The Bulwark is a right-leaning political commentary website hosted by Republic Affairs (formerly Defending Democracy Together Institute). The Bulwark was created from the remnants of the now-defunct magazine the Weekly Standard and primarily caters to liberal Republicans and NeverTrump conservatives.

Leadership

Charlie Sykes, a Republican political commentator, is founder and editor-in-chief of the Bulwark. Sykes is a board member of the NeverTrump advocacy group Stand Up Republic and a national advisory board member of the center-left Democracy Fund, created and funded by Pierre Omidyar. ^{[1] [2]}

Bill Kristol, a former Republican strategist and vitriolic Trump critic, is editor-in-large of the Bulwark and founder of DDTI.

Sarah Longwell is publisher of the Bulwark.

Funding

The Bulwark is a project of Republic Affairs, so donations to the group benefit its parent nonprofit.

Because Kristol formed Republic Affairs in mid-2018, public tax returns are unavailable for Republic Affairs as of early 2019. The left-wing William and Flora Hewlett Foundation reported making a contribution to Republic Affairs in September 2018; the grant was paid to Republic Affairs through DonorsTrust, a conservative donor-advised fund provider.^[3]

The organization’s 501(c)(4) advocacy counterpart, Defending Democracy Together, has been criticized for accepting at least $600,000 in two grants from Democracy Fund Voice, a 501(c)(4) group created and funded by left-wing mega-donor Pierre Omidyar.^[4] According to Democracy Fund Voice’s website, in May 2018 it “approved two grants to Defending Democracy Together: first in the amount of up to $100,000 over one year and then in the amount of up to $500,000 over one year,” with specific mention of DDT’s Republicans for the Rule of Law project.^[5]