For more information, see American Bridge 21st Century (Super PAC)

American Bridge 21st Century Foundation is the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of American Bridge 21st Century, a PAC created by Democratic Party operative David Brock to attack Republican politicians.

American Bridge 21st Century Foundation is a major donor to its PAC counterpart, donating roughly $5.9 million in 2017-2018 to it (as of October 2018).¹

Background

From its inception, David Brock intended American Bridge to play a large role and sought the money to back up his plan.

In a New York Times article about the American Bridge’s founding, Brock boasted of his ability to raise substantial amounts of money from wealthy donors. Said Brock, “My donor base already constitutes the major individual players who have historically given hundreds of millions of dollars to these types of efforts.”²

American Bridge’s early supporters included Rob McKay, chair of the Democracy Alliance, a fellow liberal organization, businessman Robert Dyson and television producer Marcia L. Carsey.³ Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, of Kennedy family fame and a former lieutenant governor in Maryland, served as the group’s first chair.⁴

People

Leadership

Jessica Mackler, a veteran Democratic campaign operative, serves as president of American Bridge 21st Century Foundation. Heavyweight politico Brad Woodhouse held the post for 17 months before leaving to head up Correct the Record, a Brock spin-off.

Board of Directors

American Bridge 21st Century Foundation’s 2016 board of directors consisted of Ted Trimpa, a Democratic strategist, consultant, and board member of the Democracy Alliance; Will Lippincott; David Bennahum; president Jessica Mackler; and Edward “Eddie” Vale, a Democratic campaign strategist and former vice president of American Bridge.

Function

American Bridge seeks to serve as something of a gaffe database, capturing political flubs and faux pas by Republican politicians on video. The group hired trackers to follow Republican candidates at the federal level and record their every word, handshake and everything in between. During the 2012 election cycle, American Bridge deployed trackers to 33 states.⁵ The group is crediting with finding the “legitimate rape” comments made by Missouri Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, which led to a media maelstrom. Akin went on to lose the contest.

In the arms race of political tech and marketing, American Bridge hopes to amass one of the largest video and audio databases in existence.

During the 2016 election cycle, American Bridge enjoyed a $17 million budget and employed “ some eighty-plus staffers.”⁶

On August 13, 2020, conservative nonprofit Patriots Foundation issued a lawsuit against the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC) for failing to act on a complaint it previously issued in April against political operative David Brock and four of his organizations. ⁷ The complaint read that David Brock had used Correct the Record as well as Media Maters, American Bridge 21st Century, and American Bridge 21st Century Foundation to illegally coordinate with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. ⁸

In its initial complaint issued in April 2020, Patriots Foundation argued there is no legal separation between the American Bridge Foundation and the American Bridge PAC with shared staff, office space, and equipment used. However, the American Bridge Foundation has stated that “the two entities have entered into a cost-sharing agreement to allocate shared overhead costs so that neither entity is financially supporting the activities of the other.” ⁹ In other statements, American Bridge claimed that neither organization has “a formal agreement relating to the allocation of expenses between the two entities” and “allocations were made based on management and budget estimates.” ¹⁰

1. “American Bridge 21st Century Foundation.” Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave2.php?sort=A&cmte=C00492140&cycle=2018&Page=2
2. Luo, Michael. “Effort for Liberal Balance to G.O.P. Groups Begins.” The New York Times. November 22, 2010. Accessed April 18, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/us/politics/23money.html.
3. Luo, Michael. “Effort for Liberal Balance to G.O.P. Groups Begins.” The New York Times. November 22, 2010. Accessed April 18, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/us/politics/23money.html.
4. Luo, Michael. “Effort for Liberal Balance to G.O.P. Groups Begins.” The New York Times. November 22, 2010. Accessed April 18, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/us/politics/23money.html.
5. Goldberg, Michelle. “How David Brock Built an Empire to Put Hillary in the White House.” The Nation. June 29, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2017. https://www.thenation.com/article/how-david-brock-built-empire-put-hillary-white-house/.
6. Goldberg, Michelle. “How David Brock Built an Empire to Put Hillary in the White House.” The Nation. June 29, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2017. https://www.thenation.com/article/how-david-brock-built-empire-put-hillary-white-house/.
7. Kerr, Andrew. “Conservative Group Sues FEC For Failing To Act On Allegations Against Media Matters.” The Daily Caller. August 14, 2020. https://dailycaller.com/2020/08/14/conservative-group-fec-lawsuit-media-matters-patriots-foundation-david-brock/
8. Hemingway, Mark. “Did Media Matters shill so hard for Hillary that it broke the law.” The Federalist. August 17, 2020. https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/17/did-media-matters-shill-so-hard-for-hillary-that-it-broke-the-law/
9. Hemingway, Mark. “Did Media Matters shill so hard for Hillary that it broke the law.” The Federalist. August 17, 2020. https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/17/did-media-matters-shill-so-hard-for-hillary-that-it-broke-the-law/
10. Hemingway, Mark. “Did Media Matters shill so hard for Hillary that it broke the law.” The Federalist. August 17, 2020. https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/17/did-media-matters-shill-so-hard-for-hillary-that-it-broke-the-law/