Podesta’s CAP Fuels Dark Money Group Hitting Trump with Lawsuits

WFB: Democracy Forward received $1M from Center for American Progress, marks same address on legal docs

A “nonpartisan” dark money group that regularly files litigation against President Donald Trump’s administration is powered by money from the Center for American Progress (CAP), the liberal think tank founded by former Clinton campaign manager John Podesta.

The Democracy Forward Foundation, a D.C.-based 501(c)3 nonprofit, was founded in 2017 to “help expose the rampant corruption in the Executive Branch and fight in court on behalf of the people it hurts.” The group also has a 501(c)4 “social welfare” arm that goes by Democracy Forward. The foundation has filed suit against numerous government agencies, such as the Department of Justice, Department of Treasury, and the Office of Management and Budget, and has aided other entities with similar litigation, including Baltimore’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over immigration policy.

The group, which has maintained a relatively low profile despite its litigation efforts against the administration, dubs itself “nonpartisan” and is referred to as “anti-corruption” by major media outlets. The group’s leadership, however, is made up of Democratic operatives, including Podesta himself.

Democracy Forward’s initial tax returns, which cover a time span of just over a month from May 19 to June 30, 2017, does not disclose its donors but shows that the group received $705,000 in seed money. The group lists a P.O. Box in D.C. as its address on the forms, the same contact address that is listed on its website.

However, a review of the group’s legal documents shows its attorneys mark the same address as Podesta’s Center for American Progress. And while the Democracy Forward Foundation did not disclose its source of funding on its initial tax forms, the Center for American Progress’s own tax forms from 2017 show that Podesta’s group passed $1 million to the foundation.

Democracy Forward did not respond to requests for its complete 2017 tax forms. The Center for American Progress did not respond to inquiries into its funding of the foundation or to questions about its being located in the same building as their organization. read more