Pro-Dem Influencers Receiving ‘Dark Money’ From Group Bill Gates Recently Cut Ties With - Reports

A new report from WIRED (Left bias) has alleged that several prominent pro-Democratic influencers are receiving funds from an entity managed by Arabella Advisors. A day prior, The New York Times (Lean Left) reported that in June, the Gates Foundation stopped making donations to nonprofits managed by Arabella.

WIRED Report: For WIRED, independent journalist Taylor Lorenz reported that the nonprofit Chorus offered many influencers $8,000 monthly to join a program that aimed to “build new infrastructure to fund independent progressive voices online at scale.” Under the terms, influencers would not be allowed to support political campaigns without Chorus’ approval and could not disclose Chorus as a source of funds. Chorus also reportedly reserved the right to remove influencers’ posts at its sole discretion. Lorenz reported that the program began in July and over 90 influencers were set to take part. Influencers reached out to by Chorus included David Pakman, Olivia Julianna, and Loren Piretra, among others.

For Context: Chorus is funded by the liberal nonprofit Sixteen Thirty Fund. Sixteen Thirty is managed by Arabella Advisors, a for-profit consulting firm that also manages the nonprofit New Venture Fund. NYT wrote that “much of Arabella’s work happens through” New Venture.

NYT Report: NYT reported that in June, Bill Gates’ Gates Foundation stopped “making grants to nonprofit funds administered by the consulting firm Arabella Advisors.” Reportedly, New Venture has donated to Sixteen Thirty, which has donated $97 million to pro-Democratic PACs since 2016. Last year, only 2% of New Venture’s funds came from Gates, though the organization called him an “important partner since the beginning.”

How The Media Covered It: NYT focused much of its coverage on President Trump being back in the White House and that Gates or Arabella clients could be targeted politically by his administration. An opinion from Tyler O’Neil for The Daily Signal (Right) didn’t mention NYT’s report but focused on Lorenz’s. O’Neil concluded, “I am grateful to Taylor Lorenz for exposing this move, and I hope many left-wing influencers notice it for what it is. For far too long, the Left has acted as though the only ‘dark money’ activism is on the Right.” Across the spectrum, O’Neil, Lorenz, and Emily Jashinsky of UnHerd (Center) framed the developments surrounding Arabella as highlighting the current political struggles of the Democratic Party.

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