The American Independent Foundation (AIF) supports liberal investigative journalism to foster “increased public awareness of progressive issues.” ¹ AIF is part of a network of left-of-center media outlets managed by liberal activist David Brock. ²

AIF originated as the liberal website Blue Nation Review, which was renamed to “Shareblue” in 2016, then renamed to the “American Independent,” and finally became the “American Independent Foundation” in 2019.

Background

In 2015, liberal activist David Brock purchased liberal website Blue Nation Review, renaming it “Shareblue” in 2016. ³ Shareblue was developed as a left-of-center media outlet focused on electing Hillary Clinton and attacking then-candidate Donald Trump. ²

True Blue Media, an investment firm owned by Brock, acted as a holding company for Shareblue.

In 2019, Shareblue was renamed the American Independent, a left-of-center news platform published by True Blue Media, and funded primarily by the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation. The American Independent website claims the outlet is the preeminent digital platform for progressive news. ⁴

American Bridge 21st Century advocates for left-progressive policies and is the advocacy arm of the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, a Democratic research organization that works to spread negative news regarding Republican political figures. ⁵ In 2019 and 2020, American Bridge 21st Century was focused on electing Congressional and state Democrats and removing president Donald Trump. The American Bridge 21st Century website claims, “We find what Republicans are hiding and make sure voters hear about it.” ⁶

These organizations are part of a network of liberal media outlets managed by liberal activist David Brock. ⁷

The American Independent changed its name to the American Independent Foundation in 2019. ⁸

In 2021, in addition to the current American Independent Foundation website, the foundation had a website that was populated with posts dated June 2018 to November 2021 that attacked or criticized Republican actions and decisions. ⁹

As of April 2024, the American Independent Foundation had four state affiliates in Michigan, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All four states were highly competitive states in either the presidential election or U.S. Senate elections that year. ¹⁰

As of February 2026, the American Independent had five state affiliates on its website: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, and New Jersey. ¹¹

As of 2026, the American Independent Foundation owned American Independent’s website and employed the staff. The group’s affiliated social-welfare arm American Independent Media manages the website. ¹⁰

Operations

The American Independent Foundation operates nationally through its website, the American Independent. The articles which are published there are not directly critical or supportive of candidates, but they appear in a way to generate positive feelings among voters towards Democrats and negative voter feelings towards Republicans. ¹⁰

In addition to the website, the American Independent Foundation mails out newspapers in the states where it has affiliates. For example, in 2024 in Montana, the American Independent Foundation had the largest publication circulation in the state by a large amount, with 150,000 Montanans receiving its newspaper in the mail about once a month. ¹⁰

American Independent Foundation began to mail newspapers in 2021 when the group tested the effectiveness of newspapers on voters in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election. As of 2022, the group had mailed 3.2 million newspapers a month to readers selected because the group believed they were ideologically moderate or “progressive” women. ¹⁰

In 2023, the American Independent Foundation mailed three special edition newspapers to Wisconsin voters which it claims contributed to the 11 point victory by Justice ​​Janet Protasiewicz in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. ¹⁰

Affiliations With David Brock and Allies

In addition to David Brock being as a former chair of the group, the American Independent Foundation has numerous ties to Brock and his allies and groups. American Bridge co-founder Bradley Beychock is a former senior advisor to the American Independent Foundation and was the president of American Independent Media as of April 2024. ¹⁰

The fundraising company which works with the American Independent Foundation is the Bonner Group, which works with David Brock and his affiliated groups. ^{12 13}

The American Independent Foundation paid Berni Consulting $7,423,875 in 2024. Berni Consulting was owned by Ryan Berni, a former Biden administration official who co-founded Lafayette Advisors with Beychock and Ankit Desai, who was American Independent Foundation’s treasurer in August 2024. ^{12  14}

Financials

According to the American Independent Foundation’s 2024 tax return, the group had $58,642,994 in revenue, $52,360,305 in expenses, and $13,148,217 in net assets. ¹²

In 2024, the group gave a $11,190,000 grant to its affiliated 501(c)(4) American Independent Media, gave $11,000,000 to Democracy Matters, gave $10,100,000 to the Democracy Matters Foundation, and $1,000,000 to the Media Matters Action Network. ¹²

The 2019 tax return indicates that the American Independent Foundation received $467,000 from Media Matters for America. ¹⁵ MMfA is a progressive research and information center also founded by Brock. ¹⁶

In 2024, the American Independent Foundation received $3,330,000 from the Hopewell Fund, which is a part of the “dark money” network run by Arabella Advisors. ¹⁷

Leadership

David Brock was chair of the American Independent Foundation until 2018. Brock is a left-wing activist who leverages the media to highlight what he perceives as conservative misinformation. ¹⁸

David Bennahum is chair. ¹⁹ Bennahum was previously treasurer for the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation. ²⁰

As of 2024, Pilar Martinez is chief financial officer. ¹⁹ Martinez concurrently manages all finance and accounting operations for the American Independent Foundation, Media Matters for America, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). ²¹

As of 2024, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly was a board director of American Independent Foundation. He was elected to Congress as a Republican, later became an independent, and then switched to the Democratic Party. As of February 2026, Jolly was a Democratic candidate for governor of Florida. ¹²

As of 2024, Joe Conason was the president of the American Independent Foundation. He is a political journalist who at the time was also editor-in-chief of the National Memo news website. ²²

As of 2024, Dhanya Addanki was the executive editor. Her previous journalism focused on human rights and religion journalism. ²³

As of 2024, Josh Israel was the senior reporter. He previously worked as the senior investigative reporter at ThinkProgress and the former head of money-in-politics reporting at the Center for Public Integrity. ²³

1. GuideStar – American Independent Foundation. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/33-1137541
2. “Dark Money Dems Use Fake Newspaper To Influence Virginia Election.” Washington Free Beacon. October 5, 2021. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://freebeacon.com/elections/dark-money-dems-fake-newspaper-virginia-election/
3. Discover The Networks – American Independent (TAI). Accessed November 6, 2021. https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/organizations/shareblue
4. “Company.” The American Independent. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://americanindependent.com/company/
5. “About Us.” American Bridge 21st Century. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://americanbridgepac.org/
6. “About Us.” American Bridge 21st Century. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://americanbridgepac.org/about-us/
7. ^[1] “Dark Money Dems Use Fake Newspaper To Influence Virginia Election.” Washington Free Beacon. October 5, 2021. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://freebeacon.com/elections/dark-money-dems-fake-newspaper-virginia-election/
8. American Independent Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990-Schedule O), 2019.
9. American Independent Foundation. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://www.americanindependentfoundation.com/
10. Kimbel-Sannit, Arren. “Progressive Dark Money Launches Montana Media Outlet Ahead of Election.” Montana Free Press, April 16, 2024. https://montanafreepress.org/2024/04/16/with-montana-independent-national-progressive-groups-stake-foothold-in-local-media/.
11. “Tai News – Reporting for Progress.” The American Independent. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://tainews.com/.
12. “American Independent Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/331137541/202522879349301317/full.
13. Markay, Lachlan. “Brock Conference Organizers Embody Dems’ Big Money Problem.” Washington Free Beacon, January 23, 2017. https://freebeacon.com/politics/brock-conference-organizers-embody-dems-big-money-problem/.
14. “Seasoned Democratic Strategists Launch Lafayette Advisors, New Communications and Advocacy Strategy Firm.” PR Newswire, August 2, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seasoned-democratic-strategists-launch-lafayette-advisors-new-communications-and-advocacy-strategy-firm-302213187.html.
15. Media Matters for America, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990-Schedule I), 2019
16. Media Matters for America. Activist Facts – Organizations. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/media-matters-for-america/
17. “Hopewell Fund, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473681860/202543159349305889/full.
18. Discover the Networks – David Brock. Accessed November 6, 2021. https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/david-brock
19. The American Independent Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990-Part VII), 2019.
20. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer – David Bennahum. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/name_search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=david+bennahum
21. “Leadership.” Media Matters for America. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://www.mediamatters.org/about-us/leadership
22. “Joe Conason.” The New Republic. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://newrepublic.com/authors/joe-conason.
23. “Staff – Tai News.” The American Independent. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://tainews.com/staff/.