Best of CRC Media Hits for May–June 2022

As we closed out May and June, it became increasingly clear that Capital Research Center has become one of the go-to think tanks in Washington on issues of influencers and their funders on issues such as election integrity, Soros prosecutors, foreign funding, and organized labor.

The summer months are generally a bit slower for political media, but CRC continues to surpass previous years in media reach, even during the summer slowdown. That’s because the work we do is of vital interest to American voters, especially as we inch closer to a crucial midterm election, which may be as contentious and expensive as the 2020 general election.

We’ll keep getting the word out there so voters keep finding reasons to engage in the Democratic process. Here’s a noncomprehensive list of the best media hits from May and June 2022.

“Organized Labor Is a Dubious Ally for Conservatives”
National Review, Mike Watson (Op-ed), May 18, 2022

These sentiments have led these conservative thinkers and policy-makers to promote union-organizing campaigns, especially those targeting Amazon. But amid the concern over corporate politicking, the question must be raised: Are unions really a solution to the problems of woke capitalism?

“A Further Push to Federalize Elections”
American Conservative, Hayden Ludwig (Op-ed), May 19, 2022

“Vote-by-mail now, vote-by-mail forever,” is the rallying cry of today’s left.

I’ve already documented how the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), the poisonous well of “Zuck bucks,” has pivoted from privatizing elections to getting Uncle Sam to pay for all-mail elections, starting this year. The $80 million allocated to that campaign by the left-wing donor and partisan documentary film producer Jeff Skoll may seem extreme, but it’s a bargain compared to what CTCL hopes to accomplish: $10 billion in taxpayer funding for expanding vote by mail, half of it for changing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) into a mail-in ballot machine.

But that’s only half of the story. Meet Demos, the tax-exempt group trying to transform the federal government into one gigantic get-out-the-vote machine for the Democratic Party.

“The Radicals in Green Hats at the Dobbs Protests”
Legal Insurrection, Robert Stilson (Op-Ed), June 29, 2022

Legal Observers from the National Lawyers Guild attended Dobbs protests, making good on the group’s promise after the leak to stand “with all of you fighting this in the streets and the courtrooms.” Distinguishable by their distinctive lime green hats, Guild observers—one of whom explained that he was there “to essentially monitor police activity because cops lie”—were reportedly detained by police at the Arizona Capitol.

Though many may be unfamiliar with the Guild, the rapidly growing 9,000+ member nonprofit association of lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers is conspicuous not only for its bright headgear, but for the left-wing radicalism it espouses. The group responded to the leaked Dobbs draft, for example, by calling it “part of a coordinated, fascist effort to expand state control over marginalized people’s bodies.”

“Foreign Funding of Non-Profits Goes Unchecked”
American Conservative, Sarah Lee (Op-ed), June 30, 2022

Following on the heels of a 2020 Trump administration report excoriating universities—including Harvard and Stanford—for failing to report $6.5 billion in foreign funding, two new pieces of legislation have been introduced since Biden’s election that would address the influence of foreign spending in the academic, nonprofit, and think tank sectors.

Welcome to an age of heightened concerns over foreign money flowing into America’s institutions, both private and nonprofit. It has led to debates over donor transparency, intellectual and academic theft, lobbying and election integrity, and the proper role of charity in American civic and political life.

“How Zuckerberg Used a Tax-Exempt Foundation to Help Biden Fix the 2020 Election”
FrontPage, David Horowitz and John Perazo, May 13, 2022

In 2020, the Zuckerbergs donated $69.5 million to the tax-exempt Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), whose founder was formerly a director of the leftwing People For the American Way, and $350 million to the “Safe Elections” Project of the tax-exempt Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL). The title “Safe Elections” refers to the cover for Zuckerberg’s fraudulent operation, which he presented as an effort to protect voters from COVID-19. The three founders of CTCL were former co-workers at the Democrat-aligning New Organizing Institute. The conduit Zuckerberg used to funnel his $419.5 million to CEIR and CTCL was yet another tax-exempt nonprofit, the California-based Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation supports get-out-the-vote campaigns for the Democratic Party.

“Biden’s Title IX Proposal Mirrors Action Memo from Soros-Funded Group Pushing Gender Identity into Rules”– Fox News, Joe Schoffstall, June 28, 2022

Parker Thayer, an investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center, told Fox News Digital that “Governing for Impact is the ultimate example of the ‘dark money’ the Left pretends to hate. It works totally in secret, it’s funded by one billionaire, it’s run by that billionaire’s cronies, and it directly influences policy from the shadows.”

“The idea that a group so deeply in Soros’s pocket is calling the shots on regulations that will affect the education and safety of almost every child in the country is deeply disturbing and should be investigated at once,” Thayer said.

“Wisconsin Voters Sue Democrat Cities over Illegal Dropboxes in 2020 Election”
The Federalist, Shawn Fleetwood, May 27, 2022

According to a report from the Capital Research Center, CTCL “distributed a total of 31 grants above the $5,000 minimum to Wisconsin cities and townships,” with 28 going “directly to specific cities” rather than counties.

“Out of those 28 grants just 8 of the recipient localities were won by Trump, while 20 were won by Biden,” the report reads. “Together, these 20 cities received $9 million or 90 percent of all CTCL funds in Wisconsin.”

“Woke Prosecutor Chesa Boudin on the Ropes in San Francisco Recall”
Washington Times, Valerie Richardson, June 2, 2022

“The national experiment with ‘woke’ prosecutors that complemented the ‘defund the police’ movement has failed, and people are tired of their cities and neighborhoods being used for the social experiments of billionaires like Soros,” said Mr. Thayer, who tracks the “Soros district attorneys.”

Mr. Boudin was not backed by a Soros-funded political action committee when he won election in 2019, but his agenda aligns with the left-wing push to replace “mass incarceration” with alternatives such as diversionary programs aimed at rehabilitation. He also ended the city’s policy of requiring cash bail.

“Trust in Nonprofits and Philanthropy Tends to Be Higher Than in Government and the News Media”– Chronicle of Philanthropy, Alex Daniel, May 24, 2022

Americans’ trust in nonprofits and philanthropy remains higher than in many other institutions, including federal and state government, corporations, and the news media, but that confidence has slipped in the years since Covid became a global calamity, according to a new report.

Since 2020, trust in nonprofits has declined from 59 percent to 56 percent, according to a February online survey of 3,015 people conducted by Independent Sector and Edelman Data & Intelligence.

“REVEALED: George Soros, Clinton and Obama Staffers and European Governments Are Behind Anti-Musk Campaign to Force Big Corporations to Boycott Twitter”
Daily Mail, Harriet Alexander, May 4, 2022

Some of the most high-profile liberal figures have joined together to encourage advertisers to boycott Twitter if Elon Musk brings in his promised policy of unfettered ‘free speech.’

Twenty six NGOs and advocacy groups signed a letter expressing concern about the world’s richest man’s plan.

“Yes, Biden Is Hiding His Plans to Rig the 2022 Midterm Elections”
The Federalist, Mollie Hemingway, June 23, 2022

The 2020 election had suffered from widespread and coordinated efforts by Democrat activists and donors to run “Get Out The Vote” operations from inside state and local government election offices, predominantly in the Democrat-leaning areas of swing states. Independent researchers have shown the effect of this takeover of government election offices was extremely partisan and favored Democrats overwhelmingly.

At the time the order was issued, Democrats were also hoping to pass H.R. 1, a continuation of the effort to destabilize elections throughout the country via a federalized takeover of state election administrations.

Biden gave each agency 200 days to file their plans for approval by none other than Susan Rice, his hyperpartisan domestic policy advisor. Yet fully nine months after those plans were due, they are all being hidden from the public, even as evidence is emerging that the election operation is in full swing.