EXCLUSIVE — A left-wing group linked to Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias appears to have violated federal law, a watchdog alleged in a complaint.
The complaint, which the conservative Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed on Monday with the Federal Election Commission, requests an immediate investigation into whether the American Mainstream Policy Leadership Institute “made illegal contributions to federal candidates.” It heavily cited a January Washington Examiner report detailing how AMPLI is a fellowship project at a newly-formed charity incorporated in Washington, D.C., by an Elias associate, that ensures repeat Democratic congressional hopefuls get paychecks between runs.
“For decades, bipartisan polling has shown that Americans have a distaste for lifelong politicians who are growing ever increasingly disconnected from the average American,” said Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust. “The AMPLI ‘fellowship’ essentially makes it possible for a person to become a full-time politician in an illegal manner.”
“It takes away the need for candidates for public office to understand the American people and work hard to earn their vote,” Arnold said. “I hope the FEC will swiftly investigate and take proper action to ensure that the American people are led by politicians who work hard to promote transparency throughout the country.”
In January, the Washington Examiner first reported that AMPLI is now housed at Our American Future Foundation after previously being a project of New Politics Leadership Academy, a charity “recruiting, developing and electing servant leaders who put community and country over self.” Our American Future Foundation is fighting for “the interests of progressive voters through public advocacy,” according to a trademark application.
To AMPLI, the fellowship is an opportunity to boost soon-to-be candidates, who “engage in research, policy development, white papers” and meetings, according to the group. Paid fellows in 2023 included Democratic House candidates Will Rollins, Josh Riley, Tony Vargas, and Laura Gillen, according to financial disclosures filed. Democrat Kirsten Engel, who is running for a congressional seat in Arizona, was also a fellow but disclosed no income to the House clerk.
In making its case to the FEC, the watchdog zoned in on New Politics founder Amy Cherniack’s comments in 2020 claiming fellows were paid as a way to cover “rent or groceries or their mortgage,” while getting “four months to rethink and reflect and work on and do research on things that they find would be valuable for them as political leadership development.”
A prior fellow when New Politics led the similar program was Gina Ortiz Jones, who received $34,000 and unsuccessfully ran in both 2018 and 2020 for Congress in Texas. For his fellowship, Riley received at least $30,000 in 2023 from AMPLI, which also paid $60,000 to Vargas, for instance.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is providing “strategic guidance, staff resources, training, and fundraising support” to several candidates who were part of the 2023 fellowship, the Washington Examiner reported.
“There is reason to believe that AMPLI has made illegal contributions to several candidates,” the watchdog wrote in the complaint. “The fellowship’s true purpose was explicitly described by its founder as a way to give money to failed candidates (or prospective candidates) for personal expenses in the brief downtime before they are able to file again to run for another office. Thus, the fellowship is directly tied to a federal candidacy and not for bona fide independent employment. Any claim otherwise would strain credulity.”
AMPLI pushed back on the allegations in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“This complaint is going to be quickly thrown out because the claims are completely baseless,” a spokesperson for AMPLI said. “The facts are very clear: no AMPLI fellow was a candidate for office during their association with AMPLI and a majority of the paid fellows have not gone on to become federal candidates.”
In recent years, tax experts have scrutinized whether New Politics may have violated its charity status by compensating those who went on to run for federal office. However, the FEC notably voted in 2022 to dismiss a complaint alleging that a candidate was “paid to run for Congress by Democratic groups,” including New Politics.
