This week, the Sixth Circuit heard oral argument in a lawsuit that could decide whether foreign nationals — and the partisan groups they bankroll — can continue pouring foreign dark money into state ballot measures. At issue is a law Ohio enacted last year to ban both direct and indirect foreign contributions to these critical campaigns. With other states passing similar bans — eight as of this year — progressive groups are hoping the courts will intervene and keep their foreign cash flowing.
Ohio’s foreign funding ban did not emerge in a vacuum. Over just two years, Ohioans saw a stunning $20 million in foreign-tied funds flood their state. The money came through a group called the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a kingpin of liberal dark money. One of its top donors is a Swiss billionaire named Hansjörg Wyss — a man who admits he “never felt the need to become an American.”
.png)
.png)
