Last modified on May 31, 2023, at 19:46

Koch network

The Koch network consists of the 130 or so organizations controlled or influenced by the Koch brothers. Each donor is required to contribute at least $100,000 to a Koch-approved organization. The group is mostly globalist and anti-Trump.

Trademark positions of the political puppets of the Koch network include opposition to ethanol subsidies for Iowa farmers (the Kochs made billions from oil refineries) and support of the "horrible idea" (Justice Scalia's words) of a Con Con (deceptively named a Convention of States today).

Research has revealed some surprising organizations within the orbit of the Kochs as of 2014.[1] As the Kochs' wealth and political spending has expanded since them, so has their control over right-of-center groups. An analysis in 2017 turned up additional organizations under the influence of the Koch brothers.[2]

For politicians controlled by the Kochs, see Koch puppets. The most devoted Koch puppets in the U.S. Senate are globalist Senators Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Koch organizations support an open borders immigration policy, such as making DACA permanent.[3][4]

The chief lieutenants of the Kochs were Tim Phillips (until he resigned as president of Americans for Prosperity after 15 years there, in late 2021[5]), who is president the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, and Adam Brandon, who is president of FreedomWorks.

Annual spending

The Koch network, including the Koch brothers themselves, spend approximately $250 million a year in contributions to campaigns, independent PACs, and organizations. Here is a developing chart of estimated recipients of that funding, which is predominantly globalist and pro-abortion:

  • annual total from merely the above: $153 million per year

Prior Koch groups

  • American Encore (active from 2009 to 2012)

Secret Pence-Koch meeting 6-23-17

Vice President Mike Pence did not disclose a secret meeting he had with Charles Koch on June 23, 2017, but the Koch network did. The resulting article in TheHill explained:[6]


“ James Davis, a spokesman for the Koch brothers' network, said Pence and Charles Koch discussed issues ranging from tax reform to a measure reforming the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which President Trump signed Friday. The meeting lasted 50 minutes, Davis said.

Marc Short, the White House's director of legislative affairs who once served as Pence's chief of staff on Capitol Hill, and Marty Obst, a longtime Pence adviser who runs the vice president's political action committee, both sat in on the meeting.

On the Koch brothers' side of the room: Mark Holden, Koch Industries' general counsel; Tim Phillips, president of the Koch brothers-backed group Americans for Prosperity; Brian Hooks, president of the Charles Koch Foundation and the Charles Koch Institute; and Davis.

”

References

  1. ↑ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/koch-brothers-web-influence
  2. ↑ http://www.prwatch.org/news/2017/03/13229/koch-brothers-bankroll-constitutional-convention
  3. ↑ Binder, John (April 2, 2018). Billionaire Koch Brothers: Trump Ditching Amnesty Deal for DACA Illegal Aliens a ‘Grave Injustice’. Breitbart News. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kight, Stef W. (April 2, 2018). Koch-backed groups aren’t happy with Trump’s “DACA is dead” tweet. Axios. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  5. ↑ https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/03/koch-network-rocked-by-affair-scandal-donor-departures-discrimination-lawsuit.html
  6. ↑ https://thehill.com/homenews/news/339283-pence-stops-by-koch-brothers-conference-in-colorado