Jewish Insider—Foreign funding of U.S. nonprofits takes center stage at House hearing: At a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee, witnesses offered ways to increase transparency in IRS financial disclosure forms
Witnesses included Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center; Bruce Dubinsky, a veteran forensic accountant and managing director of Dubinsky Consulting; Caitlin Sutherland, executive director for Americans for Public Trust; Adam Sohn, CEO of Narravance, a financial firm focused on cybersecurity; and Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization.
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Walter, a Republican witness, said in his remarks, “We possess near universal agreement that foreigners and foreign money should not meddle in our politics. To ignore this overwhelming democratic consensus against foreign meddling is to suppress our democracy.”
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Walter noted that adding an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which the IRS assigns to businesses as a form of identification, and disclosures about salaries or fiscal sponsorships to the form could prove beneficial.
“EIN numbers are not always used on 990s when one nonprofit is giving to another, that’s certainly an important way to help track,” Walter said. “You could expand the disclosures for the highest paid employees, highest paid contractors, the fiscal sponsorships could be required to be listed, possibly with a basic budget for them, or the name of the individual who’s the principal officer of the fiscally sponsored project, when the project begins and ends, then whether the project applied for its own exempt status independently. And obviously, the simple thing of, do you accept foreign money?”
“One simple thing would be requiring that sponsored projects be named on the 990, perhaps the basic budget of revenues, expenses, assets,” he later added. “You certainly could also designate a person as the principal officer for the fiscally sponsored project, the dates of when the sponsorship began [and] when it ended, yes or no to whether it received foreign funding and yes or no to whether the fiscally sponsored project applied for its own independent tax exempt status.”
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Walker told Smucker that “one of the most egregious examples of the abuse here would be a fiscal sponsor that was helping Samidoun,” a Vancouver, B.C.-based NGO against which the Biden administration and Canada issued terrorism sanctions in October 2024 for raising money for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a proscribed terror organization.
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Fox News—Breaking the Fourth Wall: Left-wing groups defiant as GOP sheds light on groups tied to China: ‘The CCP is taking advantage of our tax-exempt sector,’ a GOP lawmaker said about US nonprofits
By late morning, Democratic Socialists of America, which has 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations, added their own signal of defiance. As lawmakers debated foreign narrative laundering, Democratic Socialists of America widely shared a post where it praised the Super Bowl halftime performance by the Puerto Rican sensation Bad Bunny as “a damning critique of the harms of U.S. colonial policies.”
“As socialists in the U.S.,” Democratic Socialists of America declared. “It is our duty to support the struggles of peoples across the world suffering from the full weight of U.S. imperialism.”
The rhetoric landed as Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, testified that “foreigners abuse this sector in order to hide their influence ops.”
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The Federalist—Witnesses Sound The Alarm On Foreigners Bankrolling Leftist Causes In America
“It’s refreshing to have a hearing where all witnesses share strong agreement on a central point, namely, foreign money should be kept out of American politics,” said Capital Research Center President Scott Walter. “A lot of these [foreign funding] problems involve America’s nonprofit sector, which is traditionally a glory and a strength of this exceptional country. But foreigners abuse this sector — especially tools like fiscal sponsorship and donor-advised funds, which aren’t inherently bad things — in order to hide their influence ops.”
In his testimony, Walter referenced the “politicized” and recently re-acquisitioned Arabella Advisors, a “dark money” network that includes various tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations that subsidize various left-wing ventures. Among these groups is the U.S.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has reportedly received more than $200 million from leftist Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and his Berger Action Fund.
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77 WABC—NYC (radio interview)— Scott Walter: How Foreign Billionaires Quietly Influence American Democracy: John talks with Scott Walter about how foreign billionaires exploit the American nonprofit system and have outsized influence on policymaking.
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Forbes (video)—U.S. Rep. Max Miller Asks Expert: ‘Is It Possible For Xi Jinping Himself To Entirely Fund’ A U.S. Nonprofit?
During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) asked President of the Capital Research Center Scott Walter about funding for U.S. nonprofits.
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Real America’s Voice (video)—FOREIGN BILLIONS, U.S. STREETS: Scott Walter points to Neville Roy Singam as “one of the main places” the trail leads—saying he “lives in Shanghai” and built “a nonprofit network…around the world, pushing Chinese talking points.”
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Bannon’s War Room (video)— Scott Walter On Anti-American CCP Influence In American Non-Profits
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Bannon’s War Room (video)— SCOTT WALTER: The Left In America Consider Themselves An Infrastructure. Whenever Something Pops Up, They Spring Into Action
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Fox News—Foreign billionaires funnel $2.6B to US advocacy groups to influence policy, watchdog report claims: Six foreign entities tied to international billionaires have been utilizing a loophole to inject over $2.6B into US politics
The six entities highlighted in APT’s report come from Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The largest donor identified in the report was Switzerland-based Oak Foundation, established by British billionaire retail mogul Alan Parker, which has given around $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 grant database that now appears to be removed.
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 China critics argue is part of a geopolitical strategy disguised as infrastructure investment.
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Real Clear Politics—Foreign Influence in American Nonprofits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond
RCP linked to the CRC website’s post of CRC president Scott Walter’s written testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee.
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Fox News—Scathing report reveals Antifa-linked org passing out material to K-12 students: ‘Political revolution’: The documents were created by a group with ties to George Soros and Antifa
In a letter to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the committee wrote, “Of particular concern, OSF has donated ‘at least $2 million’ to the Sunrise Movement, a group closely connected to Antifa. According to the Capital Research Center report, the Sunrise Movement ‘endorsed and solicited financial support for the Antifa-associated anarchist terrorists of the Stop Cop City / Defend the Atlanta Forest coalition’ which, in 2023, violently attacked law enforcement officers and utility workers constructing a training facility near Atlanta, Georgia for police officers and firefighters. During the siege, Antifa terrorists threw Molotov cocktails, bricks, and rocks at law enforcement officers, attempted to blind officers by shining lasers in their eyes, and set construction equipment and a police car on fire, among numerous other violent acts. Prosecutors later charged more than individuals with domestic terrorism due to the attacks.”
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Washington Examiner—First antifa terrorism trial restarts following mistrial: What you need to know
“This is an unprecedented case,” Capital Research Center president Scott Walter previously told the Washington Examiner. “They have gone on the record, saying, ‘Here’s how we operated. Here are the other people I was working with. Here’s the person I was helping to hide out.’”
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The Federalist—Docs: Director Of ‘Bipartisan’ Attorneys General Group Proposed An ‘Infiltration’ Of Trump’s 2016 Transition Team
The remarks in question were issued by Karen White, who serves as the executive director of the nonprofit known as the Attorney General Alliance (AGA). Originally having begun as the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), which sought to promote “collaboration” among the AG offices of western states, the AGA was developed to expand such cooperation nationwide and includes participating offices in 48 states and several U.S. territories.
While left-wing outlets like Axios have “suggested that the alliance had shifted towards the political right in recent years, the group launched an initiative in 2021 to advance left-of-center race issues,” according to InfluenceWatch.
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Van Hollen served as Wisconsin’s Republican attorney general from 2007-2015 and has gone on to become a leading member of the Democracy Defense Project, “a left-of-center nonprofit formed in 2024 to counter alleged misinformation and election disinformation,” according to InfluenceWatch.
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Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs—Group accused of funneling foreign money involved in Oklahoma minimum-wage campaign
Officials with the Hopewell Fund denied wrongdoing.
According to the Capital Research Center’s Influence Watch, the Hopewell Fund is one of several entities managed by Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm “that caters to left-leaning clients.”
Influence Watch reported that the Hopewell Fund has previously sponsored “a number of ‘fake’ groups” that operated only during an advocacy campaign with those entities promoting issues such as “expanding abortion access and criticizing President Donald Trump’s healthcare policies.”
Citing the Hopewell Fund’s 2023 Internal Revenue Service Form 990, Influence Watch reported that the Hopewell Fund’s board of directors and officers included Lee Bodner (board chair and president), who is a former managing director for Arabella Advisors, and Andrew Schulz (general counsel), who was also general counsel for Arabella Advisors.
Influence Watch reported that the Hopewell Fund has also funded States Newsroom (formerly the Newsroom Network). Influence Watch noted, “A past job posting by States Newsroom referred to the organization as a ‘progressive political journalism startup.’” States Newsroom operates Oklahoma Voice as a state affiliate.
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New Hampshire Journal—House GOP Bill Opt-Out Plan for Public Workers, Over Labor Objections
Michael Watson, research director at the Capital Research Center, a conservative nonprofit in Washington, D.C., said unions are unlikely to support the proposal.
“If those workers — or ‘free riders,’ as the unions would call them — who currently have to accept representation even if they don’t want it don’t have to ride free with you anymore, and they can negotiate for themselves,” Watson said, arguing unions would have to persuade employees that paying dues is worthwhile.
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“The lesson to government worker union reformers: cynically carve out police and fire anytime you think you can get away with it. You don’t want to make that a totem for unions to campaign on,” Watson said.
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Must Read Alaska—Who’s Really Calling the Shots in Alaska?
The Mechanics of Influence: How Out-of-State Money Moves In
The system is vertically integrated, sophisticated, and, frankly, scary in its efficiency.
Here’s how it works:
1. National Funders — Arabella Advisors (Sunflower Services), New Venture Fund (NVF), Tides Foundation, Sixteen Thirty Fund, NEO Philanthropy, Hopewell Fund, and Western Futures Fund, collect and pool donations from major philanthropic players like George Soros, Hansjörg Wyss, and foundations such as Ford and Hewlett. InfluenceWatch reports Arabella alone raised $6.5 billion from 2005–2021.
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WOAI News Radio 1200 (San Antonio)— Sounding The Alarm On Foreigners Bankrolling Leftist Causes In America
“There are a lot of bad actors, unfortunately, in that sector” said Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center who testified at the hearing, “The foreigners are the biggest problem, because it’s completely outrageous if foreigners are trying to manipulate our politics. And especially, if they’re trying to manipulate them through the non-profit sector.”
Which is exactly what they are doing. People we have informed you about before, like Neville Roy Singham, and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.
So why do they want to interfere in our U.S. politics?
“The short answer is, they don’t think America is very good, as she is. They want to change her” Walter told KTRH, “If you hate America, and you’re rich and powerful, why not try to change America?”
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Your Financial Editor (podcast)— Chris Murray welcomes in Robert Stilson, a Senior Research Analyst from the Capital Research Center.
They discussed Robert’s recent report, Melinda French Gates and her Pivotal philanthropies.
Click here for link to Your Financial Editor: 02-14-26
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New York Post—Va. Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s grilling techniques gets torched online as Schumer’s ‘E. coli’ burger resurfaces
Though the new governor was wearing a black apron with the words, “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner,” her post was flooded with comments asking what the strange-looking meat on the grill truly was.
“Ma’am, what is that?” reacted independent journalist Breanna Morello.
Popular satire account Three Year Letterman commented, “How many neighborhood cats are missing” and “arrest her.”
“Did you cut your meat with a weed wacker?” wrote Parker Thayer, a researcher at Capital Research Center.
Heritage Foundation research fellow Jason Bedrick commented, “What you did to that meat violates the Geneva Convention.”
Another user, conservative commentator David Freeman, simply reacted, “No thanks.”
Beef supplier Merriwether Farms wrote, “Virginia is in trouble.”
