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Monitoring Influence

Parent Organization: Accountable.US
Website:

www.monitoringinfluence.org
Formation:

2022
Type:

Anti-Conservative Research Website
Project of:

Accountable.US

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Not to be confused with InfluenceWatch.org

Monitoring Influence is a left-of-center website that curates profiles of conservative and right-leaning activists, organizations, and funders in imitation of InfluenceWatch.org.

These profiles accuse mainstream conservative groups of trying to “stack the courts” with “like-minded ideologues” expressing “ultraconservative . . . legal theories” that “contradict popular opinion.” Other profiles accuse center-right groups of promoting “voter intimidation and suppression” as well as “disinformation about mail-in voting.” 1 Monitoring Influence regularly cites biased and partisan sources such as the Brennan Center and Media Matters for America in support of its attacks.

Monitoring Influence is a project of Accountable.US, a left-wing agitation group involved in campaigns to blacklist former Trump administration staffers seeking private sector jobs, dramatically reduce oil and natural gas production, and limit free speech rights in order to gag conservative political spending. 2 3

Accountable.US itself is a former project of New Venture Fund, one of the most powerful advocacy, pass-through, and fiscal sponsorship nonprofits on the political Left. New Venture Fund is the largest member of a multi-billion-dollar nonprofit network run by the consulting firm Arabella Advisors in Washington, D.C. In 2021, this network reported nearly $1.6 billion in revenues and paid out $586 million in grants to other (largely left-of-center) nonprofits. 4

Visitors to Monitoring Influence who sign up for its emails are redirected to NGP VAN, a Democratic Party-aligned get-out-the-vote (GOTV) software company described as “nearly every Democratic campaign’s primary tool for voter engagement,” which suggests the website has partisan intent to turn out the vote for Democrats. 5 6

Notably, Monitoring Influence has not posted any information, investigative research, or criticism about New Venture Fund or Arabella Advisors. Its parent, Accountable.US, has no information on its incubator, New Venture Fund; its sole reference to Arabella Advisors is a 2021 quotation from the website SCOTUSBlog comparing the Federalist Society to Arabella Advisors. 7

Accountable.US

For more information, see Accountable.US and New Venture Fund

Accountable.US describes itself as a “nonpartisan organization.” 8 (The IRS requires all tax-exempt 501(c) nonprofits to be officially nonpartisan in order to maintain their tax exempt status.) However, the organization promotes center- to far-left ideological policies and goals that criticize private companies such as Allstate, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor, and Kroger for failing to promote the Left’s preferred policies. Criteria includes support for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activism; H.R. 4 (the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act”), which aimed to federalize elections and undo voter ID laws; and donations to Republican members of Congress who objected to certifying election results from problematic states in the 2020 election. 9

According to its website, Accountable.US “incorporat[s] a lens of intersectionality into our anti-corruption research and communications work to highlight inequities and injustices and spur change that will create a more equitable and just society.” The organization also 10

acknowledge[s] the systemic oppression embedded in American society’s fabric, which can manifest as microaggressions, prejudice, discrimination, and/or violence against racial, gender, class, sexual, and other identities on both an interpersonal and political level.

. . . To that end, we strive to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) into all aspects of our work to help us achieve our organizational mission, expand our reach, and deepen our impact.

Ties to NGP VAN

Also see NGP VAN (For-Profit)

Visitors to Monitoring Influence who subscribe to its email updates are redirected to a sign-up page hosted by NGP VAN, a Democratic Party-aligned get-out-the-vote (GOTV) software company that has been described as “nearly every Democratic campaign’s primary tool for voter engagement.” 11 12 The company is a subsidiary of EveryAction, a “Salesforce-like platform for liberal campaigns and causes” that tracks voter contact, phone calls, e-mails, and online donations through its online services. In 2020, Bloomberg described EveryAction and its subsidiaries as “the digital machine [Democrats] need to keep winning.” 13 14

NGP VAN’s fundraisers and strategists have worked with numerous Democratic Party political campaigns, including those of President Barack Obama (D) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), to support “progressive” positions on controversial issues ranging from abortion to global warming. 15 Other NGP VAN-supported organizations include Black Lives Matter, the radical pro-abortion group EMILY’s List, the partisan PAC Run for Something, and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. 16 17 18 19

Funding

Because Monitoring Influence is a project of Accountable.US, it does not file Form 990 disclosures with the IRS or publicly report its donors, budget, or board of directors. Instead, it operates under Accountable.US’s 501(c)(3) tax exemption.

Between 2019 and 2021, Accountable.US received $8,807,891 from New Venture Fund, which incubated Accountable.US before it spun off as an independent nonprofit in 2020. 20 It’s unclear how much of this money funded Monitoring Influence, which does not maintain profiles on New Venture Fund, Arabella Advisors, or Accountable.US. However, it’s very likely that the $8.8 million originated with a number of unknown left-of-center donors or foundations using New Venture Fund as a pass-through funder to anonymously support Accountable.US.

Errors and Criticism

Monitoring Influence does not provide contact information for correcting errors, mistakes, and falsehoods on its website. Its profiles do not contain end- or footnotes and cite controversial, partisan, and biased sources including Media Matters for America, DeSmogBlog, the Brennan Center, Vox, and the Arizona Mirror, the latter a part of the “progressive” news sites run by the former Arabella-run group States Newsroom. 21

In its profile of Leonard Leo, an attorney and prominent conservative legal activist who formerly led the Federalist Society, Monitoring Influence wrongly claims the election fraud documentary Rigged (2022) was produced “by the Capital Research Center.” In fact, Rigged was produced by Citizens United, a center-right advocacy group that works on election integrity issues. 22

References

  1. Monitoring Influence profiles: Judicial Crisis Network, Federalist Society, True the Vote. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022.
  2. “Power and Influence, Energy and the Environment.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://accountable.us/priorities/power-influence/. https://accountable.us/priorities/energy-and-the-environment/
  3. American Oversight, and Accountable.US. Letter to To Whom It May Concern. “An Open Letter to America’s CEOs,” n.d. https://corporatecomplicity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20210120-FINAL-CACC-Open-Letter.pdf
  4. For more information, see https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/arabella-advisors/#network-financial-overview
  5. “Voter Targeted Digital Ads Now at Fingertips of Thousands of Democratic Campaigns.” DSPolitical. September 15, 2016. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://www.dspolitical.com/press-releases/voter-targeted-digital-ads-now-fingertips-thousands-democratic-campaigns/.
  6. Coulombe, Amanda. “3 Ways NGP VAN is Investing, Innovating, and Evolving for 2022 and Beyond.” NGP VAN. March 16, 2022. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://www.ngpvan.com/blog/3-ways-ngp-van-investing-innovating-evolving/?utm_campaign=blog&utm_source=facebook,twitter&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=1647445109.
  7. Accountable.US Research on Trump Administration vs. Obama Administration OPM Appointees. March 2021. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://www.accountable.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-25-Accountable.US-Research-on-OPM-Political-To-Civil-Service-Conversions.pdf.

    See exact quotation:

    The Federalist Society Is A Conservative Group With Ties To “Every Conservative Supreme Court Justice,” Except For Chief Justice John Roberts. “Weathering the most scrutiny were two groups: the Federalist Society on the right, and the consulting firm Arabella Advisors on the left. Besides Chief Justice John Roberts, every conservative Supreme Court justice has ties to the Federalist Society (Roberts, through a spokesperson, denied any association when he was nominated to the court in 2005).” [SCOTUSBlog, 03/11/21] 

  8. “About.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://accountable.us/about/
  9. “Methodology.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://www.americandemocracyscorecard.org/methodology/
  10. “Inclusivity.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://accountable.us/about/inclusivity-statement/
  11. “Voter Targeted Digital Ads Now at Fingertips of Thousands of Democratic Campaigns.” DSPolitical. September 15, 2016. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://www.dspolitical.com/press-releases/voter-targeted-digital-ads-now-fingertips-thousands-democratic-campaigns/.
  12. Coulombe, Amanda. “3 Ways NGP VAN is Investing, Innovating, and Evolving for 2022 and Beyond.” NGP VAN. March 16, 2022. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://www.ngpvan.com/blog/3-ways-ngp-van-investing-innovating-evolving/?utm_campaign=blog&utm_source=facebook,twitter&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=1647445109.
  13. Green, Joshua. “Democrats Just Got the Digital Machine They Need to Keep Winning.” Blomberg. November 30, 2020. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-30/everyaction-and-mobilize-give-democrats-the-app-they-need-to-keep-winning
  14. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted 24, 2020. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/NGPVAN/status/1506686941953150981?cxt=HHwWisCyrc_y6egpAAAA.
  15. NGP VAN.” Democratic Municipal Officials. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://nationaldmo.org/about/advisoryboard/ngpvan/
  16. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted June 22, 2020. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/ngpvan/status/1275100826659414043?s=21.
  17. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted September 13, 2021. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/ngpvan/status/1437470128728420355?s=21.
  18. “DLCC Go.” NGP VAN. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://act.ngpvan.com/dlcc-go.
  19. “Run for Something.” NGP VAN. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://go.ngpvan.com/ngp-run-for-something.html.
  20. Return of Organization from Income Tax (Form 990). New Venture Fund. 2019-2021. Schedule I
  21. See Monitoring Influence profiles on Conservative Partnership Institute, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
  22. Monitoring Influence (A project of Accountable.US). Leonard Leo. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. Original URL: https://www.monitoringinfluence.org/org/leonard-leo/. Archived: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2022/12/monitoring-influence-leonard-leo-screencap.pdf
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