Nebraska AG accuses Swiss billionaire of funneling donations to liberal ballot campaigns

Source: Lincoln Journal Star

Andrew Wegley 3 hrs ago

Nebraska on Wednesday sued a Swiss billionaire and a group of progressive nonprofits, accusing the group of funneling millions of foreign dollars into domestic elections in a violation of state law.

In a 32-page lawsuit filed Wednesday morning in Madison County, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers accused Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss-born businessman worth up to $12 billion, of pouring nearly $9.5 million into liberal ballot campaigns in 2024.

Hilgers' office accused Wyss of funneling his "sizable personal fortune" into two nonprofits he founded in the U.S., which in turn poured money into so-called "dark money groups" like the Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund that, in turn, donated to other progressive nonprofits, including the Fairness Project and the Hopewell Fund.

All four of those groups donated to fund liberal ballot campaigns in Nebraska last year — including a successful effort to require Nebraska employers to provide paid sick leave and a costly, failed effort to enshrine the right to an abortion until fetal viability into the state's constitution — while also providing grants to Nebraska-based nonprofits like Civic Nebraska and the Second House Collaborative that have donated to liberal ballot campaigns, too, Hilgers' office alleged.


Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers speaks during a news conference at the state Capitol on July 16.
KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

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