New report flags loophole allowing billions in foreign cash to flow into US politics

FIRST ON FOX: A damning new report was released Tuesday morning ahead of a House Ways & Means Committee hearing aimed at exposing foreign actors sending money to U.S. nonprofits.

The hearing, titled “Foreign Influence in U.S. Nonprofits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond,” will begin around 10 a.m. EST.

Six foreign entities pumped more than $2.65 billion into U.S. politics, according to the new report from conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust (APT), which highlights a loophole that APT says allows foreign nationals to funnel money to influence U.S. politics “virtually unchecked.”

Foreign nationals are prohibited from making direct donations to political campaigns, but money supporting U.S. candidates or their views can also come from 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) nonprofit organizations.

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Six foreign groups linked to wealthy individuals overseas funneled more than $2.6 billion to U.S.-based nonprofits, according to a new report released by the conservative watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Foreign donors can currently fund U.S.-based advocacy groups – most commonly 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) – virtually unchecked,” the report asserts. He adds that while the money uncovered by the APT is “very concerning” in itself, there are “undoubtedly even more foreign funding sources that support and influence U.S. advocacy efforts.”

The six entities highlighted in the APT report come from Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The largest donor identified in the report was the Switzerland-based Oak Foundation, created by British billionaire retail magnate Alan Parker, which has given about $753 million to U.S.-based advocacy groups.

Through the Oak Foundation, Parker has supported left-wing environmental groups like Greenpeace, the Environmental Law Institute, the World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund, according to the Capital Research Center’s Influence Watch, which cited the group’s grants database that now appears to have been deleted.

Influence Watch added that through its grants, the Oak Foundation has positioned itself as a major supporter of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which Chinese critics say is part of a geopolitical strategy disguised as infrastructure investment.

The APT report also highlights that the Switzerland-based Oak Foundation has contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Arabella Network of left-wing advocacy groups, including $67 million to the New Venture Fund, $12 million to the Windward Fund and $2.8 million to the Hopewell Fund. The left-leaning Tides Foundation also received money from the Oak Foundation.

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The left-wing Arabella Network also received funding from the Copenhagen-based KR Foundation and the Switzerland-based Laudes Foundation, according to APT, which found that these two groups donated a total of $55.6 million to U.S. advocacy groups. The KR Foundation was founded by the descendants of Villum Kann Rasmussen, a Danish civil engineer and businessman who founded the VKR Group, while the Laudes Foundation was established by the Brenninkmeijer family, a German-Dutch business dynasty.

The entities founded by Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss come second on the list of six foreign donor organizations established by the APT. The Wyss Foundation and Berger Action Fund have reportedly donated more than $673 million to U.S.-based advocacy groups.

Hansjorg Wyss attends the 2015 Oceana New York Benefit at Four Seasons Restaurant on April 1, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Oceana)

“Wyss-funded groups use their immense resources to advance a progressive agenda, shape policy debates and decisions, and influence U.S. elections. Its foreign funding network focuses on policy priorities such as radical environmentalism, advocating for sweeping changes in voting laws, and directly engaging in campaign activities, including voter mobilization efforts and political attack ads,” the APT report said. “Wyss’ foreign money found its way to prominent left-wing organizations, including the Fund for a Better Future, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Redistricting Action Fund, Planned Parenthood, and Indivisible.”

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The two other foreign entities mentioned in the APT report, the U.K.-based Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the Quadrature Climate Foundation, respectively allegedly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S.-based groups similar to Parker and Wyss’s groups.

CIFF has donated about $638.2 million to U.S. advocacy groups, while the Quadrature Climate Foundation has donated about $532.5 million, according to APT.

CIFF, backed by British billionaire Christopher Hohn, has engaged in “aggressive left-wing advocacy” around climate change and social justice, including a group seeking to ban gas stoves, according to APT. Also included in the funding is more than $10 million for two nonprofits managed by Arabella, according to the report.

The APT also accuses the CIFF of having “alarming ties to groups in China linked to the Chinese Communist Party,” noting that its CEO is part of a member organization overseen by the CCP and holds a position within the “International Belt and Road Green Development Coalition.”

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Meanwhile, the Quadrature Climate Foundation, which also donates to the Arabella Network, has been described as sending its grants to “some of the world’s most influential campaign groups and scientific institutions” with the aim of directing “both research and lobbying on the green transition”. It is the philanthropic arm of London-based hedge fund Quadrature Capital, founded by billionaires Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiya.

The Quadrature Climate Foundation’s largest beneficiary, according to APT, was the ClimateWorks Foundation, which received $147 million. Of that, $25 million was used to “support the acceleration of electric vehicles,” while another $6 million was reportedly earmarked for financial regulatory efforts to mitigate climate change risks.

“For years, foreign organizations and megadonors have quietly injected billions of dollars into the American political sphere, with virtually no accountability,” laments the APT in its report. “Foreign financing has infiltrated almost every sector of the American political sphere.”