InfluenceWatch Friday

InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers’ funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.

The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested parties research to use in reporting on significant topics that are often overlooked by the American public.

CRC is pleased to present some of the most significant additions to InfluenceWatch in the past week:

• James “Fergie” Chambers is a self-identified communist and a member of the billionaire Cox family, who are heirs to cable company Cox Enterprises fortune. Chambers is a financer of radical-left activist movements meant to disrupt law enforcement and the U.S government. He has indicated hatred for, “white America,” people of European heritage, and supporters of Israel. He openly supports several anti-Israeli organizations including the Middle East Children’s Alliance, Samidoun, and Palestine Action US.
• The United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) is an umbrella organization of Muslim activist groups within the United States including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA). Following the Hamas terror attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, USCMO released a press statement claiming to support the Palestinian people, “and their right to freedom from the Israeli occupation.” The October 7 attacks were not directly mentioned.
• Common Power is a left-of-center political organizing group and the 501(c)(4) advocacy branch of the Common Power family of nonprofits, which also includes the 501(c)(3) Common Power Future and Common Power PAC. In 2023, Common Power executive director Charles Douglas wrote an article stating the group’s commitment to electing Democrat candidates, and that he believed “political organizations headquartered in blue states owe it to fellow citizens to invest in red states and purple states.”
• Results for America is a policy advocacy organization that argues in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory-influenced concepts. The group promotes programs such as federal investments and therapy to treat the “public health crisis” of racism. It has received funding from several major left-of-center grantmakers including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Open Society Foundations, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• The Georgia Alliance Education Fund is a grantmaking organization that provides funding to voter mobilization groups within the state of Georgia. The fund is affiliated with the Georgia Alliance for Progress donor coalition that advocates for left-wing policies regarding abortion access, immigration, and labor regulations. The organization has provided grants to other left-of-center groups including the New Georgia Project and the Foundation of Georgia.