Who’s Funding AIPAC’s Political Spending Barrage?

Here are the tech industry founders, Republican megadonors and others funding AIPAC and its closely-tied allies this election cycle.

By Donald Shaw and David Moore
Global Research, May 15, 2024
Sludge 4 March 2024
Region:
Theme:

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

[This article was first published on Sludge in March.]

For decades after its founding in the 1950s, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, declined to spend money directly on elections.

But that has changed dramatically in recent years, and this year the group is planning to spend a massive amount of money to support pro-Israel candidates and defeat those who have questioned the Israeli military’s killing of more than 30,000 people in Gaza following the deadly October 7 Hamas attacks. Politico and other outlets have reported that it is prepared to spend $100 million on ads and other political advocacy efforts ahead of the November elections to defeat progressive Democratic candidates. 

Already, the group and its closely-tied allies and affiliates have spent about $30 million in the 2024 cycle, with the bulk of the spending coming from AIPAC PAC, which operates as a conduit for AIPAC supporters to earmark funds to candidates’ campaigns. AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), has been spending millions on a California Democratic primary recently and is sitting on nearly $42 million in cash. An allied super PAC called Democratic Majority for Israel PAC (DMFI PAC) has been spending on pro-President Biden text messages and has nearly $3 million on hand. DMFI PAC, which functioned as AIPAC’s primary outside spending operation until it founded its own super PAC in January 2022, is run by former AIPAC consultant Mark Mellman, and AIPAC has allowed its supporters to credit their contributions to DMFI towards their AIPAC contributions. The millions of dollars in outside spending unleashed by DMFI PAC in Democratic primaries in the 2022 cycle was widely seen as working in parallel with AIPAC’s electoral aims.

Sludge analyzed the groups’ Federal Election Commission filings to reveal the top donors to AIPAC and its closely-tied political spending groups so far this election cycle. The chart below totals money donated to AIPAC PAC, DMFI PAC, and UDP from January 1, 2023 through January 31, 2024.

Top Donors to AIPAC-Tied Political Groups

From January 1, 2023 through January 31, 2024.

 

Table: SLUDGE | Source: Federal Election Commission | Get the data | Created with Datawrapper

 

The largest donor has been Jan Koum, the billionaire founder of WhatsApp, and the largest donor to the pro-Nikki Haley super PAC SFA Fund. Koum donated a total of $5 million to UDP in September and October of last year. 

Click here to read the full article.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image is from HAIM ZACH/GPO
Articles by: Donald Shaw and David Moore

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]