Person
Hansjörg Wyss
Swiss businessman; funder of the Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund.
A foreign national, so barred from giving to U.S. candidates or political committees. The AP reports on money routed from him through Berger Action Fund.
Connections 1
funded
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Berger Action Fund
Scholarship & press
1
The AP says the commissioners are of the Federal Election Commission; the complaint named groups tied to Wyss.
Proof 1 source
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Group steers Swiss billionaire’s money to liberal causes, The Associated Press, 4 Apr 2023.
Scholarship & press
The Berger Action Fund is a nondescript name for a group with a rather specific purpose: steering the wealth of Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire, into the world of American politics and policy.
In 2007, he expanded his giving, creating the Berger Action Fund, which has donated $339 million to left-leaning nonprofits since 2016, records show.
Of the $72.7 million donated in 2021 by Wyss' Berger Action Fund, $62.7 million went to two groups that were focused on building public support for Biden's agenda, according to tax documents and a statement from the group.
As a foreign national, Wyss is prohibited from donating to candidates or political committees.
Representatives for Wyss insist they comply with laws governing the giving of foreign nationals and have put in place strict policies limiting the use of donations to “issue advocacy” — not partisan electoral activities.
The commissioners ultimately rejected the complaint, though two of them pledged greater scrutiny of such groups.
Page history 1 change
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