Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Swiss billionaire's fund helped push against 'dark money'

A fund controlled by a Swiss billionaire and top Democratic megadonor has contributed as much as $50,000 to the nonpartisan group Common Cause

Nicholas Riccardi
Friday 21 April 2023 19:48 BST
Common Cause Donor
Common Cause Donor

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A fund controlled by a Swiss billionaire who has steered tens of millions of dollars to liberal causes also donated as much as $50,000 to the nonpartisan group Common Cause to advocate for a federal ban on donations like his.

David Vance, a spokesman for Common Cause, which advocates to get big money out of politics, confirmed that the group received a donation from the Berger Action Fund, founded by Hansjörg Wyss. The fund has enabled Wyss, who lives in Wyoming but remains a Swiss citizen, to donate enormous amounts of money to liberal causes without running afoul of the United States' ban on foreign citizens contributing to political campaigns.

Vance said the donation last year was between $25,000 and $50,000, adding that Common Cause normally reports the range of donations rather than precise dollar amounts. That's a small fraction of the nearly $28 million in grants Common Cause reported receiving in 2022.

The grant also pales in comparison to Berger's political contributions, which amounted to about $72 million in 2021, cementing Wyss' status as a Democratic megadonor.

The Berger Action Fund says on its website that the Common Cause donation was to support the DISCLOSE Act. The federal legislation would place new regulations on “dark money” to political nonprofit groups, which are not required to disclose their donors and do not have to reveal much about how they spend the donations they receive.

The bill, which has stalled in a closely-divided Congress, also would crack down on contributions from foreign-controlled entities.

The existence of the Common Cause grant was first reported by the conservative publication The Washington Free Beacon.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in