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A dark money nonprofit aligned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a multimillion-dollar cash infusion from a secret money group fueled by a Swiss billionaire.
The Pelosi-aligned nonprofit, House Majority Forward, received a $3 million donation from the California-based Fund for a Better Future in 2020, tax forms show, which was its largest contribution that year. Neither group makes its donors public.
But as Fund for a Better Future obscures its funders, the Berger Action Fund, a nonprofit established by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, reported on its own tax forms that it had sent $25 million to the fund between April 2019 and March 2021.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and philanthropist Hansjorg Wyss at the Four Seasons Restaurant on April 1, 2015, in New York City. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Oceana)
House Majority Forward is the nonprofit affiliate of the Pelosi-aligned House Majority PAC, which works to retain Democrats in the House of Representatives. The nonprofit funneled $10 million into its affiliated PAC in 2020, federal filings show.
The Wyss-backed Fund For a Better Future also pushed hefty cash into Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ nonprofit in 2020. On Friday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the fund cut a $3 million check to Abrams’ Fair Fight Action, which works on election laws.
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Wyss has quietly positioned himself as a major financier to left-wing nonprofits, the New York Times revealed last year. The Swiss billionaire operates by funneling money through his nonprofits to other liberal groups, many of which work on election activities such as get out the vote efforts.
His citizenship, meanwhile, has come under a microscope.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT) discovered several documents that call his citizenship into question, including a 2021 Securities and Exchange Commission filing in which he says he is a “citizen of Switzerland.”
“Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has been meddling in our political landscape for years by funneling hundreds of millions of dollars through the Arabella Advisors network to benefit liberal and left-wing causes,” Caitlin Sutherland, APT’s executive director, told Fox News Digital.
“While openly bragging to international press about his extensive influence in our country, Wyss’ U.S.-based nonprofits have refused to admit what has now been confirmed: Wyss has never been and is still not a U.S. citizen,” Sutherland said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on March 19, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)
“This puts him in clear violation of our laws that prohibit foreign nationals from directly or indirectly influencing our elections,” Sutherland said.
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APT is suing the Federal Election Commission for failing to act on a complaint the group filed dealing with Wyss last year. APT wants the commission to examine if the foreign billionaire has violated federal law with his donations.
In the case of Fund for a Better Future, it is impossible to determine where Wyss’ money ends up.
The Berger Action Fund told Fox News Digital that the cash is for the fund’s “work to improve policies around climate change, health care, and income inequality” and that the group “strictly prohibits its grant recipients from using grant funds for electoral activities, including to support or oppose political candidates or parties.”
Responding to APT’s legal action, the fund added: “This is a frivolous lawsuit levied by a partisan dark money group who opposes public lands, public health, and a strong economy. They are falsely attacking Berger Action Fund’s charitable and advocacy work in order to obstruct progress on important and popular issues that impact all Americans.”
House Majority Forward did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.