Top Dem operative and founder of Media Matters accused of illegally profiting from far-left nonprofit

David Brock, who was described by Time magazine as "one of the most influential operatives in the Democratic Party," is accused of illegally transferring millions of dollars from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity. Brock, the founder of Media Matters for America and a longtime ally of the Clintons, is under investigation for possibly violating tax laws.

Far-left Super PAC American Bridge 21st Century was founded by Brock in 2011, which included the nonprofit group American Bridge Foundation. The AB Foundation is accused of transferring $2.7 million in tax-exempt assets to True Blue Media, a for-profit company owned by Brock that is the parent company of ShareBlue, a for-profit media company now known as The American Independent, according to the Daily Caller.

American Bridge Foundation's transfers to True Blue Media were disclosed in the nonprofit's Form 990s filed to the IRS in 2017 and 2018.

Patriots Foundation, a right-leaning government watchdog, alleged that the transactions violated Internal Revenue Service rules that prohibit nonprofit organizations from using tax-exempt resources to pay personal or private expenses of any key figures connected to the nonprofit. The Iowa-based watchdog filed a complaint with the IRS.

"David Brock, a leading left-wing political consultant, raises millions of dollars every year to influence the media, politics, and campaigns," Craig Robinson, the president of the Patriots Foundation, said. "Behind the scenes, his network of organizations have engaged in very troubling behavior that warrants serious investigation."

"These complaints we filed provide damning indictment of serious allegations about how his organizations have circumvented rules and exploited the tax-exempt status of the organizations for personal benefit and partisan political purposes, and potentially siphoning millions for improper purposes," Robinson told The Daily Beast in a statement.

"We're calling on the IRS to conduct a thorough investigation of Brock's organizations and to hold them accountable for all violations," Robinson said.

The complaint stated: "AB21CF appears to have abandoned any attempts at credibly describing itself as a social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). Instead, it has become singularly focused on one mission, 'to take on Donald Trump.'"

The document claimed American Bridge 21st Century planned to create "a 47-person war room to take on Donald Trump with a staff of 23 researchers, a communications team of 16."

American Bridge President Bradley Beychok said the group's "investment" was authorized by the board of directors. "The investment in True Blue Media, LLC was determined by the Independent Board of Directors to further the mission of AB Foundation," Beychok told The Daily Beast.

"To remove any potential conflict of interest, David Brock resigned as an officer and a member of the board of directors [of American Bridge] in 2016, before the first investment was made," Beychok said. "In the interest of transparency, the investments were listed on IRS form 990 as both a grant on Schedule I and on Schedule L. AB Foundation received an industry-standard investment agreement and in turn owns stock in True Blue Media."

However, the AB Foundation referred to Brock as its chairman as recently as 2018, and Brock currently labels himself as the chairman of American Bridge.

Liberal billionaire George Soros has given donations to American Bridge 21st Century. According to records, American Bridge 21st Century has spent $10 million on anti-Trump advertising in battleground states. Brock has been talking about "kicking Trump's ass" since November 2016.