Allied Progress Action is a left-leaning advocacy group operated under the auspices of the “dark money” Sixteen Thirty Fund, a lobbying organization under the umbrella of the liberal philanthropic consultancy Arabella Advisors. ¹² Founded in 2015, Allied Progress Action specializes in aggressive campaigns to elicit support for greater oversight of Wall Street and opposition to Trump administration nominees. ³

It is a sister organization to Allied Progress, which sits in the Arabella network under the umbrella of the New Venture Fund.

Funding

Allied Progress Action is a project of the left-leaning advocacy group Sixteen Thirty Fund. ⁴⁵ Critics contend that the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and the other funds managed by Arabella Advisors, operate as “dark money” because its projects do not disclose the standard tax returns made by independent nonprofit organizations, instead having Sixteen Thirty Fund report all project spending on a single return. ⁶

Its website does not list any funding sources. ⁷

Activities

Allied Progress Action is one of at least 45 groups which do or have operated under the Sixteen Thirty Fund umbrella. ⁸⁹

Allied Progress Action sought to halt the Trump administration’s initial nominees to oversee the financial industry. As of September 23, 2019, its website highlighted the administration’s early 2017 potential nominees. ¹⁰ Allied Progress Action has prominently run a number of television ads against Trump nominees. ¹¹

The group launched a campaign in 2017 to stop Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s nomination. ¹² The main thrust of the campaign was a video highlighting how Mnuchin’s former company OneWest foreclosed on a widow’s property. ¹³ OneWest was accused of lying to the woman and her deceased husband, though the New York Post reported that the claims are unproven. ¹⁴

Founded in 2009, OneWest bought out a number of companies in financial distress and foreclosed on thousands of homes. In 2012, then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) declined to prosecute OneWest for alleged legal violations, saying on the 2020 presidential trail that laws protected OneWest from proper oversight by her office. ¹⁵ Mnuchin denied any legal wrongdoing.

Leadership

No staff is listed on Allied Progress Action’s website. Eric Kessler is president of the Sixteen Thirty Fund and founder of Arabella Advisors. ¹⁶¹⁷

1. Capital Research Center Staff, “CRC special report unveils vast ‘Dark Money’ network on the Left,” April 2017, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/crc-exposes-left-wing-dark-money/
2. Hayden Ludwig, “Big money in dark shadows: Arabella Advisors’ half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ network,” April 17, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
3. Allied Progress, “Arizona can stop Trump’s nominee for Treasury with your help,” April 17, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://alliedprogress.org/opposemnuchinadsaz/
4. Sixteen Thirty Fund, “About Us,” Accessed October 4, 2019. https://www.sixteenthirtyfund.org/about-us/
5. Hayden Ludwig, “Big money in dark shadows: Arabella Advisors’ half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ network,” April 17, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
6. Hayden Ludwig, “Big money in dark shadows: Arabella Advisors’ half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ network,” April 17, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
7. Allied Progress Action, Accessed October 4, 2019. https://cfpbdirectorwatch.org/
8. Scott Bland, “Liberal secret-money network hammers House GOP,” July 29, 2018. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/29/democrats-dark-money-midterms-house-745145
9. [1] Joe Schoffstall, “’Pro-consumer’ group attacking Mulvaney tied to liberal dark money org,” May 3, 2018. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/politics/pro-consumer-group-attacking-mulvaney-tied-liberal-dark-money-org/
10. Allied Progress Action, Accessed October 4, 2019.

    https://cfpbdirectorwatch.org/

11. Lachlan Markay, “Left-wing front groups make anti-Trump money untraceable,” February 22, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/issues/left-wing-front-groups-make-anti-trump-money-untraceable/
12. Elena Schneider, “Politico’s Morning Score: PCCC, Allied Progress, others expand ad buy targeting Mnuchin,” January 25, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://alliedprogress.org/news/politicos-morning-score-pccc-allied-progress-others-expand-ad-buy-targeting-mnuchin/
13. YouTube, Allied Progress, “MSNBC’s Maddow calls ad featuring Mnuchin victim ‘Really Powerful,’” January 26, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNOEHDkqeRQ
14. Kevin Dugan, “Attack ad allegedly depicts widow ‘kicked out’ by Mnuchin’s bank,” January 18, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://nypost.com/2017/01/18/attack-ad-allegedly-depicts-widow-kicked-out-by-mnuchins-bank/
15. Joe Garofoli and Tal Kopan, “Kamala Harris’ mortgage meltdown record under scrutiny as campaign heats up,” April 1, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2019.

    https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Kamala-Harris-mortgage-meltdown-record-under-13730708.php?psid=ojrGb

16. Scott Bland, “Liberal secret-money network hammers House GOP,” July 29, 2018. Accessed October 4, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/29/democrats-dark-money-midterms-house-745145
17. Arabella Advisors, Eric Kessler, Accessed October 4, 2019. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/directory/eric-kessler/