Swiss Billionaire Pumps $208 Million Into Left-Wing Groups That Help Democrats Win Elections

An explosive report from The New York Times this week outlines how a Swiss billionaire has become a top player in influencing U.S. politics in a manner that helps Democrat politicians win elections even though it is not clear whether the individual is a U.S. citizen.

The report said that Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss has donated massive amounts of money “through a daisy chain of opaque organizations that mask the ultimate recipients of his money.”

“Newly obtained tax filings show that Mr. Wyss’s foundations donated $208 million from 2016 through early last year to three nonprofit funds that doled out money to a wide array of groups that backed progressive causes and helped Democrats in their efforts to win the White House and control of Congress last year,” the report said. {snip}

In addition to donating heavily to the three non-profits, Wyss’s foundations also directly donated tens of millions of dollars throughout the Trump-era to groups that “opposed former President Donald J. Trump and promoted Democrats and their causes.”

Wyss donated to far-left groups that organized grassroot campaigns to increase the turnout of Democrat voters, created media organizations that publish pro-Democrat news, pushed for Trump’s impeachment, and sought to cause other problems for the Trump administration. Officials from his organizations have also worked on the Biden transition or have joined the administration.

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“Born in Switzerland and living in Wyoming, he has not disclosed publicly whether he holds citizenship or permanent residency in the United States,” the report noted. “Foreign nationals without permanent residency are barred from donating directly to federal political candidates or political action committees, but not from giving to groups that seek to influence public policy — a legal distinction often lost on voters targeted by such groups.”

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Democrat strategist Rob Stein told the Times that Wyss and his advisers have built a “strategic, evidence-based, metrics-driven and results-oriented approach to building political infrastructure” to “create measurable, sustainable impact” on U.S. politics.

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The Wyss Foundation, located in Washington, D.C., registered under a section of the U.S. tax code that bans it from giving money to support partisan political campaigns. {snip}

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