Written by: Max Berger
Compile: Block unicorn
How did the SBF, AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and pro-Trump billionaires coordinate to suppress the left?
When I looked into SBF political donations for a follow-up to last week, I thought I knew what I was looking for. This is a topic I've written about before. But when I looked at the FEC (Federal Election Commission) numbers at the end of the cycle, the results were really shocking.
I found more evidence that the SBF teamed up with AIPAC and pro-Trump billionaires to prevent leftist electoral development.
Five billionaire-funded political action committees are closely coordinating a strategy to defeat progressive candidates in the Democratic primary -- a kind of unjust Democrat.
Mark Mellman, a longtime ally of AIPAC, appears to be at the center of this effort, possibly at the vanguard of this common movement. During this investment cycle, he was hired by four of five firms that paid his firm a combined $476,016.67.
As you may have heard, the SBF provides nearly $40 million in funding to Democrats in 2022. However, I have found that the SBF does not primarily fund groups that help Democrats beat Republicans. According to the Federal Election Commission, more than 75% of the SBF's donations to Democrats in 2022 will be used to fund the primary teams competing within the Democratic Party.
SBF personally donated $29.25 million to Protect Our Future and DMI PAC (which later donated the money to Web3 Forward). Both groups, which spend the vast majority of their money on the Democratic primary, also work with two super-action committees (PACs) called the United Democratic Project (UDP) and the Democratic Majority of Israel (DMFI) under AIPAC. ) and a group called Mainstream Democrats, which aims to defeat the "far left".
Together, these five PACs make up the Injustice Democratic Party.
Injustice Democrats' total outside spending this election cycle:
- United Democracy Project: $26,108,857
- Democratic Majority For Israel: $8,818,636
- Protect Our Future: $28,530,613
- Web3 Forward: $4,663,333
- Mainstream Democrats: $2,441,529
Total: $44454111
SBF is one of the major funders of the Injustice Democrats, however, SBF is not the only billionaire backing the effort. Pro-Trump billionaires Bernard Marcus (owner of Home Depot), Robert Kraft (owner of Patriots) and Paul Singer (owner of Elliot Investment Management) each contributed $1 million , to help defeat working-class candidates.
Overall, the five groups that make up the Injustice Democrats spent $44,454,111 in outside spending this cycle.
What does the SBF have in common with the pro-Israel lobby and pro-Trump billionaires? In short, a desire to stem the rise of the Left and keep the Democratic Party in the hands of the status quo financial and political elites.
The SBF, which makes up the Injustice Democrats, and AIPAC's Super Action Committee (PAC) have worked directly together in at least 14 competitive primaries.
Primary Elections for SBF and AIPAC Affiliated PACs to Work Together
Collectively, their work has spanned at least 24 races — several of which progressives would clearly have won were it not for the millions spent by the Injustice Democrats. By my count, the Injustice Democrats won 20 of the 24 primaries they participated in.
The revelations about SBF's crimes should raise questions about his closest allies in the Democratic Party -- including AIPAC, DMFI, Mark Mellman (member of Israel's Democratic Majority) and Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn).
Should the SBF, pro-Trump billionaires and AIPAC veto who could be the Democratic nominee? If not, what will Democratic leaders do?
Who are the Unjust Democrats?
Since 2018, the Justice Democrats, along with groups such as the Working Families Party, have helped elect several new members of Congress, such as AOC (Member of the US House of Representatives) and Cory Bush (Rep.), to drive the party to the left. This group, and their allies in Congress, have a very different view of Israel/Palestine, as they do on most issues, than the general consensus among Washington's political elite.
The pro-Israel lobby has long wanted Democrats and Republicans to acquiesce to the Israeli government's policies toward the Palestinians, no matter how heinous and against U.S. interests. But the rise of a small group and a generational shift in attitudes toward Palestine in the Democratic base threatens to disrupt that consensus and have real, meaningful consequences for an Israeli government that systematically violates international law and the basic human rights of Palestinians.
In response to the group's rise and shifting attitudes toward Israel within the Democratic Party, Mark Mellman, a longtime ally of the Israel Public Affairs Committee, formed a group called the Democratic Majority of Israel. DMFI is basically AIPAC for the Corporate Democrats. Beginning in 2020, Mailman raised large sums of money from AIPAC-affiliated donors for competing primaries between progressive Democrats and corporate Democrats to stem the team's rise, and initial efforts turned out well Mixed bad.
But in the 2022 congressional midterm primaries, the DMFI finally found a way that worked. Instead of focusing solely on Israel, they could serve as a link to anti-quartet and anti-working-class political spending in Democratic politics.
Many billionaires and corporate CEOs don't like the idea of bartenders (errand runners), principals and nurses becoming members of Congress. Mark Mellman realized that he could persuade them to spend millions of dollars to stop this (and pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process).
In one of the earliest and most high-profile primaries of the cycle, DMFI spent $1,551,002 to help Shontel Brown defeat Nina Turner in Ohio's 11th Congressional District, which she lost by a landslide. Protect Our Future, SBF's PAC, also spent $1,010,178 in the game, and Mellman has already proved his concept.
Turner's campaign serves as an example of how unjust Democrats can defeat rising progressives within the party. It shows that pro-Israel, pro-crypto and corporate interests can funnel billionaire money into the Democratic primary without being held accountable.
Crypto + Israel + Billionaires = Unjust Democrats
The success of the Unjust Democrats this cycle is the result of bringing together three major interest groups: cryptocurrencies (including the SBF and its affiliated groups), billionaires (several of whom support Trump), and AIPAC affiliated donors By.
In addition to Mark Mellman's DMFI, AIPAC created a PAC called the United Democracy Project (UDP), which raised over $8 million directly from AIPAC. UDP has also become a gathering place for other billionaires who want to stem the rise of the left in the Democratic Party — even those who support Donald Trump, such as Robert Kraft, Bernard Marcus, Paul Singer.
SBF and his pro-crypto allies are the second leg of the Injustice Democrats. The SBF's main political tool this cycle is a group called Protect Our Future, which is nominally focused on pandemic prevention. "Securing Our Future" spent $28,530,613 in the Democratic primary. Additionally, SBF donated $2 million to a pro-encryption political action committee called DMI PAC, which was then re-donated to an organization called Web3 Forward, which spent $4,663,333 during the cycle, 83% of which went to in competitive primaries.
The last group of the Injustice Democrats was started this cycle by billionaire Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn. According to their website, "Mainstream Democrats PAC was formed as the only Democratic group with the courage to stand up for mainstream Democrats and defeat extreme candidates whose stated goal is to 'overthrow' the Democratic Party." They cost far less than other groups in the Injustice Democrats, but the group's overall goals are much clearer.
Not a single group of unjust Democrats is helping Democrats beat Republicans, and the vast majority of their energy is focused on helping unjust Democrats beat progressive candidates.
What percentage of political action committee (PAC) spending in Democratic primaries?
- UDP (United Democracy Project): 100%
- DMFI (Democratic Majority of Israel): 88%
- Protecting our future: 100%
- Web3 Forward: 95%
- Mainstream Democrats: 83%
The races they focus on are almost all in Democratic safe districts, so they don't even have a reasonable reason to think that they are trying to ensure that a better candidate beats the Republicans in a closely contested general election. To stem the rise of the electoral left.
Coordination among Political Action Committees (PACs)
My analysis shows that the groups are clearly strategically coordinated: They target many of the same campaigns, they fund each other and, reportedly in one case, even share office space.
According to Parker News: "Mainstream Democrats share staff, offices, and other resources with another PAC pursuing Turner, the Israeli Democratic Majority -- despite its name, 'Democratic Majority,'" But it has been focused on fighting off liberals more broadly. Now, with Hoffman's help, and a new brand, the team is getting bigger."
Mark Mellman's polling firm is hired by Protect Our Future, DMFI, Web3 Forward, and Mainstream Democrats.
In total, the Mailman team was funded $476,016.67 by unjust Democratic billionaires this period:
- $23,433.33 from Web3 Forward
- $15,450 from Securing Our Future
- $355,816.67 from DMFI
- $81,316.67 from mainstream Democrats
The financial ties between the five teams are extensive:
- SBF provided $250,000 directly to DMFI.
- DMFI donates $500,000 to mainstream Democrats.
- Mainstream Democrats returned $103,000 to DMFI.
- Web3 Forward also donated $145,000 to DMFI.
The coordination on the campaign was pretty wide-ranging — from the most high-profile campaign, showcasing a well-financed progressive wing backed by the Working Families Party and Justice Democrats, to the Injustice Democrats ( Injustice Democrats spend a lot of money trying to crush unlikely candidates.
There is at least one unjust Democratic group involved in nearly every contested primary this cycle, including:
Andrea Salinas vs. Carrick Flynn
Yuh Line Niou vs. Dan Goldman
Omari Hardy vs. many candidates
Jamie Skinner McLeod vs. Kurt Scharder
Marie Newman vs. Sean Casten
Rubin Ramirez vs. Michelle Vallejo
Sarah Klee Hood vs. Francis Conole
Alexandria Biaggi vs. Sean Patrick Maloney
Doyle Canning vs. Val Hoyle
David Segel vs. Seth Magaziner
what's at stake
If anyone thinks that working people should have a voice in the Democratic Party, the efforts to announce the injustice of the Democratic Party should chill them.
Finally some important questions are raised:
What are we going to do with a campaign like Donna Edwards or Jessica Cisernos? Without the massive amounts of money from the Injustice Democrats, they are might win.
Do Democratic leaders in the White House and Congress agree with the tactics of the "Unjust Democrats"?
Has Sean McElwee convinced SBF to fund some token progressives as well? If yes, why?
