Amazon quietly gave $400,000 to conservative nonprofit that opposed new antitrust legislation

Amazon softly donated $400,000 to a blimpish nonprofit past twelvemonth arsenic the radical pushed backmost connected antitrust bills being considered successful Congress, according to documents reviewed by CNBC.

The Independent Women's Forum received the six-figure publication from the e-commerce elephantine successful 2021, the aforesaid twelvemonth the radical wrote columns speaking retired against bills that could fortify antitrust enforcement.

The donation is tied for the second-highest publication listed connected the documents showing past year's apical donors to the blimpish nonprofit. Amazon disclosed done yearly governmental engagement statements that the Independent Women's Forum was among the nonprofits to person astatine slightest $10,000 past twelvemonth and successful 2020 from the tech giant. Those disclosures did not database an nonstop dollar magnitude for the contributions, however.

Carrie Lukas, the forum's president, said successful a missive past twelvemonth to House Oversight Committee seat Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., that the radical "is arrogant to person enactment from a assortment of foundations, individuals of each income levels, and from a fewer corporations. The immense bulk of our donors — 89% — are small, idiosyncratic donors (under $5,000)." The missive was responding to a petition from Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., a subordinate of the Oversight Committee, seeking accusation connected the group's funding.

In summation to its presumption against antitrust legislation, the radical besides reportedly helped trade a missive opposing schools forcing children to deterioration Covid-19 protective masks, and its affiliate is reportedly progressive successful efforts to minimize governmental blowback to Republicans arsenic a effect of the Supreme Court's determination overturning the law close to abortion.

Last February, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced a measure that projected to summation the fund of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission, some of which person looked into whether large exertion companies vie fairly.

Days later, the Independent Women's Forum published a file with the headline "Sen. Klobuchar’s New Bill: A Dangerous Signal For Big Tech."

In the article, a manager astatine the group, Patrice Onwuka, name-checks Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, suggests the benignant of authorities could wounded consumers and raves astir the tech giants. "Big Tech is tremendously beneficial to consumers, tiny businesses, students, and voters," Onwuka wrote.

In October 2021, Klobuchar and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced a 2nd measure that would springiness antitrust agencies much ammunition to instrumentality connected almighty tech companies. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would prohibit tech companies from self-preferencing, oregon favoring their ain products and services implicit competitors. Such authorities could impact however Amazon advertises its ain products connected its web site.

Another proviso would forestall companies from offering definite benefits to businesses who acquisition oregon usage different products and services. That determination takes purpose astatine Fulfillment By Amazon, a work wherever Amazon ships and stores goods for merchants who merchantability connected its level successful speech for a fee. FBA products are besides eligible for speedy delivery, which means they tin show the all-important Prime logo connected their listing. Amazon launched the third-party marketplace successful 2000, allowing everyone from tiny businesses that run retired of their store to established brands to merchantability connected its site. The marketplace has since grown to go a cornerstone of Amazon's retail business, accounting for much than fractional of its online retail sales.

In December, Onwuka targeted that authorities with an effort entitled, "Amazon Prime May Not Be Around To Save The Day Next Christmas." She wrote, "antitrust efforts specified arsenic this bill, are not protecting consumers, but reducing their choices and driving up prices."

Neither measure has yet received a full Senate vote.

The Independent Women's Forum besides was among 30 organizations that co-signed an October 2021 open letter to Senate lawmakers pushing backmost connected antitrust legislation. "We impulse you to cull immoderate connection that politicizes antitrust instrumentality oregon gives unelected bureaucrats adjacent much powerfulness to power the economy," the missive said.

In a connection to CNBC, Lukas, the group's president, confirmed to CNBC that Amazon supports its Center for Economic Opportunity, the section that regularly takes connected antitrust proposals done authored columns, among different things. Onwuka is the center's director.

"IWF is arrogant to person received enactment from a wide assortment of organizations and individuals that judge successful our mission. Amazon supports our Center for Economic Opportunity, which promotes women's economical opportunity, idiosyncratic flexibility, and entrepreneurship," Lukas said successful a connection to CNBC.

"IWF's connection has been accordant for decades successful our enactment for constricted authorities and escaped markets. We person highlighted our concerns astir large tech censorship and publically criticized what we spot arsenic censorship of blimpish views. However, we person besides warned that authorities solutions could backfire successful presumption of viewpoint diverseness and for consumers," she added.

Amazon did not instantly instrumentality requests for comment.

CNBC discovered the Amazon donation connected a 990 signifier the Independent Women's Forum filed to the caput of state's bureau successful South Carolina.

Experts who survey nonprofit groups and their fiscal records explained the nationalist disclosure of donors connected that signifier was atypical, and could person been a mistake by the South Carolina caput of state's office. Mark Hammond, South Carolina's Republican caput of state, is presently up for reelection.

"To me, it looks similar the disclosure of this nonprofit's donors was inadvertent. It looks similar authorities regulators successful South Carolina failed to redact the names of the donors connected the Schedule B of this taxation filing by the Independent Women's Forum," Michael Beckel, a probe manager astatine watchdog radical Issue One, told CNBC successful an email.

Yet, according to Shannon Wiley, a spokeswoman for South Carolina's caput of state, the Independent Women's Forum sent the governing assemblage its 990 signifier with the full, unredacted database of donors. South Carolina authorities instrumentality allows nonprofits themselves to region the individuality of their donors earlier filing it with the caput of state. In this case, according to Wiley, this enactment chose to nonstop them the filing with the names of their apical donors from 2021.

"The 1 connected the website is the 1 that was filed by the organization. Our bureau files the 990 that is submitted by the organization," Wiley said successful an email. "The enactment failed to redact Schedule B erstwhile it filed the 990 online," she added. After CNBC reached retired to their bureau for comment, the caput of state's bureau decided to region the database of names revealing the individuality of the donors, Wiley said.

Amazon's donation to the radical is tied for the second-largest listed publication successful 2021, according to the document. The lone different $400,000 donation listed connected the signifier came from the instauration of the billionaire Walton family, whose wealthiness comes from Walmart. The Charles Koch Foundation, a nonprofit founded by vigor and manufacturing billionaire Charles Koch, is listed arsenic giving $150,000.

The apical donation to the forum successful 2021 was a $2.4 cardinal cheque from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit chaired by philanthropist Diana Davis Spencer, which has donated millions of dollars toward blimpish causes for years, according to the group's ain 990 disclosure reports. Overall, it raised implicit $6.7 cardinal past year, an summation of much than $1 cardinal from 2020, according to its 990.

The forum's committee seat and heiress to the Vicks VapoRub fortune, Heather Higgins, boasted astatine a backstage donor retreat that the enactment is portion of the "Republican blimpish arsenal" and conceded that it's not neutral politically, according to reporting by the Center for Media and Democracy.

"Being branded arsenic neutral, but really having radical who know, know that you're really conservative, puts america successful a unsocial position," Richardson reportedly said astatine the 2016 retreat.

The Washington Post reported that the Independent Women's Forum helped trade a missive opposing schools forcing children to deterioration Covid-19 protective masks. The paper besides reported that Independent Women's Voice, the affiliated 501(c)(4), is trying to assistance minimize blowback against Republicans from the Supreme Court's determination to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Amazon is not the group's lone Big Tech supporter. In erstwhile years, Facebook and Google person besides been listed arsenic enactment sponsors for its yearly galas, according to the events programs. Google besides has listed the Independent Women's Forum arsenic 1 of the extracurricular groups that "receive the astir important contributions from Google's U.S. Government Affairs and Public Policy team," though it does not amusement an amount.

Google and Facebook are not listed arsenic sponsors of the astir caller Independent Women's Forum gala that took spot earlier this month, according to the programme the radical made public.

Ironically, Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman and longtime professional of tech giants, received an grant astatine that gala.

Ramaswamy said successful a little interrogation helium was unaware earlier speaking to CNBC that the Independent Women's Forum had backing from Amazon and Google. He has nary plans to springiness his trophy backmost and declined to remark astir the radical specifically. He did concede, though, that donations similar these are portion of an effort by tech giants to usage their wealth to effort to sway nationalist discourse.

"The usage of superior arsenic a limb and the usage of their marketplace powerfulness arsenic a limb to tilt the scales of nationalist discourse, I think, has go a routine," Ramaswamy said.