Swiss billionaire-backed dark money group poured millions into Biden-allied groups
by Gabe Kaminsky, Investigative Reporter |
April 05, 2023 05:00 AM
A dark money group funded by a Swiss billionaire quietly granted tens of millions of dollars in 2021 to other dark money entities allied with President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, tax forms revealed.
…The Berger Action Fund, a left-of-center advocacy and lobbying group, is affiliated with the private Wyss Foundation, a group that Democratic megadonor Hansjorg Wyss has bankrolled since 1998, records show. That same fund, which has no legal obligation to disclose donors, steered roughly $72 million in 2021 to dark money nonprofit advocacy organizations that support Biden and boosted Democratic congressional candidates during the 2022 midterm elections cycle, according to its 2021 tax forms…
Since 2016, the Berger Action Fund has contributed $339 million to left-wing nonprofit groups, disclosures show. Meanwhile, Wyss has been accused of violating federal law in the past through his political spending.
The Swiss billionaire may have "indirectly funded federal electoral advocacy through his nonprofit organizations," since foreign nationals are barred from donating to committees, Americans for Public Trust alleged in a May 2021 complaint to the Federal Election Commission. In April 2022, the conservative watchdog filed a lawsuit against the FEC that alleged it failed to act on the complaint. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/hansjorg-wyss-dark-money-group-millions-democratic-causes