Report Finds Arnold Ventures Sent Over $20 Million to Groups Like Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Center for American Progress

The Fair Election Fund (FEF), an election integrity watchdog group, today released a new report taking a closer look at Arnold Ventures, a “bipartisan” philanthropy, and their quiet election influence operation that poured over $20 million into organizations actively working to elect Democrats, flip Congress, and pave the way for another impeachment of President Trump.

Founded by registered Democrats John and Laura Arnold, who have donated billions of dollars to leftist causes, Arnold Ventures describes itself as a “bipartisan” philanthropy advocating for “evidence-based” policy solutions. In this new report, FEF found that Arnold Ventures is supporting left-leaning organizations working to elect Democrats, undermining the very bipartisan credibility that Arnold Ventures claims. 

The report tracks Arnold Ventures’ giving to four left-leaning groups, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Center for American Progress, Vera Institute of Justice, and Brookings Institution, each of which has a documented record of electoral activity that overwhelmingly benefits Democratic candidates and causes.

Among the report’s findings:

Arnold Ventures gave over $5 million directly to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which has endorsed dozens of Democrats in key congressional races and has not endorsed a single Republican. The Action Fund has already committed $3.5 million to defeat House Republicans in swing districts that could determine who holds the Speakership. Arnold Ventures also personally donated over $100,000 to Planned Parenthood Texas Votes as part of an effort to turn Texas blue.

Arnold Ventures gave over $1.5 million to the Center for American Progress, which used those dollars to promote Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat who has called President Trump a “traitor” and demanded his impeachment. CAP employees gave 100% of their $147,332 in 2024 contributions to Democrats.

Arnold Ventures gave over $13 million to the Vera Institute of Justice, whose political arm is running a direct midterm election operation to stop President Trump’s law and order agenda. Vera’s director presented at the DNC on how Democrats can win the crime debate. In May 2026, Vera launched a midterm campaign with Dream.org to combat Trump’s public safety legislation. Vera employees gave 100% of their $14,000 in 2024 political donations to Democrats.

Arnold Ventures gave over $5.7 million to the Brookings Institution, which has functioned as a campaign platform for Democratic lawmakers this election cycle. Brookings hosted Reps. Maxwell Frost, Adam Schiff, and Sen. Jeff Merkley at events this year. Also noteworthy, Brookings employees gave 100% of their $243,585 in 2024 political contributions to Democratic candidates.

BACKGROUND:

• In June, FEF commended House Oversight Chairman Comer and the committee for investigating Norm Eisen’s pay-to-play scheme, calling it “deeply troubling.”
• In April, called attention to a report revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.
• In June 2024, FEF awarded $50,000 in bounties to whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of voter fraud or election administration issues in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The Fair Election Fund is an election watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.