The Wall Street Journal reports that GOP megadonors are kick-starting another special interest group to push the GOP’s out-of-touch agenda and attack Democrats.
Future45 “will be bankrolled by some of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes, including hedge-fund billionaires Ken Griffin and Paul Singer and the family of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, whose wife, Marlene, donated more than $5 million to super PACs backing candidates in the first half of the year.”
Read more about who’s behind yet another special interest group formed to buy the GOP elections at Conservative Transparency:
Future45 is a super PAC created by a trio of conservative megadonors focused on electing a Republican to be the 45th – hence the name – President of the United States in 2016. The group is headed by “veteran GOP operative Brian Walsh,” who told the National Journal that the PAC was “focused on the general” and was not planning to intervene in the 2016 Republican primary. Future45 filed its statement of organization with the FEC on March 20, 2015.
Walsh is well known for his work as president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, “the main super PAC backing House Republicans, and its auxillary 501(c)4 nonprofit, the American Action Network,” according to the National Journal. Politico revealed in July 2015 that Walsh was also set to serve as the head of a new PAC dedicated to protecting Senate Republicans, Our Next America. ONA was formed by allies of Texas Sen. John Cornyn, under whom Walsh served as Communications Director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He is additionally a partner at Public Affairs firm ROKK Solutions.
The monetary force behind Future45 comes from conservative megadonors Paul Singer, Kenneth Griffin, and William Powers. Griffin, the owner of the Citadel Hedge Fund, is a well-known donor to the Koch Network; Mother Jones acquired documents revealing that Griffin was scheduled for a high-level meeting at a Koch conference with Charles Koch and Rich Fink, alongside Marc Short and Mike Lanzara, both of whom work for Freedom Partners. National Journal notes that Griffin “contributed more than $1.5 million to Mitt Romney’s super PAC in 2012, and another $1 million to American Crossroads.”
Griffin is reportedly supported Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, which raises questions about Future45’s direction – as the National Journal goes on to note, “nearly $3 million of Singer’s 2014 giving went to American Unity PAC, which backs Republicans supportive of gay marriage.” Gov. Walker, however, called for a constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of marriage equality in Obergefell. Singer additionally gave $3.2 million to the Ending Spending Action Fund, the PAC under control of Todd and Joe Ricketts, who have also been major Walker supporters. Todd Ricketts hosted two fundraising barbecues for Gov. Walker, one of which was attended by David Koch. Singer and Griffin both gave $250,000 in seed money to Future45, according to FEC documents released in mid-July.
The final donor was William Powers of Los Angeles, a former finance executive who donated $100,000. Although Powers keeps a lower profile than Singer or Griffin, he is a major donor on the right, with 2014 donations including $50,000 to America Rising, and $400,000 to Ending Spending. In 2012, he gave to the Reclaiming Freedom PAC.