Liberal dark money group pays Josh Riley to run for Congress: Investigation
A bombshell investigative report out today reveals Josh Riley got paid to run for Congress by a liberal dark money group’s sham ‘fellowship.’
Reports show that Riley, “pocketed $30,000 in 2023 from AMPLI for his fellowship, according to the financial disclosure report Riley filed in August of last year.”
“Josh Riley can never be trusted. Riley is completely bought and paid for by hidden left-wing forces orchestrating this unprecedented corrupt scheme, and he would be their plant in Washington.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Savannah Viar
In case you missed it…
Failed Democratic candidates pocket ‘fellowship’ cash from opaque progressive group to run in 2024
Gabe Kaminsky
A little-known organization fighting for “the interests of progressive voters through public advocacy” is quietly overseeing an unusual “fellowship” to ensure repeat Democratic congressional hopefuls get paychecks between runs.
New Politics Leadership Academy, a charity that trains prospective candidates and has an affiliated New Politics 527 advocacy group also focused on “recruiting, developing, and electing servant leaders who put community and country over self,” previously sponsored the fellowship, and it ran a similar one in 2019 that drew legal scrutiny from campaign experts for cutting large checks to failed candidates. Years later, New Politics Leadership Academy has moved on from the initiative, which Our American Future Foundation, a newly-formed charity incorporated in Washington, D.C., by an associate of Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias, recently absorbed, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.
That Our American Future Foundation is now behind the fellowship could have notable implications, given the sharp legal scrutiny New Politics Leadership Academy faced in recent years over pushing thousands of dollars to candidates.
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‘Never our thing’
“The fellowship was never our thing,” New Politics spokesman Gabe Ramos said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. He described how New Politics Leadership Academy ran a one-time 2019 fellowship, though, in October 2022, began sponsoring a project called the American Mainstream Policy Leadership Institute that offers a revamped version.
New Politics Leadership Academy’s partnership with AMPLI only lasted for one month, according to Ramos, who indicated there was tension between the two groups.
“As I understand it, it was kind of, I don’t want to say a favor, but, you know, it’s just kind of like relationships and kind of helping folks out,” Ramos said of why New Politics Leadership Academy initially sponsored AMPLI. “Initially, we had set out to have some say in who the candidates were, what the actual program was going to be. And then that didn’t necessarily happen and it became clear that [AMPLI] would be better off going somewhere else, and we’d be better not taking part in it.”
The apparent rift, and later move by Our American Future Foundation to sponsor AMPLI, is a behind-the-scenes look at how political groups don’t always see eye to eye when attempting to partner on new initiatives — and a window into how New Politics Leadership Academy, whose 2019 fellowship puzzled tax-exempt lawyers, took a step back.
The Washington Examiner reported in October 2020 that fellows, in the words of New Politics founder and Executive Director Amy Cherniack, received cash as a way to pay “rent or groceries or their mortgage.” For instance, Gina Ortiz Jones, a Texas Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2018 and 2020, disclosed on her 2019 financial disclosure report that she received $34,000 from New Politics Leadership Academy for a “fellowship,” which appeared to be her only earned income that year — aside from rental properties Ortiz Jones owned.
New Politics has claimed it’s bipartisan, though the vast majority of the candidates it has supported have been Democrats, the Washington Examiner reported.
In October 2022, the same month New Politics Leadership Academy and AMPLI initiated their fleeting fiscal sponsorship setup, Our American Future Foundation became a charity registered with the IRS, according to a letter on file with the agency. The letter listed the nonprofit group’s address as a P.O. Box in Washington, D.C.
The fiscal sponsorship agreement detailed a “nonpartisan” program awarding 10 paid fellowships to selected candidates who “lost elections but intend to remain public advocates for mainstream American policies” or “have not yet run for federal office but are considering doing so in the future,” according to the copy obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“Fellowships will begin in January 2023 and are scheduled to end in December 2023; or upon announcing a candidacy prior to December 2023,” the agreement stated. “Fellowships are an investment in exceptional leadership talent akin to a MacArthur fellowship in which participants have the flexibility to take their own approaches to messaging about mainstream American politics. Fellows will be required to actively communicate — in person, online, in the press — about mainstream policies with resonance in their regions.”
It’s not entirely clear when exactly AMPLI became housed under Our American Future Foundation, or OAFF. The charity’s incorporator was Ezra Reese, political law chair for Elias Law Group, and its registered agent is Brennan Bilberry, ex-2013 gubernatorial campaign spokesman for former Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and a partner at the law firm Fairmark Partners LLP, according to corporate records filed in Washington, D.C.
Katie Nee, a longtime Democratic staffer, says on her LinkedIn profile that she is CEO of both OAFF and its affiliated advocacy group.
‘Equally Troubling’
According to an OAFF trademark application last year, its mission is as follows: “Promoting public awareness of climate change, reproductive freedom, and other progressive issues; providing online information regarding political issues, knowing how to vote and knowing how to register to vote; promoting voter turnout and the interests of progressive voters through public advocacy.”
Eric Koch, a communications professional who told the Washington Examiner he is doing work for AMPLI, said in a statement that fellows “are provided a stipend for their work during the fellowship period” and “engage in research, policy development, white papers, and participate in convenings.”
Fellows also receive 1099 independent contractor forms to report their income to the IRS, Koch said. Koch declined to provide a list of the current fellows.
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To the contrary, New York Democratic congressional candidate Josh Riley pocketed $30,000 in 2023 from AMPLI for his fellowship, according to the financial disclosure report Riley filed in August of last year. Riley is aiming to unseat GOP Rep. Marcus Molinaro in New York’s 19th Congressional District, another toss-up district.
Little is public about AMPLI, which, like OAFF, does not appear to have its own website and has a minimal digital presence — if one at all.
On her LinkedIn profile, former Illinois Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos, who is now co-chair at Mercury Public Affairs, an influential lobbying and communications firm in Washington, D.C., says she is “co-chair” of AMPLI.
Zinc Collective, a group helping Democratic campaigns, lists AMPLI as a “partner” on its website.
Other partners include the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden for President, and Elias Law Group, among other groups, according to Zinc Collective.
Ramos, the New Politics spokesman, agreed it’s odd there is such little information on the internet about both AMPLI and OAFF.
“By design I suspect,” he told the Washington Examiner.
OAFF did not return requests for comment.