As Republicans seek to use their new majorities in Congress to pass the SAVE Act and require proof of citizenship to register to vote, most of the messaging opposing SAVE can be traced back to the left-leaning Center for American Progress and the Brennan Center For Justice, both connected to the deep pockets of the Open Society Foundations, the premier project of meddling billionaire George Soros.
In a nation where only citizens are legally allowed to vote, it seems a small ask to require everyone registering to vote to provide proof of United States citizenship. That is what the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility” (SAVE) Act does. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, would require in-person voter registration and documentation proving U.S. citizenship by showing a REAL ID, U.S. passport, military identification, birth certificate, or other forms of identification.
Of course, the left is vehemently opposed to the SAVE Act, arguing it is too hard for people to find these documents, and the bill would eliminate online voter registration and voter registration drives operated by partisan groups. In other words, the SAVE Act would make it harder to commit voter fraud.
While Republicans are barely talking about the SAVE Act, Democrats are coordinating a war to defeat the measure. Thanks to the left’s underground communication infrastructure, opposition to SAVE is spreading like measles in a migrant shelter.
Last week, I reported that the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Brennan Center For Justice are at the core of a media blitz attacking the SAVE Act. Managing the message doesn’t stop with a media blitz. A web of nonprofit activist groups connected to these groups are coordinating email blasts to communicate the same issue-education (oppose SAVE), call to action (write to your member of Congress), and fundraising requests (send money).
The nonprofits working against election integrity use language so close to the CAP (gross receipts $40.3 million) or the Brennan Center For Justice ($225 million gross receipts) that it can’t be a coincidence. Some nonprofits even link to one or both of the two groups leading the attack on SAVE. Those numbers are from the group’s most recent 990 tax exempt nonprofit forms, which show CAP has at least nine employees earning more than $100,000.
CAP CEO Patrick Gaspard earned more than $400,000 in 2022, topping former President Joe Biden’s salary. Gaspard previously worked in Obama’s administration and before moving to CAP, he was president of Open Society Foundations. Gaspard also earns salary through the $9.2 million Center For American Progress Action Fund (CAP Fund). In 2022 CAP Fund paid the well connected Democratic communication firm SKDK for communication work.
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law describes itself as a “nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to improve our systems of democracy and justice.” It has at least 11 employees earning more than $230,000 annually, with president and attorney Michael A. Waldman earning more than $600,000 in 2022. He was a speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton and is a welcome guest on propaganda media talk shows including “Morning Joe,” “The Rachel Maddow Show,” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
The Brennan Center For Justice has received “substantial funding” from the Soros-connected Open Society Institute, according to Influence Watch. The center has long been mentioned in Open Society projects. The Center hosted a 2021 forum promoting Soros and Open Societies.
Nonprofits Dabbling In Politics
Here is a closer look at how this web of nonprofits work together, like an extra branch of government, driving public opinion. Within days of each other, the following groups sent emails to their lists, warning the SAVE Act will “disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.”
Inequality Media Civic Action, co-founded by Robert Reich, former secretary of labor under former President Bill Clinton, sent a Jan. 25 email saying, “Though it’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote – and there is no evidence of any significant voter fraud by non-citizens – the SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to register and vote. But proving citizenship isn’t always straightforward, and for many, the necessary documents are either difficult or impossible to produce.”
It is unclear how many illegal votes would make the issue “significant” in Inequality Media’s eyes, but if one person can vote illegally, our voting system is vulnerable. My colleague Brianna Lyman has reported about noncitizens voting in U.S. elections.
Inequality Media Civic Action is a nonprofit with a mission to “educate and engage the public on economic inequality and imbalance of power in America through digital media.” According to its most recent 990 tax exempt form, 2022, the group had gross receipts of $986,000. Reich was paid $150,000 that year as an independent contractor.
Reich’s email on behalf of Inequality Media Civic Action has a link inviting readers to send a direct message to Congress telling them to stop the SAVE Act and “protect every American’s right to vote without unnecessary documentation requirements.”
The link leads to a page sponsored by The Workers Circle, another nonprofit, with the headline, “Oppose the SAVE Act Voter Suppression Bill Today.” This link has a list of 21 related nonprofits promoted through the Action Network which amplifies the messages of leftist nonprofits.
The Workers Circle, formerly called the Workmen’s Circle, is a $16.9 million nonprofit with a mission to “build progressive Jewish identity and community through Jewish cultural engagement, Yiddish language learning, multigenerational education and social activism,” its most recent 990 tax exempt form from 2022 shows. At least seven of its employees earn six figures, with CEO and Executive Director Ann Toback earning more than $259,000 that year.
The nonprofit’s press release page features Toback’s far left views, including a Nov. 7 response to President Donald Trump’s election victory which starts, “This is not the first time in history that fascists have risen to power through democratic means,” and later claims “This we know: these newly elected anti-democratic leaders will continue to work to divide us, to terrify us, to immobilize us. They disregard the Constitution and are willing to use violence and weaponize the Justice Department to persecute opponents, undermine our rights, and impose their agenda.”
Nonprofit All On the Line sent an “action alert” email blast on Feb. 5 mischaracterizing the SAVE Act.
“This bill isn’t about election integrity. It’s about silencing voters. There’s zero evidence of widespread voter fraud, and states already have secure systems in place to verify voter eligibility. The real goal of the SAVE Act? To make it harder for eligible Americans to vote. We can’t let them get away with this. Click below to send an email to your representatives in Congress and demand they vote NO on the SAVE Act.” The link leads to a convenient form letter. Just add your name and hit send.
All On the Line is an advocacy group funded through the National Redistricting Action Fund (gross receipts $7.3 million) a left leaning nonprofit organization focused on redrawing congressional voter maps. But they want more money. Supporters can donate through a Democrat fundraising arm, ActBlue. Eric Holder, former attorney general for former President Barack Obama, is on the board of the fund.
The fund is connected to the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and the National Redistricting Foundation (gross receipts $10 million) with at least seven staff members earning over $100,000 annually, according to its 2022 nonprofit tax exempt form. That year, the foundation paid $1.4 million for policy litigation to the Elias Law Group. Marc Elias, the law group’s former chair, is a far left attorney The Federalist has written about many times. He founded the activist law project Democracy Docket.
A Feb. 7 email blast from Nonprofit Vote (Gross receipts $1 million) also asks recipients to contact Congress in opposition to the SAVE Act. Its website says it partners with “More than 100 national and state partners.” One of those partners is Dominicanos USA (gross receipts $874,000 in 2022), which says it has a vision “that every person living in the U.S. can freely exercise their civic rights.”
Despite a Republican-led Congress, the most historically ineffectual Republicans may be tricked by the black eye the left is trying to give the SAVE Act unless conservatives improve their messaging infrastructure.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
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