The Chestnut Street Council is a fundraising organization founded by right-of-center activist Matt Schlapp in 2022. ¹ Reports stated that the organization would raise money to fund litigation over election laws. ²

The Chestnut Street Council had a meeting in February that included veteran Republican fundraiser Caroline Wren, who helped raise money for several initiatives related to President Donald Trump, including a protest that preceded the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. ³

Background

The Chestnut Street Council is a conservative fundraising organization established in part to find new models to fund the conservative movement. ⁴

Among its major focuses, the organization is expected to pay for legal battles over voting rules, the New York Times reported. ⁵

The registered agent for the Chestnut Street Council is Mountain Business Center, LLC based in Jackson, Wyoming. ⁶

Founding

Conservative activist Matt Schlapp created the Chestnut Street Council. ⁷ Schlapp is the chairman of the American Conservative Union. He is also a lobbyist and an ally of former President Donald Trump. Schlapp also helped organize the political operation associated with Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch. ⁸

Schlapp said donors approached him after the 2020 election “expressing frustration with the more normal routes for funding political operations” used by Republicans, according to the New York Times. They noted an advantage on the left by so-called “dark money” organizations. ⁹

Strategy

The Chestnut Street Council had a meeting in February 2022 and heard a presentation from Caroline Wren, a veteran Republican fundraiser who helped raise money for several initiatives related to former President Trump. This included the rally that preceded the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. ¹⁰

Wren told the assembled group the right should replicate the left’s system of donor alliances to incubate new nonprofit organizations. She also argued for increasing cooperation among existing organizations on the political right, the Times reported. ¹¹

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9. Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldmacher, Shane and Mac, Ryan. “Dissatisfied With Their Party, Wealthy Republican Donors Form Secret Coalitions.” The New York Times. April 6, 2022. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/politics/republican-donors-rockbridge-network-trump.html
10.  Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldmacher, Shane and Mac, Ryan. “Dissatisfied With Their Party, Wealthy Republican Donors Form Secret Coalitions.” The New York Times. April 6, 2022. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/politics/republican-donors-rockbridge-network-trump.html
11.  Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldmacher, Shane and Mac, Ryan. “Dissatisfied With Their Party, Wealthy Republican Donors Form Secret Coalitions.” The New York Times. April 6, 2022. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/politics/republican-donors-rockbridge-network-trump.html