A PAC that recently announced an ad campaign spotlighting Republicans opposed to former President Donald Trump received the majority of its funding from Democratic donors in 2023, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
Republican Accountability PAC, an anti-Trump political committee, received nearly 75% of its donations from just six major Democratic donors, FEC records show. Sarah Longwell, executive director of Republican Accountability PAC, recently announced that “Republican Voters Against Trump,” a campaign run by the PAC, would be spending $50 million across six swing states to build an “anti-Trump coalition,” The Hill reported.
Republican Voters Against Trump’s privacy policy notes that Republican Accountability PAC is its parent organization. When clicking the “donate” link on the campaign’s website, users are redirected to Republican Accountability PAC’s donation page.
Republican Voters Against Trump intends to air amateur testimonials filmed by people who say they voted for Trump in past elections, but don’t intend to do so in 2024, according to The Hill.
While Republican Voters Against Trump platforms purported Republicans who say they’re not going to vote for the former president in 2024, its parent organization is being bankrolled by big-time Democratic donors, FEC records show.
High-dollar Democratic donors collectively gave Republican Accountability PAC over $6.1 million in 2023, FEC records indicate. This constituted the bulk of the $8.1 million total Republican Accountability PAC raised in 2023.
Almost all the remaining funds donated to the group in 2023, $2 million, came from Defending Democracy Together, another anti-Trump organization led by Longwell and co-founded by ex-Republican and Trump critic Bill Kristol, per FEC records.
Liberal donors to Republican Accountability PAC included tech founder and Jeffery Epstein associate Reid Hoffman, hedge fund manager Seth Klarman, investor John Pritzker, venture capitalist Robert Stavis, financier Robert Rothhouse and NVIDIA board member Tench Coxe, FEC records show.
Klarman, Coxe, Pritzker, Rothhouse, Hoffman and Stavis all donated varying amounts of money to Republicans and Republican-aligned committees over the years, though the majority of their donations have gone to liberal causes.
Hoffman, for instance, has donated tens of millions of dollars to pro-Democratic committees, state Democratic parties and Democratic candidates since 2016, according to FEC records.
Hoffman also briefly supported Nikki Haley’s failed Republican presidential bid, donating a quarter of a million dollars to a super PAC backing her campaign.
Pritzker, a major Democratic donor as well, also happens to be the cousin of Illinois Democratic Governor, and key Joe Biden ally, J.B. Pritzker.
Stavis, meanwhile, is affiliated with the left-wing Anti-Defamation League.
While raking in millions from wealthy and influential Democrats, Longwell insists that her campaign is “not building a pro-Joe Biden coalition,” according to The Hill. The campaign, however, has posted videos of people encouraging others to vote for Biden in November.
States targeted by the Republican Voters Against Trump will include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to The Hill. Trump currently leads by Biden by 1.7 points in Real Clear Politics’ average of polling.
Republican Accountability PAC, Hoffman and Stavis did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment. Klarman, Coxe, Pritzker and Rothhouse could not be reached for comment.
Robert Schmad on March 17, 2024
