Dark Money, Disinformation and Nevada Democrats

Two recent articles have exposed the vast amount of dark money and disinformation fueling Nevada Democrats, their campaigns, and their progressive news outlets for years.

This week, the Nevada Independent reported how the Hopewell Fund is a major, dark money funding source for progressive initiatives throughout Nevada. In 2018, KNPR covered how the Hopewell Fund bankrolls the Nevada Current as a part of their ”social-change” projects delivered through a progressive political lens.

Hopewell Fund also aligns with Nevada News Now, Silver State Sentinel and Health Care Voters of Nevada. The donors to the Hopewell Fund have not and cannot be disclosed, but the chart below clearly shows that they are connected to a network of nonprofits affiliated with left-wing billionaire and donor George Soros and his multimillion dollar funding of propaganda media network Courier Newsroom.

This chart from OpenSecrets also shows how they’re linked:

Yesterday, The Washington Free Beacon expanded their investigation into Courier Newsroom and its tentacles in Nevada and the Democratic party:

The George Soros-funded Democratic propaganda network Courier Newsroom has been ramping up in Nevada, spending big money on misleading digital ads disguised as news stories claiming, among other things, that former president Donald Trump would bring back a military draft.

Courier in 2023 added The Nevadan to its roster of local “news” websites that push Democratic talking points. Courier’s founder, the Democratic operative Tara McGowan, says the network’s goal is to combat disinformation, but The Nevadan has inundated voters in the swing state since June with deceptive Facebook advertisements attacking Republicans and propping up Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D., Nev.).

McGowan, Courier’s founder, said as much in a leaked internal 2019 memo saying the network’s goal was to “reach, persuade, and mobilize” Democratic voters through targeted digital ads promoting its content.

The Nevadan has also run Facebook ads propping up Rosen, who faces a tight reelection race against her Republican challenger, Army veteran Sam Brown, praising her decision to sign onto legislation to exempt tips from taxes. The outlet did not mention in its coverage that Rosen’s campaign had initially denounced the proposal when Trump unveiled it at a June 9 rally in Las Vegas.

Since 2020, Courier has spent millions of dollars on Facebook ads promoting its “coverage” of vulnerable Democrats, all the while avoiding financial disclosure typically required of political committees. The Federal Election Committee ruled in 2022 that Courier was exempt from disclosure because it qualified as a news organization.

Courier’s new parent company, Good Information Inc., was launched in 2021 with seed funding from Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, a former associate of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Soros, the liberal billionaire financier, has also contributed $20 million to Courier through his Open Society Foundations since 2021.

“Our goal is to stop saying that we’re the first,” @EricaMosca14 told The Nevadan. “None of us want to be the first … we want to open the door so that now, it’s just part of the regular norm.” @nvassemblydems #NVLeg https://t.co/HI7gz2i1xR

— Steve Yeager (@SteveYeagerNV) March 13, 2024

The Nevada Independent also uncovered that the headquarters of numerous democrats, including the Democratic Assembly Caucus, share an address with Nevada Alliance. In the last three years, Nevada Alliance’s major funders are the Hopewell Foundation, The Tides Foundation, Sixteen Thirty Fund and Strategic Victory Fund, a PAC started by Soros’ Democracy Alliance on order to defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

The report notes:

Nevada Alliance generated about $13.8 million in revenue from 2018 through 2022, almost all of which came from the nearly $12 million it accrued in 2022, which is the last year of publicly available forms.

In 2022, the secretary-treasurer of the group was Kelli Despain, who owns Bottega Exchange, an office space company in Las Vegas. Records show it is also the address for other key Democratic entities in the state, such as the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

The chair of the group was Yindra Dixon, who is the managing director of a political consulting group. Another listed board member was Kathleen Rozner, who previously worked for Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV).

In addition to these organizations, Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) lists the address of Bottega Exchange on her campaign finance forms, paying them $400 a month for office space. In 2023, the Assembly Democratic Caucus was paying Bottega Exchange $150 a month for office space.

Calling it like it is: “Lombardo tries to pin housing woes on Biden after vetoing bills and naming ex-housing lobbyist as chief of staff – The Nevadan” https://t.co/Vzl4NK5GpK

— Sandra Jauregui (@sandra4nv) March 21, 2024

According to the FEC, “An in-kind contribution is a non-monetary contribution. Goods or services offered free or at less than the usual charge result in an in-kind contribution. Similarly, when a person or entity pays for services on the committee’s behalf, the payment is an in-kind contribution.”

Is slanted news coverage and quid-pro-quo business relationships, designed specifically to elect Democrats, not an “in-kind” donation to Nevada Democrats and their causes?

That’s a question for the Biden-Harris’ IRS to decide, however, those who scream the loudest about inequality, may want to move their office space to a neutral location–one that charges rental rates that average businesses are subjected to–in order to “even the playing field” and “pay their fair share.” Democratic candidates knowingly promoting a fake news organization to deceive voters and win elections have now been exposed. It will be up to the voters to decide in November whether or not their methods are ethical, reputable, and worthy of reelection.