Left-wing dark money group targeting House GOP hires ex-Clinton world staffers
Gabe Kaminsky
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A new left-wing dark money outfit that will investigate House Republicans has added two former Hillary Clinton staffers to its roster, as the pop-up group aims to exert influence and push back on the expected slew of GOP-led investigations next Congress.
Facts First USA is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group that will spend millions on a “SWAT team to counter Republican congressional investigations,” according to an October memo by longtime Democratic political operative David Brock, the group’s president. Now, Facts First USA has hired Jessica McIntosh and Ali Rubin, two Democratic consultants who have served various roles in Clinton world.
BIDEN-ALLIED GROUP VOWING TO INVESTIGATE GOP POCKETED $1.5M FROM LEFT-WING DARK MONEY GIANT
“We are excited to have Ali and Jess join our effort as we continue to expand our team in preparation for next year,” a spokesman for Facts First USA told the Washington Examiner, noting that the group will focus on “holding Republican investigations accountable” and has already “been attacked” by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, and other Republicans.
Rubin, who between October 2020 and January 2021 performed communications on the Biden-Harris transition team, was previously the Clinton Foundation’s deputy chief of staff for the office of Chelsea Clinton. She served different roles on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and interned in her office for over two years when Clinton was a New York senator.
McIntosh, a longtime strategist, did a stint in 2016 as the director of communications outreach for Clinton’s presidential campaign. She then went on to found her own consulting firm in 2017, which is the same year she became a CNN commentator — leaving in 2022.
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Through her firm, McIntosh has contracted with a variety of liberal groups, such as the American Independent, a “progressive news” outfit founded by Brock, who also launched the influential left-wing watchdog Media Matters for America in 2004.
A senior GOP congressional aide told the Washington Examiner they find it “pretty pathetic” that Facts First USA is “wasting money” to target Republicans that aim to conduct “legitimate” oversight. The GOP-led investigations next Congress are expected to revolve around the alleged politicization of the Justice Department, Hunter Biden, COVID-19 origins, the border crisis, and the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Don’t they have better things to worry about?” asked the aide, who is not authorized to speak publicly.
But Facts First USA sees the investigations as bogus ammo Republicans aim to deploy in order “to ensure Democrats lose the presidency in 2024,” according to Brock’s October memo.
“The presidential election in 2024 will be close and simply relying on the hope that facts will triumph over conspiracy is not sufficient,” wrote Brock in the memo. “Instead, a robust external force — a SWAT team with additional capacity — must also be in place to ensure that the media and public do not accept the false narrative that flows from congressional investigations.”
Facts First USA is being directed by Michael Teter, who is also managing director for a legal advocacy group called the 65 Project. The group targets attorneys who tried to help former President Donald Trump overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and its president is Melissa Moss, who served in former President Bill Clinton’s administration.
Brock is also a senior adviser to the 65 Project, according to the group’s website.
Hayden Ludwig, a senior investigative researcher at Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank, told the Washington Examiner that the 65 Project is a “Stalinist-style campaign” trying to “disbar conservative election lawyers in the name of ‘bipartisanship.'”
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In Brock’s October memo, he described how Facts First USA will aim to push back “against misinformation campaigns” by crafting research on the upcoming congressional investigations and notify reporters at left-leaning outlets “that they will be held accountable if they simply buy into Republican propaganda.”
In addition to research, the organization will engage in legal analysis, rapid response, social media strategy, and outreach to “like-minded groups.” It will be partnered with American Bridge 21st Century PAC, which Brock founded, and is a major liberal opposition research group, according to the memo.
“American Bridge is an independent group focused on holding extremist Republican candidates accountable,” Drew Godinich, a spokesman for American Bridge, told the Washington Examiner. “It is not affiliated in any way with Facts First USA.”
One senior Republican operative, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told the Washington Examiner it’s only fitting Facts First USA would “enlist a team of Clinton cronies” to downplay the “corruption and nepotism” occurring within the U.S. government.
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“The real question is, what are they so afraid of?” asked the operative.
Rubin and McIntosh did not respond to requests for comment.