Tech donor network co-founded by JD Vance aims to shift America to the right

Tech donor network co-founded by JD Vance aims to shift America to the right/Reuters

Reuters | August 20, 2024 | 10:40 PM IST | Tech, World | Follow on Google News

Tech donor network co-founded by JD Vance aims to shift America to the right

Tech donor network co-founded by JD Vance aims to shift America to the right

Aug 20 – Before JD Vance began his rapid rise to vice presidential candidate, he co-founded a Silicon Valley-backed donor organization to finance right-wing news stories, voter turnout operations and election polls with a goal of spreading U.S. President Donald Trump’s brand of nationalism, according to previously unreported documents on the group.

Founded in 2019, Rockbridge Network seeks to influence U.S. politics through a centrally controlled network of right-wing political groups backed by some of the same deep-pocketed tech investors who helped bankroll Vance’s political rise.

The existence of Rockbridge and Vance’s link to it have been previously reported. But three internal Rockbridge documents reviewed by Reuters and half a dozen sources familiar with the group reveal the scale of its ambitions, its roughly $75 million budget for 2024 and its role in seeking to influence November’s presidential election.

Rockbridge showcases how Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate could empower a new set of Republican businessmen: heavyweight tech investors who favor far-reaching deregulation. Many want to weaken the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates Wall Street, and reduce oversight of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.

Their financial backing of Rockridge illustrates Silicon Valley’s growing influence in conservative politics and marks an evolution from more traditional deep-pocketed Republican activists, whose political networks have lost influence since Trump took over the party.

Rockbridge oversees five political groups and one super PAC focused on financing right-wing investigative reporting, underwriting polls, turning out voters in battleground states and spurring churchgoers into political activism, according to a seven-page Rockbridge prospectus issued to donors ahead of an April retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. Super PACs – short for political action committees – can spend unlimited amounts of money to campaign independently for candidates.

Vance, identified in the prospectus as Rockbridge’s co-founder, appears to retain no formal relationship with the group. He maintains informal ties to it, however, and spoke to more than 100 of its members and donors gathered at its bi-annual retreat in April, according to an attendee and a memo outlining the event’s agenda.

A longtime associate of Vance’s, Republican businessman Chris Buskirk, is Rockbridge’s other founder. Rockbridge Network’s donor outreach is run by Rockbridge Network LLC, a for-profit Delaware company that helps manage donations for the network’s political groups. Its owners are not identified in corporate records.

Two Rockbridge officials, who handle donor contacts and donations, are also members of Vance’s current fundraising team, according to two of the internal documents and a campaign official. Many of Rockbridge’s donors support Vance politically.

A spokesperson for Vance declined to comment about Rockbridge. The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about the network’s role and its links to at least two of the campaign’s staffers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by VoM News staff and is published from syndicated feed)

Reuters