Staff Reports
An unknown organization that advocates for progressive voters is covertly running an innovative "fellowship" program to fund Democratic congressional candidates between election cycles. A candidate training charity, the New Politics Leadership Academy, is affiliated with the advocacy group New Politics 527, which recruits and elects leaders who put community and nation first. According to Washington Examiner records, the Our American Future Foundation, a new foundation affiliated with Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias, has taken over the New Politics Leadership Academy scholarship.
Given the New Politics Leadership Academy's legal troubles for funding losing candidates, the Our American Future Foundation's oversight is critical. New Politics has been accused of violating charity status by tax experts, prompting at least one FEC complaint. The FEC rejected the complaint in 2022.
NEW: A secretive progressive group linked to Clinton lawyer Marc Elias is now overseeing a “fellowship” funneling thousands to repeat, failed Democratic congressional candidates to run in 2024, according to documents exclusively obtained by @dcexaminer https://t.co/f11Juk1ptK
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) January 24, 2024
According to New Politics spokesperson Gabe Ramos, the fellowship was not their main emphasis and that there were disputes between the leadership academy and the initial sponsor, AMPLI. The disagreement led Our American Future Foundation to sponsor. This behind-the-scenes movement reveals the contrasting perspectives of political groups partnering on initiatives and New Politics Leadership Academy's retreat, famous for its confusing 2019 fellowship that confused tax-exempt lawyers.
The fiscal sponsorship agreement offers 10 "nonpartisan" paid fellowships to candidates who "lost elections but intend to remain public advocates for mainstream American policies" or "have not yet run for federal office but are considering doing so in the future." Public advocacy for progressive concerns and voter turnout are the fellowship's goals.
AMPLI works with former Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos and Zinc Collective, a Democratic campaign assistance group, despite its low digital presence. Ramos suspected AMPLI and OAFF's inadequate information was purposeful.
Nonprofit specialist Paul Kamenar stressed the significance of openness and IRS compliance in this complex political scenario involving Democratic groups. The complicated financial and legal issues underlying the fellowship require continual inspection to ensure nonprofit organizations comply with requirements.
