Tangled, Dark-Money Web of Congressional Integrity Project
Investigating the Democratic investigators of the soon-to-be Republican investigators
Updated Sept. 4, 2023. See new section at bottom: IRS 990s from Congressional Integrity Project.
This article shows Democratic strategists involved in the Congressional Integrity Project are part of a tangled, dark-money web.
Fingerprints from Arabella Advisors’ “dark money” funds are hints they influence control the flow of money and the project.
The secrecy, redirection and obfuscation of the information about the Congressional Integrity Project cast serious doubt on the word “integrity” in the group’s name.
Politico scoop
About two weeks ago Politico revealed the relaunch of the Congressional Integrity Project where Democratic strategists would investigate the investigators from the new GOP majority:
A group of top Democratic strategists are launching a multi-million-dollar hub to counter an expected investigative onslaught by the likely incoming House GOP majority — digging into President Joe Biden, his administration and his son, on top of potential Cabinet impeachments.
The Congressional Integrity Project is also aiming to raise funds for a paid media campaign, including dedicated websites, digital ads, mobile billboards, newspaper ads and, occasionally, TV ad buys.
PBS worried the House GOP would push forward a with Hunter Biden probe despite a “thin majority.” Was PBS ever concerned with the “thin” Democratic majority of about 6 to 12 in the 117th Congress?
IRS 990s
About a year ago the Sixteen Thirty Fund filed their 2020 IRS 990, which revealed they gave $1 million to the Congressional Integrity Project.
A Google search for the CIP EIN “85-1339862” revealed Politico somehow recently obtained the 2021 IRS 990 showing an additional $500K contribution from Sixteen Thirty. The Washington Examiner reported this $1.5 million total last week.
How did Politico get the Sixteen Thirty IRS 990 by Oct 12?
Why does the IRS search page show no information about this EIN and the Congressional Integrity Project?
Leadership of Congressional Integrity Project
The CIP web page claims the group is about “fighting corruption and exposing the truth.”
Many on the Right would argue the Left has been hiding corruption and hiding the truth the last two years, which is why new investigations are needed.
For example, the January 6 committee hearings have been “slammed as sham show trial.” Those behind CIP think exactly the opposite and denigrate anyone using free speech to voice opinions different than theirs.
The CIP “about” page shows three in leadership now.
Additional information about these individuals is included below, with many of the details also captured in the diagram, “Tangled, Dark-Money Web of Congressional Integrity Project.”
Brad Woodhouse, Board Member
Communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC)
Senior strategist for President Obama’s two presidential campaigns
Previously led American Bridge, Americans United for Change, Correct the Record
Kyle Herrig, Executive Director
Leslie Dach, Senior Advisor
As recently as a few months ago, several additional CIP leaders were listed:
Mindy Myers, Senior Advisor. Democratic Senatorial Committee during 2016 and 2018 cycles. Former campaign manager for Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Michael Czin, Communications Advisor. Senior VP at SKDK.
Melanie Sloan, Board member.
Hayley Matz Meadvin, Board member.
Arabella Advisors Network
The Arabella Advisors manage five groups that are part of their “dark money” network. Three of these groups (Sixteen Thirty Fund, New Venture Fund, and Hopewell Fund) have direct or indirect connections to the Capital Integrity Project. All are 501(c)(3) non-profits, except Sixteen Thirty is a 501(c)(4).
Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund
Brad Woodhouse, who is part of CIP leadership and their board, is a former project director at the Sixteen Thirty Fund according to ProPublica.
According to his Linked-In page, Kyle Herrig is a former executive director of the New Venture Fund. Herrig also has served on the NVF board.
In 2020 Influence Watch says the Arabella network had revenues of $1.67 billion and expenditures of $1.26 billion. George Soros through his non-profits under the Open Society Foundations umbrella is one of the large donors to the Arabella Advisors’ network.
From 2016-2020 the Sixteen Thirty Fund received $33.4 million from Open Society Foundations, while the New Venture Fund received about $44 million. There is only circumstantial evidence that Soros might have been the source of the $1.5 million that Sixteen Thirty granted to the Congressional Integrity Project in payments of $1 million in 2020 and $500K in 2021.
Protect Our Care
Over the years Sixteen Thirty has created about 60 trade names, which can be found on the DC government page. One of those trade names is “Protect Our Care.” This means that Leslie Dach as founder and chair of “Protect Our Care” is working directly for Sixteen Thirty. Likewise, Brad Woodhouse is working directly for Sixteen Thirty as the executive director of “Protect Our Care.”
Protect Our Care is a 501(c)(4) organization, but its sister 501(c)(3) is Protect Our Care Education Fund, which is simply a “fiscally sponsored project” of the New Venture Fund. Kyle Herrig is a former executive director at the New Venture Fund.
So, all three leaders, Woodhouse, Herrig and Dach have direct ties to the Arabella Advisors “dark money” network.
Accountable.us
In 2020-2021 the New Venture Fund gave three grants totaling $8.8 million to Accountable.us, a separate organization. Herrig is the founder and president of Accountable.us, while Woodhouse serves as a director there.
Defend Democracy Project
Dach and Woodhouse are co-chairs of the Defend Democracy Project. A month ago they were obsessed with telling voters about “Top Threats to Democracy and Elections in Key States” while denying free-speech rights to many running for office they disagreed with.
Watch videos of Dach and Woodhouse at work for the Defend Democracy Project. Read their “Three Greatest Threats to Democracy in Arizona” report.
The IRS search page has no information about the Defend Democracy Project.
The DC government corporation page shows no current corporation or trade name of “Defend Democracy Project.” [A “Defend Democracy Action Fund” existed in 2008 but was dissolved in 2012.]
What is the legal status of the “Defend Democracy Project”?
CIP Board of Directors
That DC government corporation page reveals the “governors” (aka board members) of the Congressional Integrity Project:
It’s unclear why three are listed twice with different file numbers.
Woodhouse’s address is a WeWork office space in DC.
Hayley Matz Meadvin had been listed on the CIP leaderhip page as recently as July 2022. She is the Executive VP at Precision Strategies. Her original bio said “during the Obama administration, [Meadvin] served in the White House as communications director to Dr. Jill Biden.”
Melanie Sloan had been listed on the CIP leadership page as recently as Nov. 8. From her original bio: “Melanie Sloan is an attorney and nationally recognized expert on government ethics. Currently a senior advisor to the government watchdog group American Oversight, she also served as the founding executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which she led for more than a decade.”
Ezra Reese’s address shown above was the Perkins Coie office in DC, however he is now the Chair of the Political Law practice at Elias Law Group. This political law group, which split from Perkins Coie last year, is lead by Marc Elias.
CIP Street Address
The Sixteen Thirty IRS 990 gave this address for CIP: 2020 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 269. This address is a bit of a mystery.
A search of IRS 990 records revealed this address is shared with DC Web Fest.
Zillow says this townhouse can be rented now for $5995 a month. Next door is the Permanent Mission of Paraguay.
IRS 990s from Congressional Integrity Project
The bottom of the CIP “About” page now shows links to IRS 990s from 2020 and 2021.
According to the Wayback Machine, these links were not present on Dec. 10, 2022 but were present on Feb. 26, 2023. The filing date on the 2021 IRS 990 was Nov. 11, 2022.
CIP is required to file a 990 “Schedule of Contributors” listing the number and amounts of contributors, but not their names.
CIP shows one contributor in 2020:
And CIP shows only one contributor in 2021:
Since on Nov. 21, 2022 the Washington Examiner reported that the SixteenThirty Fund gave these exact amounts to the Congressional Integrity Project, we now know that the ALL CIP funding was from the SixteenThirty Fund in 2020 and 2021.
Related
Updated 2023-04-21
Democratic group files ethics complaint against GOP committee chairs, AXIOS, Stef W. Kight, 2023-04-20.
The filing at the bottom of this article shows a new address from the Congressional Integrity Project:
Irony Alert: Left-Wing Dark Money Group Accuses FedSoc Chair of Operating ‘Dark Money Network’, Washington Free Beacon, Chuck Ross, 2023-03-07.
House GOP demands all docs on toxic train derailment as it launches investigation, BPR Business & Politics, Chris Donaldson, 2023-02-25.
Buttigieg’s defenders flew into action with one of them being the Democrat-aligned Congressional Integrity Project, a part of the network of groups tasked with propagandizing against the new GOP House majority’s efforts to conduct oversight against members of the left-wing party that has been allowed to operate with impunity for years.
Weaponization? Democrats gear up a response machine to GOP, The Hill, Rebecca Beitsch, 2023-02-13.
Woodhouse said the Congressional Integrity Project now has a “war room” staffed with about 15 people, a group that includes Hannah Muldavin, who previously worked as deputy communications director for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
House Oversight Chair Launches Probe Into John Kerry’s Secret China Talks, New American, Luis Miguel, 2023-02-03.
Another prominent target of the Congressional Integrity Project is Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Under Jordan, the committee is currently leading probes into corruption and political bias at the FBI.
It’s important to note that Brad Woodhouse, a longtime Democratic strategist who works as a senior advisor for the Congressional Integrity Project, was present at a September meeting of Democratic operatives held at the White House — clearly demonstrating that the group’s attacks on Jordan and Comer are approved of by the Biden administration.
‘Go on offense’: Inside Democrats’ strategy to try to undercut GOP investigations and protect Biden, CNN, 2023-02-01.
Democrats say they’re also working closely with an outside political group, the Congressional Integrity Project, which is expected to play the role of messaging clearinghouse in the coming months. Already, the group’s polling on how the public perceives the GOP’s broad investigations into the Biden administration has served as a guidepost for staffers as they plot their defense.
Brad Woodhouse, a senior adviser for Congressional Integrity Project, said that the group will serve several functions for the Biden White House and congressional Democrats, including polling, opposition research and political events. In the leadup to the new Congress, the group sent reporters daily emails attacking Comer.
Inside the Democratic ‘SWAT Team’ Combating the GOP’s Biden Probes, The Daily Beast, Sam Brodey, 2023-01-25.
Determined to prevent a rerun of the Obama years, top Democrats are standing up a pair of outside groups—the Congressional Integrity Project and Facts First USA—and building them for the sole purpose of running aggressive interference for Biden on the barrage of GOP probes from Capitol Hill. …
There is a perception that CIP enjoys a sort of preferred status in Bidenworld, though those involved with Facts First claim such a term would imply a distinction without a difference. …
Both groups are organized under the federal tax code’s 501(c)(4) classification, meaning they do not have to disclose their donors. …
[David] Brock outlined a budget target of $15 million for Facts First—which includes hiring 10 to 15 full time staffers …
[Brad] Woodhouse explained that CIP is aiming to hit a $10 million annual budget, with as many as 50 full and part time staff involved with the effort …
Democratic dark money juggernaut behind Biden-allied group targeting House GOP, Gabe Kaminsky, Washington Examiner, 2022-12-29.
Dems gearing up shadow group ‘war rooms’ to defend Biden from GOP oversight, accountability, Kevin Haggerty, American Wire, 2022-11-27.
Democrat’s ‘War Room’ Countering Congressional Investigations Into Biden Family Is Led By Operatives Tied To Chinese Communist Party Influence Groups And George Soros, Natalie Winters, WarRoom.org, 2022-11-26.
Investigating the investigators: Dem strategists to launch counterpunch to House GOP, Politico, 2022-11-16.
Big Money in Dark Shadows, Hayden Ludwig, Capital Research Center, 2019-04-25.
The Dark Money Group Propping Up Obamacare, Hayden Ludwig, Capital Research Center, 2018-12-19.
