Dark Money and the Catholic Church Dark Money and
Description: Dark Money and the Catholic Church Dark Money and Donor-Advised Funds Dark money Term used to refer to political spending by nonprofit organizations that are not legally required to disclose their donors. Donor-Advised Funds Receive funds
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slide1. Dark Money and the Catholic Church<br>
slide2. Dark Money and Donor-Advised Funds “Dark money"
Term used to refer to political spending by nonprofit organizations that are not legally required to disclose their donors.
Donor-Advised Funds
Receive funds from outside groups, and uses those funds to make contributions to recognized charities.
People who donate to donor-advised funds can recommend where their money goes, but the funds themselves have final say over how the money is allocated.
The donors get a larger tax write-off than they would giving to other charities or foundations.
Donors get to be anonymous<br>
slide3. Donors Trust Founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors,"
Has raised close to $1 billion and doled out hundreds of million of dollars to more than 1,000 conservative and libertarian groups
Has been called the “Dark Money ATM” of the political right
In 2020, Donors Trust doled out more than $182 million in grants
Most donors are anonymous
Tax documents show that charities and foundations bankrolled by major conservative benefactors like the Koch, Devos, and Mercer families have given tens of millions of dollars to the organization in recent years.
Has hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofits that lobby against labor union protections, climate change mitigation policies, economic regulations, voting rights and immigration reform.<br>
slide4. Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society In 2020, Donors Trust handed $20 million in donations to Leonard Leo’s 85 Fund
The 85 Fund; part of Leo’s extensive network of organizations that seek to influence policy, the president’s picks for the judiciary and the larger conservative movement.
Leo was a key outside advisor for Donald Trump when the then-president chose Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett for slots on the Supreme Court.
Leo is also on the board of directors for Napa Legal, an initiative affiliated with Tim Busch’s Napa Institute<br>
slide5. Donors Trust Funding to Conservative Organizations A who’s who of conservative organizations:
Tea Party Patriots Foundation
Turning Point USA
American Enterprise Institute
the Federalist Society
the Second Amendment Foundation
the Cato Institute
Heritage Foundation
NRA’s Freedom Action Foundation
Americans for Tax Reform, led by Grover Norquist
Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which was chaired by the late David Koch (1940-2019)<br>
slide6. Far-Right Organizations Funded by Donors Trust V-Dare
A far-right website that opposes immigration
Associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, Neo-Nazism and the alt-right
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes VDARE as "an anti-immigration hate website" which "regularly publishes articles by prominent white nationalists, race scientists and anti-Semites.”
Received $75,000 from Donors Trust in 2020<br>
slide7. Far-Right Organizations Funded by Donors Trust New Century Foundation
A white supremacist organization founded in 1994, primarily for publishing a magazine, American Renaissance, which promotes white supremacy.
On June 29, 2020, American Renaissance's YouTube channel and AmRen Podcasts were banned from YouTube for violations of hate speech guidelines
Received $600,000 in 2020 from Donors Trust<br>
slide8. January 6, 2021 Connections Tea Party Patriots
Was among 11 groups listed on the website of the "March to Save America", the pro-Trump rally on the Ellipse near the White House that led to the storming of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Received $250,000 in 2020 from Donors Trust
Turning Point USA
Claimed to have Helped transport busloads of Donald Trump supporters to the January 6 rally and participated in the "March to Save America" ahead of the event.
Received $580,300 in 2020 from Donors Trust
SPLC and ADL have documented the group’s links to extremists and white supremacists<br>
slide9. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds Diocese of Spokane
Received $10,000 for its annual Catholic appeal
$500 to support a local Catholic school.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane was given $15,000 for general operations.
The diocese is lead by Bishop Thomas Daly, hardline conservative, has spoken out against Black Lives Matter and criticized Gonzaga University for establishing an LGBTQ rights clinic in 2020. Daly was one of the few prelates who came to the defense of Archbishop Jose Gomez when Gomez attacked modern social justice movements as Marxist-inspired, anti-Christian “pseudo-religions.”<br>
slide10. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The Thomas More Society, an Illinois-based public interest law firm
Received $1 million for general operations
Received $1 million for its "Amistad Project," an election integrity initiative that sought to overturn the presidential election results in swing states that Donald Trump lost in November 2020.
Amistad Project is still active, raising questions about election integrity in swing states
A general counsel for the Thomas More Society and a member of the Amistad Project is Jenna Ellis, a Trump lawyer who spread falsehoods about a “stolen election”
“We are excited to have the Amistad Project as a partner in the fight to ensure the integrity of our elections,” - Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor and lead attorney for Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
In 2020, the website for the Amistad Project featured a list of partner organizations that spread misinformation about Covid-19 and that pushed for the election of two Republican senate candidates in Georgia.<br>
slide11. Catholic-affiliated Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The Catholic Association Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based conservative nonprofit
received a little more than $5.5 million for "general operations." In 2019, the Catholic Association reported $6.3 million in total revenue, all from contributions.
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a Michigan-based free-market economic think tank founded by Fr. Robert Sirico
received a little more than $1 million.
Donors Trust also donated $12,900 to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sirico is the church's pastor emeritus.
Becket Fund (received $448,500 for general operations)
Washington-based law firm that represented Catholic organizations that challenged the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate in employee health insurance plans during the Obama years<br>
slide12. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The San Francisco Archdiocese's Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship
Received $150,000 for general operations, and $500 for "sacred music and divine worship."
The institute was founded by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone
Cordileone has pushed to deny communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians, barred Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco
Cordileone has touted conservative causes and spread misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine in an interview where he said he was not vaccinated<br>
slide13. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Traditionalist group whose members celebrate the Latin Mass and sacraments in the old rite
Received $20,000 to educate seminarians.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, a Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter parish in Littleton, Colorado, was given $58,000 for various expenses and ministries.
In a Dec. 2020 homily, Fr. Daniel Nolan, a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, encouraged people not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He repeated right-wing conspiracy theories in claiming that the global political and public health responses to the pandemic prefigured a movement toward a one-world government.<br>
slide14. Students for Life of America A national anti-abortion nonprofit led by a Catholic laywoman, Kristan Hawkins
Received $55,000 to support its program for expectant and young mothers on college campuses.
SFLA has been an effective organization in training, recruiting and mobilizing young people to march and lobby against abortion
Hawkins’ national profile has been growing. She was quoted in recent national newspapers where she spoke of laying the groundwork to pass a national abortion ban through Congress.<br>
slide15. Arguments Pro and Con, the Catholic Church Receiving Dark Money Pro
Money goes to some good causes, repairing church facilities, supporting ministries, evangelizing the culture
Receiving the money does not equate agreeing with everything the donor stands for
Catholic organizations often work with groups to achieve goals even when they don’t agree on issues of morality
Con
Risks compromising the church’s integrity and witness
Rewards overtly political and ideological ideas and actions, increases the likelihood of polarization and rupturing communion
Presents a financial incentive for bishops, priests and laity to behave in a certain way and espouse positions that conflict with Catholic Social Teaching<br>
slide2. Dark Money and Donor-Advised Funds “Dark money"
Term used to refer to political spending by nonprofit organizations that are not legally required to disclose their donors.
Donor-Advised Funds
Receive funds from outside groups, and uses those funds to make contributions to recognized charities.
People who donate to donor-advised funds can recommend where their money goes, but the funds themselves have final say over how the money is allocated.
The donors get a larger tax write-off than they would giving to other charities or foundations.
Donors get to be anonymous<br>
slide3. Donors Trust Founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors,"
Has raised close to $1 billion and doled out hundreds of million of dollars to more than 1,000 conservative and libertarian groups
Has been called the “Dark Money ATM” of the political right
In 2020, Donors Trust doled out more than $182 million in grants
Most donors are anonymous
Tax documents show that charities and foundations bankrolled by major conservative benefactors like the Koch, Devos, and Mercer families have given tens of millions of dollars to the organization in recent years.
Has hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofits that lobby against labor union protections, climate change mitigation policies, economic regulations, voting rights and immigration reform.<br>
slide4. Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society In 2020, Donors Trust handed $20 million in donations to Leonard Leo’s 85 Fund
The 85 Fund; part of Leo’s extensive network of organizations that seek to influence policy, the president’s picks for the judiciary and the larger conservative movement.
Leo was a key outside advisor for Donald Trump when the then-president chose Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett for slots on the Supreme Court.
Leo is also on the board of directors for Napa Legal, an initiative affiliated with Tim Busch’s Napa Institute<br>
slide5. Donors Trust Funding to Conservative Organizations A who’s who of conservative organizations:
Tea Party Patriots Foundation
Turning Point USA
American Enterprise Institute
the Federalist Society
the Second Amendment Foundation
the Cato Institute
Heritage Foundation
NRA’s Freedom Action Foundation
Americans for Tax Reform, led by Grover Norquist
Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which was chaired by the late David Koch (1940-2019)<br>
slide6. Far-Right Organizations Funded by Donors Trust V-Dare
A far-right website that opposes immigration
Associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, Neo-Nazism and the alt-right
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes VDARE as "an anti-immigration hate website" which "regularly publishes articles by prominent white nationalists, race scientists and anti-Semites.”
Received $75,000 from Donors Trust in 2020<br>
slide7. Far-Right Organizations Funded by Donors Trust New Century Foundation
A white supremacist organization founded in 1994, primarily for publishing a magazine, American Renaissance, which promotes white supremacy.
On June 29, 2020, American Renaissance's YouTube channel and AmRen Podcasts were banned from YouTube for violations of hate speech guidelines
Received $600,000 in 2020 from Donors Trust<br>
slide8. January 6, 2021 Connections Tea Party Patriots
Was among 11 groups listed on the website of the "March to Save America", the pro-Trump rally on the Ellipse near the White House that led to the storming of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Received $250,000 in 2020 from Donors Trust
Turning Point USA
Claimed to have Helped transport busloads of Donald Trump supporters to the January 6 rally and participated in the "March to Save America" ahead of the event.
Received $580,300 in 2020 from Donors Trust
SPLC and ADL have documented the group’s links to extremists and white supremacists<br>
slide9. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds Diocese of Spokane
Received $10,000 for its annual Catholic appeal
$500 to support a local Catholic school.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane was given $15,000 for general operations.
The diocese is lead by Bishop Thomas Daly, hardline conservative, has spoken out against Black Lives Matter and criticized Gonzaga University for establishing an LGBTQ rights clinic in 2020. Daly was one of the few prelates who came to the defense of Archbishop Jose Gomez when Gomez attacked modern social justice movements as Marxist-inspired, anti-Christian “pseudo-religions.”<br>
slide10. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The Thomas More Society, an Illinois-based public interest law firm
Received $1 million for general operations
Received $1 million for its "Amistad Project," an election integrity initiative that sought to overturn the presidential election results in swing states that Donald Trump lost in November 2020.
Amistad Project is still active, raising questions about election integrity in swing states
A general counsel for the Thomas More Society and a member of the Amistad Project is Jenna Ellis, a Trump lawyer who spread falsehoods about a “stolen election”
“We are excited to have the Amistad Project as a partner in the fight to ensure the integrity of our elections,” - Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor and lead attorney for Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
In 2020, the website for the Amistad Project featured a list of partner organizations that spread misinformation about Covid-19 and that pushed for the election of two Republican senate candidates in Georgia.<br>
slide11. Catholic-affiliated Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The Catholic Association Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based conservative nonprofit
received a little more than $5.5 million for "general operations." In 2019, the Catholic Association reported $6.3 million in total revenue, all from contributions.
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a Michigan-based free-market economic think tank founded by Fr. Robert Sirico
received a little more than $1 million.
Donors Trust also donated $12,900 to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sirico is the church's pastor emeritus.
Becket Fund (received $448,500 for general operations)
Washington-based law firm that represented Catholic organizations that challenged the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate in employee health insurance plans during the Obama years<br>
slide12. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The San Francisco Archdiocese's Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship
Received $150,000 for general operations, and $500 for "sacred music and divine worship."
The institute was founded by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone
Cordileone has pushed to deny communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians, barred Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco
Cordileone has touted conservative causes and spread misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine in an interview where he said he was not vaccinated<br>
slide13. Catholic Recipients of Donors Trust Funds The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Traditionalist group whose members celebrate the Latin Mass and sacraments in the old rite
Received $20,000 to educate seminarians.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, a Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter parish in Littleton, Colorado, was given $58,000 for various expenses and ministries.
In a Dec. 2020 homily, Fr. Daniel Nolan, a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, encouraged people not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He repeated right-wing conspiracy theories in claiming that the global political and public health responses to the pandemic prefigured a movement toward a one-world government.<br>
slide14. Students for Life of America A national anti-abortion nonprofit led by a Catholic laywoman, Kristan Hawkins
Received $55,000 to support its program for expectant and young mothers on college campuses.
SFLA has been an effective organization in training, recruiting and mobilizing young people to march and lobby against abortion
Hawkins’ national profile has been growing. She was quoted in recent national newspapers where she spoke of laying the groundwork to pass a national abortion ban through Congress.<br>
slide15. Arguments Pro and Con, the Catholic Church Receiving Dark Money Pro
Money goes to some good causes, repairing church facilities, supporting ministries, evangelizing the culture
Receiving the money does not equate agreeing with everything the donor stands for
Catholic organizations often work with groups to achieve goals even when they don’t agree on issues of morality
Con
Risks compromising the church’s integrity and witness
Rewards overtly political and ideological ideas and actions, increases the likelihood of polarization and rupturing communion
Presents a financial incentive for bishops, priests and laity to behave in a certain way and espouse positions that conflict with Catholic Social Teaching<br>