violent, leading to the arrests of three rioters: 23-year-old Natalia Navarra, 46-year-old Sulutasen Amador, and 23-year-old Hannah Hartranett for Unlawful Assembly and Resisting Arrest, Obstructing a Public Thoroughfare and Disorderly Conduct, and Obstructing a Public Thoroughfare and Unlawful Assembly, respectively according to KOLD.
At least four ‘No Kings’ rallies are planned in the Tucson area on Saturday according to the organization’s website with at least fifteen sites listed in the Valley of the Sun including planned demonstrations in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Peoria, Glendale, Surprise, and Buckeye.
Major cities nationwide resounded with this chant in the weeks following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Pro-illegal immigration activists took over the streets with protests bordering on riots and engaged in coordination efforts to thwart deportations.
Younger grassroots activists, like those with the local Party For Socialism and Liberation or the MECHA chapters, bolstered their numbers with members of the most well-funded leftist activist operations in the state.
Anti-ICE protesters shut down traffic in Phoenix, AZ while waving foreign flags and signs saying we’re on stolen land.
These activist operations are nonprofits financed, in large part, by the wealthiest leftist donors in the nation—especially those dealing in dark money by the millions. But it doesn’t stop there. They’re also financed by reputable U.S. corporations and their leaders—and even federal grants. These nonprofits have similar goals: opening the border, abolishing immigration enforcement, and granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.
These leftist activist nonprofits are consistent in their messaging, outlined succinctly in collaborative efforts such as the United Nations Human Rights Council Immigration Working Group of 2020 report. That report advocated for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the establishment of “Welcoming Centers” to process any who wish to come across the border in Yuma, Nogales, and in other states along the southern border.
The following are the powerhouse groups leading coordinated efforts in Arizona to undermine the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
Aliento Education Fund (Aliento) — Phoenix. Reported revenue for 2023: over $1.7 million.
Aliento’s founder and current leader is Reyna Montoya, a DACA recipient. Montoya’s partner and the nonprofit’s vice president of education and external affairs, José Patiño, is a 2024-25 Obama Foundation USA Leader.
Aliento provides illegal aliens with a defense and preparation plan to counter immigration enforcement efforts as well as resources on evading ICE.
Should the Supreme Court take on and overrule the active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) case, recipients like their founder, Montoya, would be at risk for deportation. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled DACA to be unlawful for new applicants but allowed renewals to continue.
The pressure of these pending changes to immigration law spurred Aliento to mobilize its forces.
Earlier this month, the Aliento chapter at Arizona State University led a protest against the advocacy of another campus group, College Republicans United, to aid deportation efforts.
Hundreds of student protestors at ASU stood up to fascists gathered to promote ethnic cleansing and report undocumented students. They protected their undocumented classmates by creating an impromptu march that overwhelmed the MAGA racists. #3E#USprotests#Arizona#ICEpic.twitter.com/gVQeGpvOwh
In a subsequent interview with Arizona PBS, Montoya defended illegal immigration as permissible so long as the illegal immigrants don’t get a criminal record while in the country. Montoya also claimed the media and the Trump administration were exaggerating the negative consequences of illegal immigration.
“I think that people are really afraid that people who have been paying taxes, folks who haven’t really gotten in any trouble with the law, they are now targeted to be deported,” said Montoya.
In response to those supportive of deportations, Montoya declared illegal aliens shouldn’t be held responsible for committing the crime of illegal immigration.
“What would you do if you were in our shoes?” said Montoya. “That you only made one mistake in your life that pushed you from different circumstances, what would you have done?”
Among Aliento’s top donors over the past decade are the Tides Foundation ($675k), Pharos Foundation ($450k), Arizona Community Foundation ($355k), Satterberg Foundation ($350k), Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation ($300k), and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors ($222k).
Last year, Aliento also received a $75,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield to improve the mental health of illegal immigrants.
In 2022, Aliento received $250,000 from the GoDaddy founder’s charitable organization, the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
The Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE) — Phoenix. Reported revenue for 2023: nearly $7 million.
ACE is a Phoenix-based illegal alien advocacy nonprofit and a sister organization to Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA). ACE has regularly reimbursed LUCHA a little over a million in expenses for the past several years. ACE emerged as a response to SB1070 over a decade ago.
ACE’s founders are Alejandra Gomez and Abril Gallardo Cervera.
Gomez, the executive director, formerly served as deputy organizing director of United We Dream, an illegal immigration advocacy organization, and co-executive director of LUCHA.
Cervera is the chief of staff for LUCHA, which she also founded, and sits on the board of United We Dream Action. Cervera played a significant role in unseating former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as well as passing the Health Working Families Initiative to raise Arizona’s minimum wage.
Other key players in ACE’s short history include Democratic lawmaker Raquel Terán, who sat on ACE’s board and formerly served as its director. Now, Terán is the director of the newly-formed Proyecto Progreso — another entity resisting immigration enforcement.
In response to the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, ACE has issued advisories to illegal aliens on avoiding immigration enforcement detainment: instructing them to remain silent, obtain legal counsel, and refuse law enforcement entry into the home without a warrant. ACE is also providing free assistance to illegal aliens, such as the completion of DACA renewal paperwork.
ACE and LUCHA senior policy advisor, Lena Avalos, led recent efforts to oppose a new Republican-led bill in the Arizona legislature (SB1111) offering a $2,500 bounty for each illegal immigrant via an Arizona Deportations Fund.
“This bill is nothing more than Donald Trump’s 2025 agenda, and you are wasting taxpayer resources on hateful, racist legislation,” said Avalos during the Senate Government hearing on SB1111.
Among ACE’s top donors over the past decade were the Center for Popular Democracy ($1.7 million), the Voter Registration Project (for voter registration, over $3.5 million), and the Telescope Fund ($900,000).
Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund, also known as “Si Se Vota” (CPLCAF) is the advocacy arm of the similarly named nonprofit, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC). Reported revenue for 2023: $4.4 million.
CPLCAF is resisting the Trump administration by tapping top elected officials and grabbing the ears of the state’s movers and shakers.
The week of Trump’s inauguration last month, CPLCAF’s executive director, Joseph Garcia, met with leaders at Arizona State University’s Hispanic Research Center to advocate against the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportation.
CPLCAF receives its funding from CPLC: over $10.4 million directly from CPLC the last two years. CPLC had a reported $200 million in revenue in 2023.
A significant portion of CPLC’s millions has come from federal government grants: the nonprofit was awarded nearly $72 million out of the approximately $500 million in obligations (about $297 million of these obligations incurred from 2020 onward, nearly 60 percent of total obligations incurred since the earliest available dataset provided in 2008). The majority of these grants came under the Biden administration:
In 2020, CPLC received a $101 million grant and a $68 million grant to carry out migrant head start programming, which doesn’t require proof of citizenship. $66 million and $53 million were outlayed, respectively; the performance period for the former doesn’t end until this August, and the latter grant ended last August.
In 2021, CPLC received a $4 million grant, again for head start programming. The total grant was awarded by the performance period’s end last year.
In 2022, CPLC received an $18 million grant to provide residential shelter and/or transitional foster care services for unaccompanied illegal immigrant children. Nearly $13 million has been outlayed; the performance period ends in June.
In 2023, CPLC received a $16 million grant to conduct home study and post-release services for unaccompanied illegal immigrant children. About $2 million of that grant has been outlayed; the performance period ends in September 2026.
In 2023, CPLC received a $12 million grant, again for head start programming. About $6 million of that grant has been outlayed; the performance period ends in December 2028.
In 2024, CPLC received a $21 million grant, again for migrant head start programming. About $7 million of that grant has been outlayed; the performance period ends in August 2029.
The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (Florence Project) — Tucson. Reported revenue for 2023: $17.8 million.
The Florence Project provides free legal and social services to detained illegal immigrants of all ages in Arizona. The founders were immigration attorneys Christopher Brelje and Charlene D’Cruz. It is the largest organization of its kind in the state. The nonprofit is engaged in two of 22 lawsuits filed so far against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The Trump administration’s Interior Department recently gave the Florence Project a stop work order on the Unaccompanied Children’s Program. The program issues government funding to non-governmental organizations to provide legal services to illegal alien minors. Days later following outcry and pushback, the administration rescinded that order.
Last month, the nonprofit sued the Trump administration over a day-one executive order, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which dropped the court hearing requiring to expedite deportations, barred federal funding for sanctuary jurisdictions, limited parole authority to a case-by-case basis, limited Temporary Protected Status awards, paused pending the review and audit of all funds to non-governmental organizations involved with illegal aliens, prohibited public benefits to illegal aliens, and hired more immigration enforcement.
Earlier this month, the nonprofit sued the Trump administration over the proclamation shutting down asylum at the border.
In 2022, the Florence Project received $10 million from MacKenzie Scott — ex-wife to Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. Scott’s donation was the single-largest gift from a donor in the nonprofit’s 35-year history, enabling the organization to expand in an unprecedented way by providing a “representation-for-all legal services model.”
A close second in funding is the Lakeshore Foundation, which gave the nonprofit about $7.6 million within the last decade.
Another top donor is the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, which gave about $600,000 over the past decade. This nonprofit was founded for the purpose of serving Arizonans.
Among other top donors over the past decade were Together Rising ($487k), the Norman E. Alexander Family Foundation ($308k), and the Immigrant Justice Corps ($309k).
The Florence Project also received over $500,000 in independent contract payments from the Acacia Center for Justice in 2022 for legal services.
PODER in Action (Poder) and PODER Arizona (AZ Poder) — Phoenix. Reported revenues for 2023: $2.1 million and $1.1 million, respectively.
Poder was founded in 2013 as “Center for Neighborhood Leadership” by Ken Chapman and Joseph Larios. It was run by individuals from illegal immigrant families.
Chapman has spawned a number of activist efforts in his name. Alongside LUCHA’s Cervera, Chapman played a significant role in unseating former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Prior to Poder, Chapman was the executive director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. Last year, Chapman sued the city of Phoenix for not producing records of elected officials’ communications with the Phoenix Police Department union.
Poder is the 501(c)(3) sister organization to its 501(c)(4), AZ Poder. Per the latest tax returns, the two organizations share identical leadership: executive director Viridiana (Viri) Hernandez and board members Nichole Cassidy (Chispa Arizona’s director of development; formerly: senior director of development for Women’s March, deputy director for Equality Arizona, director of development for Mijente, director of philanthropy for ACLU), Maher Osman (board member of CAIR Arizona, development coordinator for Instituto), Stephanie Cordel, and Zarinah Tavares.
Last November following Trump’s election, Hernandez, who came into the U.S. illegally, pushed the Phoenix City Council to refuse to assist deportations carried out by the Trump administration. Hernandez said the council needed to deprioritize immigration calls the way it has deprioritized abortion calls.
Since President Trump took office, AZ Poder organized protests at the Capitol against immigration enforcement efforts. They have also held workshops coaching illegal immigrants on ways to avoid immigration enforcement authorities.
Their top donors include the Alliance for Youth Organizing ($780k), Borealis Philanthropy ($700k), Marguerite Casey Foundation ($780k), and the Satterberg Foundation ($470k).
Puente Human Rights Movement, or Puente Arizona (Puente) – Phoenix. Reported revenue for 2023: nearly $900,000
Jovana Renteria (currently a director of the Maricopa County Bar Association’s division board) and Carlos Garcia (formerly the vice mayor of the city of Phoenix and co-founder of One Arizona) founded the nonprofit in 2007. Both left the organization in 2021.
Puente is helping illegal aliens evade immigration enforcement and other law enforcement officials assisting in deportation efforts.
Days into Trump taking office, Puente launched a hotline to warn illegal aliens of immigrant agent whereabouts and activity. The nonprofit sends out messages to illegal aliens so they may evade capture. Puente also arranged a network of scouts, “Migra Watch,” and the organization announced its plan to hold training sessions for those who sign up.
The nonprofit also scrubbed their website in preparation for their efforts to resist immigration enforcement. Their homepage currently reads, “We Are Cooking Something New.”
Puente’s executive director, Natally Cruz (Ireta), came to the U.S. illegally. In February, Cruz told NPR that she and the rest of Puente’s team are hands-on with the immigration authority hotline. Cruz has been leading workshops advising illegal immigrants on avoiding immigration authorities and taking advantage of constitutional rights.
“Instead of texting your comadre, or spreading the word, or putting a picture on social media, text it to us and we’ll make sure we’ll go out there and verify that information,” said Cruz.
Among Puente’s top donors over the past decade were Neo Philanthropy (over $1 million), the Arizona Community Foundation ($400k), Borealis Philanthropy ($300,000), and the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program ($300k).
Puente is the local hub of the national social justice organization also based in Phoenix: Mijente. Puente acts as a fiscal sponsor for the Mijene Support Committee, a digital and grassroots hub founded in 2015. Mijente has given at least $265,000 to Puente in reported pass-through grants in recent years.
Mijente is currently organizing groups for “deportation defense” to “organize against ICE raids” through its Community Defense Brigada, part of its Equipo Hormiguero program.
At the helm of Mijente are Marisa Franco, its co-founder, executive director, and president; Rafael Navar, its co-founder and treasurer; and Priscilla Gonzalez, secretary and campaign director.
Navar also founded Division Del Norte, a California activist group, and formerly served as the California state director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, and several directorships for the major labor unions AFL-CIO and SEIU.
Last December, Mijente and 61 other organizations launched an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Biden administration to scale back ICE’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), the immigration agency’s supervision program, to hinder the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
Back in December 2024, we joined @JustFuturesLaw and 60+ organizations to call on Secretary Mayorkas to immediately scale back ISAP before Trump could weaponize it for mass arrests & deportations. And now there’s indications of those concerns becoming reality.
One of Mijente’s top donors is the Open Society Foundations (OSF or “Open Society Institute”), the nonprofit launched by leftist billionaire and dark money financier George Soros. OSF gave Mijente over $2.5 million from 2019 to 2022, along with $25,000 to Puente.
The Protests Will Go On
Mass protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies and deportation efforts may not die down but could take different shapes in the coming months. Activists shifted their focus recently to protesting the Arizona legislature’s bills complementing federal immigration policies like SB1164: the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation, and Enforcement Act (Arizona ICE Act). This bill proposes restrictions on local governmental resistance to federal immigration authorities by adopting or passing anything prohibiting or restricting cooperation. It also requires law enforcement agencies to comply with federal immigrant detainers.
The Senate’s committee hearing on SB1164 drew a similar crowd of protesters as those who appeared in preceding weeks protesting the Trump administration. LUCHA organized that protest; an organizer, Gina Mendez, said LUCHA plans to protest every Monday at the state capitol against immigration enforcement efforts.
“NO PEACE, NO JUSTICE,” chanted the activists at one of the latest protests. “THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE.”
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Democrats used a nonprofit to engage in a partisan, multi-state campaign to flip states blue during the 2020 election, including Arizona, and plan to do so again in 2024.
Details of the effort — the Everybody Votes campaign by the Voter Registration Project (VRP) — were revealed in a new report by the Capital Research Center. According to a leaked secret draft plan, the campaign funded voter registration drives in eight swing states — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and Nevada — over five years beginning in 2016, seeking to register more non-white and other “underrepresented” (unmarried women, young) voters to bring registration parity to white voters.
John Podesta commissioned Everybody Votes while serving as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman. Podesta, a key player in Russiagate, formerly served as the Clinton White House Chief of Staff and counselor to President Obama; he co-founded and presided over Center for American Progress.
Everybody Votes succeeded in raising $190 million and registering 5.1 million people by 2022, which turned out around 1-2.7 million votes across the eight swing states for President Joe Biden in 2020. The Capital Research Center report estimated that the campaign generated over 198,600 votes in the 2020 election. Biden won in 2020 by over 10,400 votes.
“[T]he Everybody Votes campaign was blatantly partisan, developed by Democratic consultants and pushed by Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager,” stated the report.
Everybody Votes received its millions from progressive billionaires. Barbara Fried — mother of Sam Bankman-Fried, the corrupt cryptocurrency giant under investigation for fraud — co-wrote a 2020 memo for her super PAC led by fellow Stanford Law professors, Mind the Gap, advising donors to give 90 percent of their political cash to three nonprofits engaged in voter registration campaigns “most effective” for getting “additional Democratic votes,” naming Everybody Votes as one of them. Donors receive tax deductions for their contributions.
As AZ Free News reported last November, Bankman-Fried gave $27 million to a Phoenix-based PAC to turn out for Democratic candidates. The PAC’s treasurer, Dacey Montoya, is a key figure in many Democratic dark money network organizations, and received over $1 million from committees for Gov. Katie Hobbs and Sen. Mark Kelly.
NEW: My biggest story EVER, exposing a corrupt voter registration charity that may have decided the 2020 election by using $120+ million to target millions of Democratic voters in AZ, CO, FL, GA, OH, NC, VA, NV
Among the billionaires to donate to VRP were Warren Buffet ($5 million), George Soros ($10.4 million), Chuck Feeney ($2 million), the foundation of the deceased Wallace Coulter ($5 million), Barbara Picower ($4 million), Jeffrey Skoll ($1 million), and Pierre Omidyar ($500,000). Prominent dark money groups Proteus Fund, New Venture Fund, Hopewell Fund, Tides Foundation, ImpactAssets, and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund accounted for around $453 million in funds to VRP.
Arizona organizations tied into the dark money network benefited over $19.16 million from VRP: $7.46 million to Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, $1.73 million for Mi Familia Vota, $5.43 million to One Arizona, $1.82 million for Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy (CASE), $1.73 million for Arizona Center for Empowerment, $941,000 for Arizona Coalition for Change, and $51,900 for Rural Arizona Engagement.
Everybody Votes appears to have originated in early 2015 from a plan emailed to Podesta by the Wyss Foundation, a leftist nonprofit with a history of illegal election interference. That plan originated from Bill Roberts, board member of leftist dark money group League of Conservation Voters, within Corridor Partners, a Democratic consulting firm. In November 2015, Podesta received a copy of a similar, retitled plan originating from Robert Richman, CEO of the Democratic campaign strategy group Grassroots Solutions. VRP and Grassroots Solutions shared a D.C. address from 2016 to 2018 according to tax filings, with VRP continuing to pay consulting fees to Grassroots Solutions.
VRP picked up the Everybody Votes campaign. Formerly known as “Voting For America,” VRP was an outgrowth of Obama’s Project Vote. Project Vote was an affiliate of ACORN: the bankrupted activist network guilty of violating election laws repeatedly.
Despite having an outsized impact on the 2020 election, it wasn’t until last year that VRP publicized the Everybody Votes campaign.
VRP plans to use the Everybody Votes campaign plan again for 2024, with hiring targeted in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin in addition to Arizona.
The IRS prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofits from engaging in partisan activity, especially that which influences election outcomes. AZ Free News documented in February how leftist nonprofits in Arizona manipulate the tax code to do just that.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
