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Monitoring Influence

Website:

www.monitoringinfluence.org
Type:

Online research website
Formation:

2022
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 contains profiles of conservative and right-of-center activists, organizations, and funders in a format similar to the online project InfluenceWatch.org. 1

Several profiles on the website have accused mainstream conservative groups of trying to “stack the courts” with “like-minded ideologues” expressing “ultraconservative . . . legal theories” that “contradict popular opinion.” Other profiles have accused right-of-center groups of promoting “voter intimidation and suppression” as well as “disinformation about mail-in voting.” 2 Monitoring Influence regularly cites biased and partisan sources such as the Brennan Center and Media Matters for America in support of its attacks. 3

Monitoring Influence is a project of Accountable.US, a left-of-center advocacy group that was allegedly involved in prior campaigns to blacklist former staffers of the First Trump Administration seeking private sector jobs. In addition, the organization was allegedly involved in campaigns that advocated against oil and natural gas as well as inhibiting political spending by conservative groups. 1 4

Accountable.US is a former project of New Venture Fund, one of several nonprofit organizations managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. According to their respective 2023 990 forms, the network of Arabella-managed nonprofits reported over $1.2 billion in combined revenue. 5 6 7 8 9

When Monitoring Influence first went online, visitors to the website that signed up for email subscriptions were allegedly 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.” 10 11

By 2021, Monitoring Influence had not made posts or comments showing information about New Venture Fund or Arabella Advisors. Its parent, Accountable.US, had 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. 12

Accountable.US

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

Accountable.US describes itself as a “nonpartisan organization.” 13 (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. 14

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 15

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)

When Monitoring Influence first went online, those who visited the website and subscribed to receive email updates were allegedly 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.” 10 11 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.” 16 17

NGP VAN’s fundraisers and strategists have previously worked with Democratic Party-affiliated 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. 18 Other NGP VAN-supported organizations include Black Lives Matter, EMILY’s List, Run for Something PAC, and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. 19 20 21 22

Funding

As 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. 23

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. 23

Errors and Criticism

Monitoring Influence does not provide contact information for correcting errors or mistakes on its website. Its profiles do not contain endnotes nor footnotes but has 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. 3

For example, by 2022 in its profile of conservative attorney and legal analyst Leonard Leo, who previously led the Federalist Society, the website falsely claimed 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. 24

References

  1. “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/
  2. Monitoring Influence profiles: Judicial Crisis Network, Federalist Society, True the Vote. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022.
  3. See Monitoring Influence profiles on Conservative Partnership Institute, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
  4. 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
  5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). New Venture Fund. 2023. Part I.
  6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Sixteen Thirty Fund. 2023. Part I.
  7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Hopewell Fund. 2023. Part I.
  8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Windward Fund. 2023. Part I.
  9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). North Fund. 2023 Part I.
  10. “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/.
  11. 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.
  12. 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] 

  13. “About.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://accountable.us/about/
  14. “Methodology.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://www.americandemocracyscorecard.org/methodology/
  15. “Inclusivity.” Accountable.US. Accessed Dec. 1, 2022. https://accountable.us/about/inclusivity-statement/
  16. 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
  17. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted 24, 2020. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/NGPVAN/status/1506686941953150981?cxt=HHwWisCyrc_y6egpAAAA.
  18. NGP VAN.” Democratic Municipal Officials. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://nationaldmo.org/about/advisoryboard/ngpvan/
  19. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted June 22, 2020. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/ngpvan/status/1275100826659414043?s=21.
  20. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted September 13, 2021. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/ngpvan/status/1437470128728420355?s=21.
  21. “DLCC Go.” NGP VAN. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://act.ngpvan.com/dlcc-go.
  22. “Run for Something.” NGP VAN. Accessed Dec. 2, 2022. https://go.ngpvan.com/ngp-run-for-something.html.
  23. Return of Organization from Income Tax (Form 990). New Venture Fund. 2019-2021. Schedule I
  24. 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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