An incoming Democratic congresswoman did not disclose that she received funding from progressive billionaire George Soros, according to a new report.
Representative-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) failed to name Soros as the source of funding for an $85,000 stipend she received from his philanthropy, and she reported receiving less money than the philanthropy reported donating, according to a review of tax and financial forms by the Washington Free Beacon.
Democrat did not disclose Soros funding
The Beacon looked at the most recent tax forms for the Open Society Institute — the legal name of Soros’s wide-ranging progressive philanthropy, the Open Society Foundations — and found that the group donated $85,307 to Rashida Tlaib in Detroit in 2017. The Beacon found the expenditure buried in the middle of a 321-page document.
The inconspicuously listed grant was “to increase involvement of disenfranchised urban communities of color with their local governance process by creating a community benefits strategy for equitable development and creating a leadership training for impacted residents focused on negotiation skills and identifying leverage at the local level.”
But Tlaib did not list any payment of $85,307 on her financial disclosure forms while running for Congress. The congresswoman-elect listed financial liabilities from student loans and named three out of four sources of earned income, Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center, Wayne State University, and Metro Solutions.
In the form filed in May, Tlaib reported receiving a stipend of $68,307 last year for a “Leadership in Government Fellowship” but did not name the Open Society Foundations, and the amount reported is almost $20,000 less than what is listed in Soros’ forms.
Congresswoman received Soros stipend
According to the Beacon’s research, Tlaib was publicly known to be a recipient of a “Leadership in Government Fellowship” from Soros’ philanthropy. She was named alongside seven other candidates as a recipient of the stipend “supporting seasoned public servants whose work in government has advanced economic and social justice” in a 2016 press release from the Open Society Foundations.
“The eight fellows, chosen from the senior ranks of federal, state, and local government, will work on a wide variety of issue areas: devising new ways to bring criminal justice reform to local prosecutors’ offices; developing new strategies for helping school children exposed to trauma; improving life outcomes for low-wage workers, immigrants, and boys and men of color; and closing the digital divide, and more,” the release reads. “The 2016 Leadership in Government Fellows, the inaugural recipients of what will become an annual award, will receive stipends of $100,000 to $133,000 to help facilitate projects lasting between 12 and 18 months. Fellows will devote up to 32 hours a week to their projects.”
Tlaib’s stipend was to “develop a step-by-step training program to help communities transcend barriers to full civic participation and make their voices count in policy making.” According to the Open Society Foundation, Tlaib’s fellowship ended in May.
Ethics problems?
Tlaib’s failure to report the money could be a problem by House ethics rules, according to Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT). The manual on financial disclosures from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics directs filers to name the organizations that provide their income.
“Identify the source by naming the organization, corporation, or other entity making the payment. It is not necessary that individual clients of a business be named, only the business itself,” the manual states. “Filers must report the exact amount of income earned by them,” the manual adds.
Arnold said that the costs associated with the fellowship could explain the discrepancy between the income amounts reported by Tlaib and Soros.
The Beacon went on to report that Soros paid Tlaib $139,873 in 2016 and a total of $225,180 between 2016 and 2017. The site also noted that Tlaib did not list any income from Soros in 2018, even though the fellowship continued until this May.
Born to Palestinian migrants, Tlaib became one of the two first Muslim women elected to Congress this year. She recently endorsed an anti-Israel movement calling to boycott Israel with sanctions and came to the defense of fired CNN commentator Lamont Hill after he made anti-Israel comments. She has also said that President Donald Trump is “truly racist.”
“It’s in his policies, it’s in his words, and the fact of the matter is that he’s still our president,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter, I’m going to hold him accountable.”
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