The Fair Election Fund, a national election integrity watchdog group, today commended Chairman James Comer and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for pressing forward with its investigation into the State Democracy Defenders Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit co-founded by former Obama Ambassador Norm Eisen. In a letter to Eisen, Chairman Comer demanded documents tied to activities that appear to line the pockets of the group’s own donors.

The Oversight Committee raised serious concerns that Eisen’s organization has been running a pay-to-play operation, exploiting its tax-exempt charitable status to reward donors while conducting political lobbying that far exceeds what the law allows. This latest inquiry is part of a sweeping congressional investigation into IRS failures to enforce the rules governing 501(c)(3) entities, which dates back to 2024.

Fair Election Fund released the following statement:

“The House Oversight Committee’s investigation reveals a deeply troubling pattern: a tax-exempt organization weaponizing its charitable status to enrich its own donors rather than serving any legitimate public purpose. That is not advocacy; it’s a shakedown dressed up as charity, and it is an abuse of the tax code.

Organizations that exploit nonprofit status for political and financial gain undermine public trust in our institutions. We commend Chairman Comer for his continued oversight and urge swift action from the IRS.”

BACKGROUND:

• 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 a watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.