On Wednesday, Republicans on the House Administration Committee are holding one last bogus hearing on “American Confidence in Elections” pushing misinformation and conspiracy theories about voting and to attack Democratic politicians and groups for engaging in “foreign interference” in our elections.
WITNESSES
Caitlin Sutherland
Executive Director, Americans for Public Trust (APT)
Caitlin Sutherland, Who Has Deep Ties To The Republican Party And MAGA Dark Money Groups, Is Making Her Second Appearance In Front Of This Committee This Year. Before becoming the founding Executive Director of Americans for Public Trust in 2019 Caitlin Sutherland worked as Research Director for National Republican Congressional Committee. Sutherland also previously worked for Karl Rove’s group American Crossroads. Directors of Americans for Public Trust include Leelle Slifer, a corporate attorney and director at the Lenoard Leo-helmed Teneo Network, Annie Talley, a former Trump White House staffer, and former Republican member of Congress Mimi Walters. APT’s treasurer Caleb Crosby also serves as the treasurer for numerous pro-Trump and Republican PACs and nonprofits, including the Senate Majority Fund and American Crossroads. Sutherland has already testified about “foreign interference” in elections once this year, appearing at a May 2024 House Administration Committee hearing on this issue and accusing Democratic-affiliated groups of receiving funding from foreign entities.
Americans for Public Trust Is Part Of Leonard Leo’s Dark Money Network. APT is tightly linked to conservative legal activist Leonard Leo. DonorsTrust, a shadowy fundraising operation dominated by Leo, has been the primary funder of APT since its founding, contributing nearly all of the group’s $1.6 million in revenue in 2022. APT also received funding from The Legacy Foundation, another Leo-backed organization. At the same time, APT pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to Leo’s consulting firm, CRC Advisors, each year for “research” and other consulting services.
Adam Laxalt, A Leader Of Donald Trump’s Efforts To Overturn The 2020 Election In Nevada, Is The Former Outside Counsel For Americans for Public Trust. Adam Laxalt is the former outside counsel for APT. Laxalt is the former Attorney General of the State of Nevada and a failed candidate for Senate in 2022. Laxalt served as the Trump campaign’s Nevada Chair and spearheaded efforts to overturn the election for Trump in 2020. The Las Vegas Sun dubbed Laxalt the “Nevada version of Rudy Giuliani.” APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland has also recently testified at a Committee on House Administration hearing on election integrity and foreign influence on elections.
Americans for Public Trust Files Reams Of Frivolous Ethics Complaints Targeting Democrats And Progressive Organizations. APT files a flood of ethics complaints using legal and public records channels almost exclusively targeting Democrats and left-leaning organizations. Many of these complaints are dismissed due to a lack of findings. Targets of APT’s complaints include Arabella Advisors founder Eric Kessler, who APT has accused of abusing tax-exempt status to steer fees to his consulting firm. APT has filed ethics complaints against several Democratic members of Congress including Rep. Steven Horsford, Rep. Lucy McBath, Sen. Jon Tester, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. APT was also part of a right wing coalition that sought to defeat Joe Biden’s cabinet nominations in 2021.
Americans for Public Trust Has Been The Subject Of Legal Complaints For Violating Its Tax-Exempt Status To “Advance Republican Causes” And Illegally Soliciting Donations. APT has been the subject of at least two legal complaints for allegedly violating its tax-exempt status and illegally soliciting donations: In 2021, APT ran a $1 million ad campaign against the Biden administration that prompted an IRS complaint by End Citizens United alleging that APT was violating its non-profit status to “advance Republican causes.” In 2022, Campaign for Accountability filed another complaint against APT in Virginia for soliciting donations illegally while failing to register with the state’s charitable organization database.
Bradley Bowman
CMPP Senior Director, Foundation for Defense Democracies (FDD)
Bowman Is A Longtime Senate Republican Staffer. Bowman has nearly a decade of experience serving as a top GOP staffer for Republican Senators. According to his bio, he spent six years as the top defense advisor to Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) as well as around three years as a national security advisor to Senator Todd Young (R-IN) – both holding important foreign policy committee assignments at the time.
Bowman Is A Repeat GOP Witness and Right-Wing Media Figure. Not only has Bowman already testified as a GOP witness to Congress before, including during a hearing on foreign arms sales in 2020, but he also has been featured prominently in right-wing media. Since 2020, he has written op-eds published in the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, taken interviews with Newsmax, and appeared numerous times on right-wing news (primarily the Christian Broadcasting Network) to discuss foreign policy issues.
Bowman Is A Senior Figure At the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Which Is Led By Prominent Republicans and Former Trump Officials. The FDD was founded by former Republican National Committee communications director Clifford May, a Bush-era appointee who was named “one of the most influential conservatives in America” shortly after the FDD was founded. Former Trump officials also serve on the board of advisors for the FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power – including former Trump National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster as chair as well as former Trump appointees Samantha Ravich and John Hannah. Bowman’s former boss, former GOP Senator and New Hampshire Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte, previously served on the board.
- The FDD Championed The First Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy Plans. The FDD supported the first Trump administration’s foreign policy agenda, championing his decision to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, a deal which prevented Iran from advancing nuclear weapons research. As Slate reported, FDD officials testified 17 times before Congress to oppose the JCPOA and took on at least 35 media interviews to call for withdrawal from the JCOPA.
Matthew O’Neill
Co-Founder/Partner, 5OH Consulting
O’Neill Is A Former Secret Service Agent and Cybercrime Consultant. O’Neill is the co-founder of 5OH Consulting, which he helped launch after leaving a 25+ year career in the U.S. Secret Service. He started off as an agent, then served in former Vice President Dick Cheney’s detail before moving to a career in cybersecurity. He launched the U.S. Secret Service’s Global Investigative Operations Center, seizing billions of dollars in illegally trafficked proceeds, and he spent years working to target transnational organized crime groups.