A Swiss billionaire has been exploiting a foreign influence loophole, allowing him to avoid federal bans on foreign influence in American elections. Hansjörg Wyss – who founded Synthes USA before selling it to Johnson & Johnson for $20 billion – has donated upwards of $475 million in an effort to “[re]interpret the American Constitution in the light of progressive politics.”
Both the Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund have been used to funnel cash through the Arabella Advisors network, a “dark money hub” comprised of a number of groups supporting: radical climate change policies; changes to American election laws; defunding police; and packing the US Supreme Court.
Wyss also donated $72.7 million to another 12 “dark money organizations” in 2021 alone, $62.5 million of which went to groups supporting and promoting President Joe Biden‘s policies.
The Swiss octogenarian – who is also the co-owner of Chelsea Football Club following the British government’s ouster of the Vladimir Putin-linked Roman Abramovich – has “used his personal fortune to finance radical left-wing causes and candidates, all while attempting to avoid any public scrutiny or oversight,” states a new report from Americans for Public Trust.
“It’s time for Congress to close the foreign influence loophole that allows foreign dark money to flood the American electoral and political system,” argues Caitlin Sutherland, the group’s executive director.
