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

1. “Board of Directors.” Stand Up Republic. Accessed June 18, 2019. Original URL: https://standuprepublic.com/board/. Archived here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/06/Stand-Up-Republic-Board.-06.2019.pdf
2. “About Us (National Advisory Board).” Democracy Fund. Accessed June 18, 2019. Original URL: https://www.democracyfund.org/about-us. Archived here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/06/Democracy-Fund-Board.-06.2019.pdf
3. “Grant: Donors Trust Inc. – For support of the Defending Democracy Together Institute.” Hewlett Foundation. September 19, 2018. Accessed November 19, 2018. https://hewlett.org/grants/donors-trust-inc-for-support-of-the-defending-democracy-together-institute/. Archived here: https://www.influencewatch.org/hewlett-foundation-2018-grant-defending-democracy-together-institute/  
4. DeRensis, Hunter. “Does The Bulwark Mean the Neocons Are Staging A Comeback?” The National Interest. January 09, 2019. Accessed March 04, 2019. https://nationalinterest.org/feature/does-bulwark-mean-neocons-are-staging-comeback-41007.
5. “Grants: Defending Democracy Together.” Democracy Fund Voice. May 3, 2018. Accessed November 19, 2018. https://democracyfundvoice.org/defending-democracy-together/; Screenshot: https://www.influencewatch.org/democracy-fund-2018-grant-defending-democracy-together/