Preston Mizell writes at FoxNews.com about disturbing news from the philanthropic sector.
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.
