Nebraska AG accuses foreign billionaire of boosting ballot initiative campaigns
By John Grinvalds
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LINCOLN, Neb. (KETV) — Nebraska’s top lawyer put a Swiss billionaire in his sights on Wednesday, announcing a lawsuit to shut down what he called “an unprecedented assault of foreign money” influencing state politics.
“What we have found is really a scandal hiding in plain sight,” Hilgers said. “We have a billionaire from Switzerland by the name of Hansjörg Wyss, who has spent a half $1 billion in United States that have flowed into elections around the country and a massive amount, relatively speaking, a massive amount of those dollars have flowed into Nebraska.”
Hilgers unveiled a flowchart, showcasing what he says is a trail of dark money from Wyss, who is worth up to $12 billion, through foundations and onto advocacy groups and ballot initiative campaigns.
“We do not want foreign funding of state ballot initiatives in the state of Nebraska,” Hilgers said.
The ballot questions Hilgers said were boosted by that money include Lincoln for Fair Housing, Support Our Schools, Protect our Rights, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and Nebraskans for Paid Sick Leave — all issues Hilgers identified as left-wing.
Reporters asked if Hilgers applied that same scrutiny to right-wing causes.
“I’ve noted this is a far-left radical, we believe,” Hilgers said. “Have I seen anything on the right? We see no evidence that. Be very clear. The statute has no ideological carve out.”
Hilgers filed the suit in Madison County Court on Wednesday. He said he chose that venue because of his policy to spread cases across the state.
Hilgers said his office hadn’t “forensically” traced money directly from Wyss to specific ballot campaigns in the state, but he said in Nebraska, indirect donations from foreign nationals are unlawful.
Nebraska Appleseed and Civic Nebraska were named in the lawsuit as part of the flow of money, but Hilgers said he’s not targeting them and that they’re not defendants. Most of the initiative campaigns and nonprofits named in the lawsuit did not provide comment on Wednesday.
But Sixteen Thirty Fund called the lawsuit “baseless” and “politically motivated.”
“Sixteen Thirty Fund fully complies with all laws and regulations governing social welfare organizations in Nebraska, and we’re proud to have supported local organizers who fought to secure paid leave, fair housing, and reproductive freedom for Nebraskans,” a spokesperson said.
The Wyss Foundation and Berger Action Fund released a joint statement.
“These allegations are false. We are confident the facts will demonstrate that the Wyss Foundation and Berger Action Fund have always complied with the law.”
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