A group of House Republicans sent a letter Monday to the left-leaning group Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), calling on them to explain where the hundreds of millions of dollars they were given during the COVID-19 pandemic went, saying the group spent less than one percent on personal protective equipment (PPE).
The Daily Caller first obtained the letter which was spearheaded by Republican New York Rep. Claudia Tenney who was joined by 13 other House Republicans. The letter mentions that CTCL gave $350 million to nearly 2,500 election officials in 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2020. The lawmakers call on the CTCL to immediately publish their full financial 990s for public review, saying it is the groups legal obligation as a registered 501(c)(3).
“Many state and local entities have reported spending your grant money on expenses as varied and unrelated to COVID-19 as advertising, designing absentee ballots, registering teen voters, automatic voter registration, and even pay raises and new vehicle purchases. An elections supervisor in Lowndes County, Georgia, stated that CTCL was ‘very lenient regarding what we could spend the money on. They put virtually no restrictions on it as long as it relates to the election.’ Furthermore, it appears that 92% of CTCL grants were given to overwhelmingly Democrat-leaning precincts,” the letter states.
READ THE LETTER HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“Pennsylvania State Representative Eric Nelson raised concerns with certain counties receiving disproportionate funding, stating ‘I just felt, ethically, it was disturbing to me that the private grant distribution was happening, and it was not happening evenly between counties,'” the letter continues. (RELATED: Rep. Claudia Tenney Calls On Cuomo To Resign After Report Says He Covered Up Nursing Home Deaths)
“These reports and others have raised red flags around the country and states are now taking action to prohibit this type of outside investment in the future. To date, twelve states have or are planning to introduce legislation to prohibit election officials from accepting private funds. Given the serious questions and inconsistencies surrounding CTCL grants, it is especially vital that your organization promptly release its full financial data so the public can properly assess the influence of this $350 million during the 2020 election,” they added in the letter. (RELATED: Pelosi Banned Congresswoman’s Military Officer Son From Attending Her Swearing-In)
In a conversation with the Daily Caller, Tenney also mentioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s donation of $350 million to the CTCL, claiming that the money was actually used for “Get Out the Vote” efforts and electioneering instead of on PPE.
“Mark Zuckerberg channeled $350 million to government agencies during the 2020 election with zero transparency or accountability, and he used the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to do it, a left leaning nonprofit. CTCL said the money was for PPE, but it was actually used for Get Out the Vote efforts and electioneering. It is no surprise that the vast majority of CTCL’s ‘Zuckerbucks’ ended up in predominantly Democratic counties,” Tenney told the Daily Caller.
“I’m calling on CTCL to immediately disclose how these Zuckerbucks were spent and why it deliberately misled the public about their use. Partisan influence operations like this have no place in American elections – they undermine trust in the democratic process and call into question the integrity of elections officials,” Tenney added.
The Daily Caller contacted CTCL about the letter. They did not respond at the time of the publication.
After publication a spokesperson for the Chan Zuckerberg family sent the Daily Caller the following statement:
“When our nation’s election infrastructure faced unprecedented challenges last year due to the pandemic, Mark and Priscilla stepped up to close a funding gap and granted $350 million to the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a non-partisan, 501 (c)(3) organization, which issued an open call to local jurisdictions across the country and provided funding for all jurisdictions that were determined to be legitimate.”
“Nearly 2,500 election jurisdictions from 49 states applied for and received funds, including urban, suburban, rural, and exurban counties. While Mark and Priscilla provided an overall grant to CTCL to ensure funding was available, they did not participate in the process to determine which jurisdictions received funds, and as a (c)(3) CTCL is prohibited from engaging in partisan activities.”