Caroline Ciccone is a Democratic political consultant and activist and the president of Accountable.US, a left-of-center advocacy nonprofit and a former project of the “dark money” funder New Venture Fund. Beforehand she served as the group’s executive director. 1
Prior to Accountable.US, Ciccone was the executive director of Restore Public Trust, a left-of-center “watchdog” and litigation entity that attacked the Trump administration and was also a project of the New Venture Fund until being transferred to Accountable.US in 2020. Ciccone previously was the executive director for Americans United for Change, a left-of-center labor-union-backed agitation group. She also worked as an official in the Obama administration, for former Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and as a communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). 2
Activism
Americans United for Change
Also see Americans United for Change (Nonprofit)
From 2014 to 2017, Ciccone worked as the executive director for Americans United for Change (AUFC), a labor union-backed group which exists to support left-wing causes and Democratic candidates. The organization is funded in part by a number of left-leaning and liberal organizations and activists. AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the United States is a donor to the organization. Tom Steyer, a liberal billionaire and candidate for the 2020 presidential election, has made donations exceeding $100,000 to the organization. 3
In October 2016, Americans United for Change fired National Field Director Scott Foval after he was caught on camera by the conservative investigative journalist group Project Veritas stating that AUFC had paid mentally ill and homeless people to instigate violence at Trump campaign events in 2016. In the released videos, Foval brags about the tactics used by AUFC and its role in painting President Trump as well as his supporters as “anarchic” and dangerous.4 Speaking to an undercover Project Veritas staffer, Foval bragged about AUFC’s role in using agitators to create “conflict engagement in the lines at Trump rallies” with the goal of “starting anarchy” at the events and obtaining negative media coverage for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “We know that Trump’s people will [tend to] freak the f*** out…,” Foval said in a video. “It is not hard to get some of these assholes to ‘pop off.'” 5
Closely connected to the scandal was Robert Creamer, a co-founder of the major Democratic consulting firm Democracy Partners and a former general consultant to AUFC. 6 In 2016, Creamer directed parts of a vast network of advocacy groups in support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign until the release of the Project Veritas video. Within days of the story, Creamer announced he was removing himself from the Clinton campaign. 7 Foval described Creamer’s role in the scandal as the “kingpin” who is “diabolical, and I love him for it.” 5 Creamer also unwittingly appears in the hidden camera videos, making statements which—along with other revelations from Foval—have led to speculation regarding whether the duo participated in schemes to help non-citizens vote and commit other election law violations. 8
Restore Public Trust & Accountable.US
Also see Restore Public Trust (Nonprofit)
Caroline Ciccone previously worked as the executive director for Restore Public Trust (RPT), a project of the left-of-center New Venture Fund, a large fiscal sponsorship organization which supports numerous left-of-center and liberal organizations. In 2020, Restore Public Trust was transferred to Accountable.US, also a former project of the New Venture Fund. She previously worked as the organization’s executive director until she took over as president of the organization from then-interim president and senior advisor Kyle Herrig. As of 2023, she serves as president of the group. 1 9
Restore Public Trust conducted opposition research against the Trump administration and Republicans. Ciccone commented in a 2018 press release for RPT, “Americans are deeply concerned about the level of corruption they see in the Trump Administration, and it’s why we will be focused like a laser on exposing corruption and holding officials accountable.” 10
Ciccone used her platform at RPT to go after a number of Republican elected officials. Notably, Ciccone released a press statement in January, 2019, attacking Trump administration U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Ciccone cited Barr’s skepticism of suspicions of Trump campaign collusion with Russian government interference in the 2016 Presidential election, his previous involvement with large corporations, and his support for President Trump. 11
Ciccone also played a large role in organizing a website named JobLossRoss.com, a website aimed at criticizing Wilbur Ross, the Trump administration’s Secretary of Commerce. The website was formed after Ross made comments regarding furloughed workers during the January 2019 shutdown of the government amid a government spending negotiation. Ciccone asserted that Ross’s comments were “disqualifying,” and that he should be removed from office.12
Western Values Project
Until 2019 Ciccone was a member of the advisory board for Western Values Project, a New Venture Fund project and environmental advocacy group that was transferred to Accountable.US in 2020. 13
Obama Administration and Democratic National Committee
Ciccone previously worked as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Communications and Public Liaison for the Small Business Administration under the Obama Administration. She also worked as a communications specialist and a as the deputy communications director for the Democratic National Committee from 2007-2013. Ciccone was in the position during a scandal in which the DNC broke internal policy and accepted donations from federal lobbyists in 2011. She announced after the issue went public that the DNC would reimburse the donors.14
Precision Strategies
From 2017 to 2018 Ciccone was managing principal for Precision Strategies, a marketing firm which caters to a number of Democratic and liberal entities along with a number of Fortune 500 companies, American sports teams, and other groups. Precision strategies advertises their marketing management for liberal entities such as Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign; campaigns for the Liberal Party of Canada and its leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; and ACLU criminal justice reform programs. 15
References
- “Caroline Ciccone.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/caroline-ciccone/
- “LinkedIn Profile: Caroline Ciccone.” Accessed Feb. 23, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-ciccone-28b266140/
- “User Profile: Caroline Ciccone.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed December 16, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-ciccone-28b266140/.
- Morrongiello, Gabby. “Report: Dem Fired for Bragging about Staging Violence at Trump Rallies.” Washington Examiner. October 18, 2016. Accessed October 23, 2017. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/report-dem-fired-for-bragging-about-staging-violence-at-trump-rallies/article/2604861.
- Ludwig, Hayden. “Creamer and Foval: An Ongoing Pony Express.” Capital Research Center. January 10, 2018. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/two-creamer-and-foval/
- McBride, Jessica. “Robert Creamer “Bob”: 5 Fast Facts You Need To Know.” Heavy.com. October 21, 2016. Accessed June 12, 2019. https://heavy.com/news/2016/10/robert-creamer-bob-white-house-video-barack-obama-dnc-voter-fraud-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-democracy-partner-wife/
- Weigel, David. “Two local Democratic operatives lose jobs after video sting on voter fraud.” Chicago Tribune. October 19, 2016. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-video-sting-democratic-operatives-james-okeefe-20161019-story.html
- Weigel, David. “Two local Democratic operatives lose jobs after video sting on voter fraud.” Chicago Tribune. October 19, 2016. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-video-sting-democratic-operatives-james-okeefe-20161019-story.html
- “Kyle Herrig.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/kyle-herrig/
- “New Accountability Group Restore Public Trust Launches Today, Will Expose Corruption and Malfeasance at Highest Levels of Government.” Restore Public Trust. Accessed December 16, 2019. https://restorepublictrust.org/restore-public-trust-launches/.
- “Barr’s Past Disqualifies Him from Serving As Attorney General.” Restore Public Trust. Accessed December 16, 2019. https://restorepublictrust.org/tbt-barrs-past-disqualifies-him-from-serving-as-attorney-general/.
- “Restore Public Trust Launches New Site JobLossRoss.com After Outrage Over Ross Comments.” Restore Public Trust. Accessed December 16, 2019. https://restorepublictrust.org/restore-public-trust-launches-new-site-joblossross-com-after-outrage-over-ross-comments/.
- “About.” Western Values Project (archived page). Archived Oct. 4, 2019. Accessed February 23, 2021. Archived URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20191004111231/https://westernvaluesproject.org/about-us/
- “Exclusive: DNC Accepted Lobbyist Donations in Violation of Internal Policy, Will Return Contributions,” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed December 16, 2019. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/06/dnc-accepted-lobbyist-donations/.
- “Our Successes,” Precision Strategies. Accessed December 16, 2019. https://www.precisionstrategies.com/case-studies/.