Shawn Fleetwood of the Federalist documents disturbing testimony on Capitol Hill this week.
Foreign nationals are quietly bankrolling leftist causes throughout the United States, several witnesses told House lawmakers on Tuesday.
The concerning news came during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing focused on noncitizens pouring foreign dollars into U.S.-based nonprofit organizations. These groups, many of the witnesses said, are employing such funds to advance left-wing causes and policy priorities across the country.
“It’s refreshing to have a hearing where all witnesses share strong agreement on a central point, namely, foreign money should be kept out of American politics,” said Capital Research Center President Scott Walter. “A lot of these [foreign funding] problems involve America’s nonprofit sector, which is traditionally a glory and a strength of this exceptional country. But foreigners abuse this sector — especially tools like fiscal sponsorship and donor-advised funds, which aren’t inherently bad things — in order to hide their influence ops.”
In his testimony, Walter referenced the “politicized” and recently re-acquisitioned Arabella Advisors, a “dark money” network that includes various tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations that subsidize various left-wing ventures. Among these groups is the U.S.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has reportedly received more than $200 million from leftist Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and his Berger Action Fund.
As documented in a March 2025 Americans for Public Trust (APT) report, the Sixteen Thirty Fund has “spent $130 million bankrolling ballot issues in 26 states” since 2014. Among these are left-wing measures codifying abortion into state constitutions, raising the minimum wage, and more.
“The precise reason this Swiss billionaire or any other foreign billionaire can do this is because foreign money running through foundations and nonprofits to influence policy and advocacy is not prohibited,” APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland said. “This has allowed Mr. Wyss to keep the lights on at numerous left-wing nonprofits around town, including giving $280 million to Sixteen Thirty Fund, $30 million to the League of Conservation Voters network, $9 million to the ACLU network, and $7 million to Indivisible — the chief organization leading nationwide protests.”
