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Kyle Herrig

Occupation:

Political Activist

Attorney

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Kyle Herrig is an activist and attorney who serves on the boards of, or as an adviser to, various left-of-center advocacy projects. Several projects he serves with are connected to the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit organization created and managed by philanthropic firm Arabella Advisors. New Venture Fund and other Arabella-managed nonprofits have been previously criticized as “dark money” 1 organizations serving as “leading vehicle[s] for the left.” 2

Herrig has a background in leadership roles with several New Venture Fund-associated organizations, also having previously served as Executive Director for New Venture Fund from 2014 through 2019 as well as a board member. 3 4 Herrig is also as a board member of American Oversight, a left-wing judicial activist organization, as of 2023. 5 In addition, he served on the advisory board for Restore Public Trust and was a strategic adviser for advocacy group Allied Progress. 6; Both organizations became part of left-wing advocacy organization Accountable.US. 7

As of 2023, Herrig is the senior advisor and former president for Accountable.US as well as the Executive Director of the Congressional Integrity Project (CIP), a government watchdog group that has received roughly $1.5 million in donations from nonprofit group, Sixteen Thirty Fund, which, like New Venture Fund, is managed by philanthropic firm Arabella Advisors. 8 9

Career

New Venture Fund

Herring served as the Executive Director of New Venture Fund from 2014 through 2019. 10 The New Venture is a nonprofit organization that helps fund various groups and other organizations that claim to be independent but appear to be mere financial projects of the same organization. 11

The New Venture Fund also funnels money to outside left-of-center organizations such as Media Matters for America and the Center for American Progress. The New Venture Fund has been described as a “dark money conduit” since it shields the identity of its donors. 12 13 The nonprofit

American Oversight

Herrig was appointed to the board of directors to American Oversight, a New Venture Fund-sponsored organization, in 2017. As of 2023 he still sits on the bord. 14 15 He previously served as the interim Executive Director of the organization from January through July 2022, following Austin Evers departure from the position, until Heather Sawyer was appointed. She serves as Executive Director of the organization as of 2023. 16 17

The organization was created in 2017 and opposed Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court in the fall of 2018. 18 19

The group’s model is based on that of the conservative Judicial Watch, which uses lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act requests to stymie the agenda of its target. American Oversight would in turn become the model for various other left-wing organizations used to target the President Donald Trump administration. 20 21

Restore Public Trust

In 2018, various Democratic and left-wing operatives and activists formed Restore Public Trust to attack cabinet officials of the Trump administration. Restore Public Trust was a project of nonprofit group New Venture Fund. 22

The group claimed to seek allegedly unethical and corrupt behavior by Trump administration officials. 23 Herrig was on the board of the group during its inception, while also working with New Venture Fund. 24

Restore Public Trust sued the Trump administration demanding the documents about the process to include the question on the census. 25 Herrig issued a statement on behalf of the group stating, “The American people have a right to know what Secretary Ross and the rest of Trump’s political appointees discussed behind closed doors as they devised a scheme to make the census less representative for all Americans.” 26 27

By 2020, however, Restore Public Trust became part of left-wing advocacy organization Accountable.US. 28

Allied Progress

Herrig was a quoted spokesman for the New Venture Fund project, Allied Progress. In February 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau scrapped an Obama administration rule that would limit how much people could borrow from payday lenders. The rule would’ve required lenders to determine if borrowers could pay off the loans and limit attempts to withdraw the loan amount from the borrowers’ account. 29 30

Herrig, on behalf of Allied Progress, denounced the rule change as favoring special interests over consumers. “The people in power have chosen to side with payday lenders over consumers,” said Herrig. 31

By 2020, Allied Progress became part of left-wing advocacy organization Accountable.US. 32

Congressional Integrity Project (CIP)

In 2020, Herrig was appointed as Executive Director of the Congressional Integrity Project (CIP), a left-of-center activist organization as well as government watchdog group that previously received roughly $1.5 million in donations from nonprofit group, Sixteen Thirty Fund. As of 2o23, Herrig still serves as Executive Director. 33 34

Sixteen Thirty Fund, like New Venture Fund, is a nonprofit group created and managed by philanthropic firm Arabella Advisors. 35 36 Other members of CIP’s board include Melanie Sloane and Brad Woodhouse: Slone was a founding executive director of agitation group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), while Woodhouse is the executive director of Protect Our Care, a project of Sixteen Thirty Fund. 37 38

Accountable.US

In 2019, Herrig was appointed as president of Accountable.US, a self-described “nonpartisan watchdog group” and a former financial project of Arabella Advisors-managed nonprofit New Venture Fund. 39 40 He served in the position until July 2023 when Caroline Ciccone, former executive director of the group, was appointed. At the same time, Herrig became a Senior Advisor for the organization, a position he serves as of October 2023. 41 42

Activities

Statement on George Santos

When asked to comment on the FEC complaint filed against Rep. George Santos (R-NY) for misusing campaign fund, Herrig states, “With each passing day, Congressmen Santos’s rap sheet of potential crimes and outlandish lies continues to grow. The FEC has an obligation to hold him accountable — Speaker McCarthy and his MAGA majority certainly won’t, especially after gutting the Congressional Ethics Office.” 43

References

  1. Kenneth P. Vogel, Katie Robertson. “Top Bidder for Tribune Newspapers Is an Influential Liberal Donor.” New York Times. April 13, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/business/media/wyss-tribune-company-buyer.html
  2. Kenneth P. Vogel, Katie Robertson. “Top Bidder for Tribune Newspapers Is an Influential Liberal Donor.” New York Times. April 13, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/business/media/wyss-tribune-company-buyer.html
  3. “Kyle Herrig.” LinkedIn, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-herrig
  4. Hayden Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center. March 2019. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
  5. “Kyle Herrig.” LinkedIn, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-herrig
  6. Hayden Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center. March 2019. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
  7. “Donate.” Accountable.US. Accessed January 23, 2020. Original URL: https://www.accountable.us/donate/. Archived URL: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/Accountable.US-Donate.-New-Venture-Fund-Project.-01.2020.pdf
  8. “Kyle Herrig.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 26, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/kyle-herrig/
  9. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Democratic dark money juggernaut behind Biden-allied group targeting House GOP.” December 29, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-allied-group-targeting-house-gop-has-been-almost-entirely-bankrolled-arabella-advisors
  10. “Kyle Herrig.” LinkedIn, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-herrig
  11. Walter, Scott. 2018. “The Left’s Judicial Watch Knockoffs Targeting Trump”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-lefts-judicial-watch-knockoffs-targeting-trump/.
  12. Walter, Scott. 2018. “The Left’s Judicial Watch Knockoffs Targeting Trump”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-lefts-judicial-watch-knockoffs-targeting-trump/.
  13. Kim Strassel. “The Trump ‘Ethics’ Resistance.” Wall Street Journal. December 27, 2018. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-ethics-resistance-11545955715
  14. “Kyle Herrig.” LinkedIn, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-herrig
  15. Walter, Scott. 2018. “The Left’s Judicial Watch Knockoffs Targeting Trump”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-lefts-judicial-watch-knockoffs-targeting-trump/.
  16. “Our Team.” American Oversight, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.americanoversight.org/our-team
  17. “AMERICAN OVERSIGHT ANNOUNCES HEATHER SAWYER AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.” American Oversight, May 19, 2022. https://www.americanoversight.org/american-oversight-announces-heather-sawyer-as-new-executive-director
  18. Walter, Scott. 2018. “The Left’s Judicial Watch Knockoffs Targeting Trump”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-lefts-judicial-watch-knockoffs-targeting-trump/.
  19. Kim Strassel. “The Trump ‘Ethics’ Resistance.” Wall Street Journal. December 27, 2018. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-ethics-resistance-11545955715
  20. Walter, Scott. 2018. “The Left’s Judicial Watch Knockoffs Targeting Trump”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-lefts-judicial-watch-knockoffs-targeting-trump/.
  21. Hayden Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center. March 2019. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
  22. Kim Strassel. “The Trump ‘Ethics’ Resistance.” Wall Street Journal. December 27, 2018. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-ethics-resistance-11545955715
  23. Stein, Sam. 2018. “New Oversight Group Wants To Make Trump’s Cabinet Miserable”. The Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-progressive-oversight-group-wants-to-make-trumps-cabinet-miserable.
  24. Stein, Sam. 2018. “New Oversight Group Wants To Make Trump’S Cabinet Miserable”. The Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-progressive-oversight-group-wants-to-make-trumps-cabinet-miserable.
  25. Rodrigo, Chris. 2019. “Progressive Group Sues For Census Citizenship Question Docs”. The Hill. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/443439-progressive-oversight-group-sues-for-census-citizenship-question?amp.
  26. Rodrigo, Chris. 2019. “Progressive Group Sues For Census Citizenship Question Docs”. The Hill. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/443439-progressive-oversight-group-sues-for-census-citizenship-question?amp.
  27. Hayden Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center. March 2019. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
  28. “Donate.” Accountable.US. Accessed January 23, 2020. Original URL: https://www.accountable.us/donate/. Archived URL: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/Accountable.US-Donate.-New-Venture-Fund-Project.-01.2020.pdf
  29. Cheslow, Daniella. 2019. “Consumer Protection Bureau Aims To Roll Back Rule For Payday Lending”. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/691944789/consumer-protection-bureau-aims-to-roll-back-rules-for-payday-lending.
  30. Hayden Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center. March 2019. Accessed June 11, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money.pdf
  31. Cheslow, Daniella. 2019. “Consumer Protection Bureau Aims To Roll Back Rule For Payday Lending”. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/691944789/consumer-protection-bureau-aims-to-roll-back-rules-for-payday-lending.
  32. “Donate.” Accountable.US. Accessed January 23, 2020. Original URL: https://www.accountable.us/donate/. Archived URL: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/Accountable.US-Donate.-New-Venture-Fund-Project.-01.2020.pdf
  33. “Kyle Herrig.” LinkedIn, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-herrig
  34. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Democratic dark money juggernaut behind Biden-allied group targeting House GOP.” December 29, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-allied-group-targeting-house-gop-has-been-almost-entirely-bankrolled-arabella-advisors
  35. “Kyle Herrig.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 26, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/kyle-herrig/
  36. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Democratic dark money juggernaut behind Biden-allied group targeting House GOP.” December 29, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-allied-group-targeting-house-gop-has-been-almost-entirely-bankrolled-arabella-advisors
  37. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Sixteen Thirty Fund. 2021. Part VII. Archived: https://congressionalintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-990.pdf
  38. Glynn, Earl F. “Tangled, Dark-Money Web of Congressional Integrity Project.” Watchdog Lab, December 1, 2022. https://watchdoglab.substack.com/p/tangled-dark-money-web-of-congressional
  39. “Kyle Herrig.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 26, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/kyle-herrig/
  40. “Donate.” Accountable.US. Accessed January 23, 2020. Original URL: https://www.accountable.us/donate/. Archived URL: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/Accountable.US-Donate.-New-Venture-Fund-Project.-01.2020.pdf
  41. “Kyle Herrig.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 26, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/kyle-herrig/
  42. “Caroline Ciccone.” Accountable.US, Accessed October 27, 2023. https://accountable.us/about/our-board-and-leadership/caroline-ciccone/
  43. Saksa, Jim. “Legal Woes Grow for George Santos as Another Watchdog Files Complaint.” Roll Call, January 13, 2023. https://rollcall.com/2023/01/13/legal-woes-grow-for-george-santos-fec-complaint/.
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