 [FoxNews] Five international foundations from UK, Denmark and Switzerland target American nonprofits and advocacy organizations, report reveals
A new report revealed that five foreign charities have donated just shy of $2 billion into various American nonprofits and policy advocacy groups focused on climate change and political activism.
Americans for Public Trust released a detailed, 31-page report with receipts tracking money from foreign charities to U.S. groups. It notes that while contributing directly to political candidates is not permitted under federal law, election-related activities like "get-out-and-vote" campaigns, some lobbying efforts, issue advertising and other politically-charged activities, are in play for foreign dollars.
"There's not a question about where it's going and where it is coming from," Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital. "We know that it's foreign money coming into our U.S. policy fights, climate litigation, research, protests, lobbying, you name it."
"Foreign money is coming in, and it's trying to erode our democracy," Sutherland added.
The groups that contributed to the near $2 billion in foreign money include the Quadrature Climate Foundation (U.K.), the KR Foundation (Denmark), the Oak Foundation (Switzerland), the Laudes Foundation (Switzerland/Netherlands), and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (U.K.).
The most sizable, the Quadrature Climate Foundation, has awarded roughly $520 million to 41 U.S. groups since 2020, according to the report.
"The most surprising place that the foreign money has ended up is into a group called the Environmental Law Institute [ELI]," Sutherland explained to Fox News Digital. "They are well known for running a group called the Climate Judiciary Project. They work to educate judges on climate litigation."
"So the fact that a group that is so-called educating judges on climate is the beneficiary of foreign money is a huge problem," Sutherland added.
ELI received a grant of $650,000 from the Oak Foundation, based out of Switzerland, in separate grants since 2018.
"The Environmental Law Institute received a $300,000 grant from the Oak Foundation in 2018 to support the drafting of a toolkit for sustainable small-scale fisheries," ELI spokesperson Nick Collins told Fox News Digital. "Building on successful examples from around the world, the toolkit offers guidance on how to strengthen small scale fisheries through law."
"ELI is an independent, nonpartisan organization, and any grant funding we receive is contingent on protecting this independence," Collins continued. "No funder dictates our work, and our grants are administered in compliance with IRS rules and regulations."
The Environmental Law Institute has also received federal grants from the U.S. government in the past, most recently under the Biden administration’s EPA and State Department in 2022.
In August of this year, 23 state attorneys general sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that called for the halting of federal funding.
Zeldin and President Donald Trump's EPA subsequently axed funding to ELI.
"We were also able to trace that $1.6 million in foreign money has come from the Oak Foundation into a group called Community Change," Sutherland continued. "They are the front group that has led the charge against Trump's crackdown on crime. So again, we're seeing where foreign money coming in to protest, litigation, training is ending up."
According to the report, $1.6 million from the Oak Foundation has been funneled into Community Change, the organization recognized as the "fiscal sponsor" behind Free DC, which was responsible for the anti-Trump protests in Washington D.C.
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