Best of CRC Media Hits for 2022

What did we do in 2022? From a communications perspective, we increased our reach into state media outlets, while continuing to develop news interest inside the Beltway. We topped out at over 300 media hits last year, everything from daily newspapers and daily radio shows in local markets to national appearances on major talk news television shows.

Our research is driving the news interest, and as we continue to enhance and refine our analysis of influencers across the political spectrum, we continue to enter new communications markets, making our job of informing the public that much easier.

Without further ado, here are some of the best media hits of 2022.

“Zuckerbucks Shouldn’t Pay for Elections”
Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board, January 3, 2022

CTCL “consistently gave bigger grants and more money per capita to counties that voted for Biden,” says an analysis by the Capital Research Center. Its tally for Georgia, to pick one state, shows average grants of $1.41 per head in Trump areas and $5.33 in Biden ones. A conservative group in Wisconsin suggests that extra voter outreach funded by CTCL could have boosted Mr. Biden’s turnout there by something like 8,000 votes. It isn’t hard to see why they’re concerned.

“Zuck Bucks and Following the Money with Scott Walter”
Daily Clout, Scott Walter (TV Interview), January 10, 2022

You’ve heard the term, “follow the money.” Dr Naomi Wolf interviews Scott Walter of The Capital Research Institute, a twenty-five-year-old Washington, D.C, investigative think tank, which does just that–“follows the money.” The Capital Research Institute specializes in tracking “dark money” — that is, the funds that affect politics, whose donors and sources are not readily publicly available for scrutiny. He shares stunning revelations about how billions are flowing to corrupt, partisan “nonprofits” — including vast sums from Mark Zuckerberg, known by insiders as ‘Zuck bucks.’ These nonprofits sound innocuous but they combine the power of big tech companies that control our data, and that can deliver “micro-targeting” for political purposes, with the task of actually doing voter education and of getting out the vote. Big tech- influenced voting corruption ensues. Unmissable.

“The Soros Dozen: Big City Prosecutors Backed by George Soros”
Breitbart, Joel Pollack, January 20, 2022

A further list of Soros-backed prosecutors, current through 2019, is available through Influence Watch. These include prosecutors such as Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj – Biberaj came under scrutiny after a parent was arrested for speaking out at a school board meeting against district policies after his daughter was sexually assaulted. Another list is available through the Capital Research Center, including descriptions of Soros-backed prosecutors’ records.

“Black Live Matter Is Lacking Accountability”
Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, Scott Walter (TV Interview), January 31, 2022

Capital Research Center President Scott Walter joins Jesse Watters: Primetime on Monday, January 31, 2022, to discuss the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) as reports began circulating BLM had transferred millions to a Canadian charity to purchase a $6 million mansion that was once owned by the Communist Party. Walter told Watters that one of the issues surrounding BLM as a charity is their lack of financial accountability, as the nonprofit has not always been transparent in their public tax filings with the IRS. “No accountability…they should have filed an IRS disclosure form before the end of last year; as far as anybody knows they haven’t done that,” Walter said.

“Progressive District Attorneys Are Making Our Cities Unsafe”
RealClearPolitics, Jason Miyares, March 24, 2022

The idea that being lenient on violent criminals will create a more just society is both naive and counterintuitive. Eliminating criminal justice is not criminal justice reform. A new report from Capital Research revealed that progressives have spent nearly $30 million backing liberal activist district attorneys in over 20 communities, including big cities like Los Angeles and New York City, northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C., and rural communities in Georgia and Mississippi.

“Mark Zuckerberg Helped Fund the 2020 Election. Now Republicans Seek to Ban future Grants” Bloomberg (syndicated), Ryan Teague Beckwith, March 30, 2022

When the coronavirus pandemic began in the midst of the 2020 presidential campaign season, elections officials across the U.S. faced the massive expense of buying everything from face masks for poll workers to ballot counting machines to handle a surge in vote by mail. Congress provided only a fraction of the money needed, and recession-struck states had little left in their coffers. Elections officials found help from an unlikely source: Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta Platforms Inc, who gave out more than $400 million in grants so states could buy the equipment needed for a unique election process. That money has now become a target. Republicans in at least 28 states that sought and received Zuckerberg’s grants in the depths of the pandemic have now passed or are working on bills that would ban future private grants to elections officials, sometimes claiming that Zuckerberg’s donations helped sway the election for President Joe Biden.

“Swiss Billionaire Behind Dem ‘Dark Money’ Donations Despite Not Being US Citizen”
New York Post, Isabel Vincent, May 26, 2022

“We know that for years Wyss has funneled millions of dollars to left-wing nonprofits that boost Democratic turnout and provide partisan campaign strategy,” said Hayden Ludwig, a senior investigative researcher at Capital Research Center, a Washington, DC-based conservative think tank that studies philanthropy and nonprofits. “By weaponizing charitable groups for political gain, he’s effectively bypassed campaign finance restrictions barring non-citizens from meddling in American elections. Given how much money the Left commanded in 2018 and 2020, I’d expect Wyss to continue pouring huge sums into these leftist groups in 2022 and beyond.”

“George Soros’s Conservative Renaissance”
Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove, July 20, 2022

Using this model, PACs largely funded by Mr. Soros have donated more than $22 million to bankroll the election of at least 23 district attorneys, according to data collected by the Capital Research Center and the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. These prosecutors serve cities or counties that have a combined population of 38.4 million Americans. His money has helped put prosecutors in office from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, St. Louis to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, Manhattan to Chicago. Four of the five most populous counties in Texas have prosecutors these Soros-funded PACs backed.

“New Economic Research Study Sees No Tax Policy Effect from 2010 ‘Citizens United’ Decision”
Epoch Times, Mark Tapscott, August 22, 2022

“The left loves to claim Citizens United profoundly changed American politics, but it’s a lie,” Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank that specializes in tracking liberal and progressive “dark money” spending and activism, told The Epoch Times. “First, the total money involved is trifling, a rounding error to regular political spending by parties and Political Action Committees (PACs). “The left-leaning OpenSecrets website calculated that in the 2020 election cycle, $1 billion of ‘dark money’ was involved vs. $14.4 billion of regular political spending. Plus, the left spends far more ‘dark money’ than conservatives; for instance, Biden’s campaign year was boosted by more than six times as much ‘dark money’ as the Trump campaign. “Yet the left still cries wolf over Citizens United, even devoting entire groups to the hysteria, such as End Citizens United PAC. And if you doubt this rhetorical smokescreen masks raw partisanship, note that End Citizens United PAC spends every penny in elections to support the Democratic Party.”

“The Carnegie Endowment Could Use Some Sunlight”
Townhall, Sarah Lee (Op-ed), September 12, 2022

The question of what effect these kinds of relationships have on American foreign – and even domestic — policy is one Capital Research Center has been studying in the education and nonprofit sectors. As Texas Republican Rep. Lance Gooden told the Daily Caller, the tax-exempt status of organizations employing state actors from a hostile foreign government should be examined. Arguably, taxpayers might see this kind of employment as running counter to what their taxes are meant to cover.

“These organizations must exercise due diligence in exchange for their tax-exempt status, especially if they are pushing a narrative or public policy agenda,” Gooden said. “If the organization has tax-exempt status, it should be immediately revoked. They should also be barred from receiving government funds in the future.”

“The For-Profit D.C. Firm Staging America’s ‘Grassroots’ Movements”
Tablet, Hayden Ludwig (Op-Ed), September 13, 2022

Behind the closed doors of an unassuming philanthropic consultancy in Washington, D.C., is one of the most powerful lobbying forces in the United States. The Atlantic has called it “the massive progressive dark-money group you’ve never heard of” and “the indisputable heavyweight of Democratic dark money.” The Washington Post believes its potent lobbying arm is reason enough for Congress to enact forced donor disclosure laws, while Politico labelled it a “dark-money behemoth.” “The system of political financing, which often obscures the identities of donors, is known as dark money,” wrote The New York Times, “and Arabella’s network is a leading vehicle for it on the left.”

“How Arabella’s Dark Money Network Pushed Hysteria over Voter Suppression Myth”
Washington Times, Fred Lucas, September 15, 2022

The Capital Research Center first reported on a memo it obtained that described Arabella’s 2020 election agenda that included front groups that quickly closed once the election passed. The memo to megadonors purported to try to combat “political fearmongering,” “attacks on voter registration,” “viral misinformation,” “disputes regarding election results,” and “post-Election Day violence.”

“Dark Money on the Left”
Wall Street Journal, Hayden Ludwig (Letter to the editor), October 16, 2022

In a letter (Sept. 29), Arabella Advisors claims it’s a little lamb, not the “dark money” titan everyone knows it is. Its president, Rick Cruz, insists his for-profit firm provides its “client” nonprofits with “operational support” for “human resources, compliance and accounting.” Actually, Arabella’s biggest “clients” are in-house nonprofits like the Sixteen Thirty Fund (“the indisputable heavyweight of Democratic dark money,” per the Atlantic). Arabella’s pet nonprofits share offices plus interlocking board members and leaders with it—how many companies create their own “clients”?

SBF &FTX
Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, Parker Thayer, November 28, 2022

In a letter (Sept. 29), Arabella Advisors claims it’s a little lamb, not the “dark money” titan everyone knows it is. Its president, Rick Cruz, insists his for-profit firm provides its “client” nonprofits with “operational support” for “human resources, compliance and accounting.” Actually, Arabella’s biggest “clients” are in-house nonprofits like the Sixteen Thirty Fund (“the indisputable heavyweight of Democratic dark money,” per the Atlantic). Arabella’s pet nonprofits share offices plus interlocking board members and leaders with it—how many companies create their own “clients”?

Deprogramming the Libs
Ruthless Podcast – Rob Schmitt Tonight, Parker Thayer, November 28, 2022

[Using CRC research, Ruthless Podcast links Poynter Institute to the Tides Foundation after Google and YouTube announced a $13.2 million grant to FactCheck.net, a project of the Poynter Institute, for a new global fact-check fund.]