Evidence for Impact is a Washington, D.C.-based political action committee (PAC) founded in 2024 by Ezra Reese, the political law chair for the Elias Law Group. As of October 2024, Evidence for Impact had spent at least $13.35 million on expenditures to Democratic-aligned Super PACs and on behalf of third-party candidates whose voters might otherwise oppose the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris by voting for former President Donald Trump. ^{1 2}

Background

Evidence for Impact registered as a political action committee (PAC) in Washington, D.C. on February 2, 2024. ¹

According to records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, EI’s “beneficial owner” is Ezra Reese, the political law chair for the Elias Law Group, a D.C.-based law firm created by Democratic Party activist attorney Marc Elias. Elias previously worked as general counsel for Vice President Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign. In her 2019 autobiography, Vice President Harris thanked Elias for his “wise” counsel. Elias was also an attorney on former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. ^{1 2}

Reese previously worked for Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based law firm of more than 1,000 lawyers, roughly 40 of which worked on its political law practice that served Democratic and left-of-center political candidates and non-profit clients. In 2020, Reese worked as general counsel for Biden administration Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s Democratic presidential primary campaign. ^{1 2}

Activity

In September 2024, Evidence for Impact donated $9 million to Future Forward PAC (FF PAC), a Democratic Party-aligned super PAC based in Palo Alto, California. FF PAC was founded by Future Forward USA Action and is run by Chauncey McLean. ^{3 4}

In the same month, EI contributed $4,350,000 to Civic Truth Action, making it the PAC’s sole donor. Civic Truth Action was launched in July 2024 and spent $1.4 million on campaign ads supporting 2024 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Chase Oliver in competitive states including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. ⁵

1. Ross, Chuck. “Kamala Harris Campaign Attorney Marc Elias Linked to Swing-State Ads Boosting Libertarian Candidate.” The Washington Free Beacon. October 25, 2024. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/elections/kamala-harris-campaign-attorney-marc-elias-linked-to-swing-state-ads-boosting-libertarian-candidate/.
2. “Ezra Reese.” Elias Law Group. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://www.elias.law/team/ezra-reese.
3. “Teddy Schleifer.” Twitter. October 20, 2024. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://x.com/teddyschleifer/status/1848190696487891336?s=46.
4. Corasaniti, Nick. “A Democratic Super PAC Surge Helps Biden Expand His Map.” New York Times. October 20, 2020. Updated October 22, 2020. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/politics/future-forward-super-pac.html.
5. “FEC Form 3X.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/366/202410249719536366/202410249719536366.pdf.