Koch network: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{short description|Charles G. and David H. Koch and their activities in US politics}}

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[[Charles Koch|Charles G.]] (born 1935) and [[David Koch|David H. Koch]] (1940–2019), commonlysometimes referred to as the Koch brothers,<ref name=mayer-dark-2-3/> have become famous for their financial and political influence in [[Politics of the United States|United States politics]] with a [[Libertarianism|libertarian]], more sospecifically, [[Right-libertarianism|right-libertarian]] or [[Libertarianism in the United States|American-style libertarian]] political stance. From around 2004 to 2019,<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019">{{cite news |last1=Cillizza |first1=Chris |title=The Point. How the Koch brothers fundamentally changed modern politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/politics/david-koch-charles-koch-brothers/index.html |access-date=19 December 2022 |agency=CNN |date=23 August 2019}}</ref> with "foresight and perseverance",<ref name=mayer-dark-2-3/> the brothers organized like-minded wealthy libertarian-oriented conservatives, spent hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build an "integrated" and&nbsp; "stealth" network of think tanks, foundations, "grassroots" movements,<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019"/> academic programs, advocacy and legal groups to "destroy the prevalent statist paradigm"<ref name=mayer-dark-statist>article by Charles Koch, "The Business Community, Resisting Regulation", in the ''Libertarian Review'', August 1978, quoted in {{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |publisher=Doubleday |pages=54}}</ref> and reshape public opinion to favor minimal government.<ref name=mayer-dark-2-3>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |publisher=Doubleday |pages=2–3}}</ref><ref>{{citeCite news|last1=Vogel|first1=Kenneth P.|title=The Koch ATMbook|url=httphttps://wwwbooks.politicogoogle.com/story/2015/11/books?id=RsYr_iQUs6QC&q=koch-brothers-990-filing-215979&pg=PA144|access-datetitle=DecemberThe 4,Oxford 2015Handbook of Climate Change and Society|publisherlast1=PoliticoDryzek|datefirst1=NovemberJohn 17,S.|last2=Norgaard|first2=Richard 2015B.|last3=Schlosberg|first3=David|year=2011|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0199566600|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1name=Confessore|first1=Nicholas|title=KochFisher/> Brothers' BudgetAs of $889mid Million2018, forthe 2016media Ishas onbeen Parencouraged Withto Bothrefer Parties' Spending|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/us/politics/kochs-plan-to-spend-900-million-on-2016-campaign.html|access-date=December 4,the 2015|newspaper=The"Koch Newnetwork" Yorkrather Times|date=Januarythan 26,the 2015}}"Koch brothers".<ref name=severns-assailed-2018/ref><ref>{{Cite news

| last = Schulman

| first = Daniel

| title = Koch vs. Koch: The Brutal Battle That Tore Apart America's Most Powerful Family

| work = [[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]

| access-date = 2014-06-21

| date = 2014-05-20

| url = https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/koch-brothers-family-history-sons-of-wichita

}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsYr_iQUs6QC&q=koch&pg=PA144|title=The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society|last1=Dryzek|first1=John S.|last2=Norgaard|first2=Richard B.|last3=Schlosberg|first3=David|year=2011|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0199566600|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Fisher/> As of mid 2018, the media has been encouraged to refer to the "Koch network" rather than the "Koch brothers".<ref name=severns-assailed-2018/>

The Koch brothers are the sons of [[Fred C. Koch]] (1900–1967), who founded [[Koch Industries]], now the second- largest privately held company in the United States. As of 2012 they owned 84% of Koch Industries stock,<ref name=Fisher>{{cite news | last=Fisher|first=Daniel|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/12/05/inside-the-koch-empire-how-the-brothers-plan-to-reshape-america/#49acde6e650b | title=Inside The Koch Empire: How The Brothers Plan To Reshape America | work=[[Forbes]]| date=December 5, 2012 | access-date=December 15, 2013}}</ref> and as of December 2022, Charles Koch was estimated to have a net worth of $66 billion, making him the 14th -richest person in the world.<ref name="Bloomberg-billionaire">{{cite news |title=Bloomberg Billionaires Index |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/charles-d-koch/ |access-date=21 December 2022 |agency=Bloomberg}}</ref> Fred C. actually had four sons, but the other two—Fredricktwo, Fredrick and William—areWilliam, are not involved in the family business; (Charles and David bought them out in 1983),<ref>The brothers settled in 2001, in {{cite magazine|author=Kroll, Luisa|title=Billionaire Family Feuds: The High Stakes Of Dysfunction And Dissent|date=June 1, 2012|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/06/01/billionaire-family-feuds-the-high-stakes-of-dysfunction-and-dissent|magazine=Forbes|access-date=July 10, 2012}}</ref> and neither are involved with the [[Koch family foundations|family foundations]], or in Charles and David's political or philanthropic network.

The brothers' ideology is [[Libertarianism|libertarian]], more specifically the [[Right-libertarianism|right-libertarian]] branch most commoncommonly found in [[Libertarianism in the United States|American-style libertarianism]].<ref name=belkin-2020>{{Cite news |last=Belkin |first=Douglas |date=2020-11-13 |title=Charles Koch Says His Partisanship Was a Mistake |language=en-US |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/charles-koch-says-his-partisanship-was-a-mistake-11605286893 |access-date=2022-03-23 |issn=0099-9660 |quote=At 85, the libertarian tycoon who spent decades funding conservative causes says he wants a final act building bridges across political divides.}}</ref>

The late David Koch described himself as a [[Social liberalism|social liberal]],<ref name="Eric Black-5-19-14" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Sara |date=2014-12-14 |title=David Koch is pro-choice, supports gay rights; just not Democrats {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/14/politics/david-koch-gay-rights-abortion-democrats/index.html |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=CNN |language=en |quote="I'm basically a libertarian. And I'm a conservative on economic matters and I'm a social liberal" [...] Koch, who supports gay rights and women's right to choose, said if candidates he gives to don't share those ideals, "That's their problem. I do have those views." [...] "I'm really focused intensely on economic and fiscal issues, because if those go bad the country as a whole suffers terribly."}}</ref> and in the early years of their political activity ran for vice president as the [[United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian Party's]] candidate.<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014/>

However, his "intense" focus was "on economic and fiscal issues" - i.e. being [[Fiscal conservatism|fiscally conservative]] or [[Economic liberalism|economically liberal]]<ref name=":0"/> rather than other libertarian causes, and as of 2014 the millions of dollars both brothers donated to candidates went to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]], not Libertarians.<ref name="Eric Black-5-19-14">{{cite web|last1=Black|first1=Eric|title=Move from Libertarian Party to GOP: Koch brothers change tactics, not beliefs |url=https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2014/05/move-libertarian-party-gop-koch-brothers-change-tactics-not-beliefs|website=www.minnpost.com|access-date=May 19, 2014|date=May 19, 2014}}</ref>

They actively fund and support organizations that contribute significantly to Republican candidates, promote [[climate change denial]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Farrell|first=Justin|date=2016-01-05|title=Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=113|issue=1|pages=92–97|doi=10.1073/pnas.1509433112|issn=0027-8424|pmc=4711825|pmid=26598653|bibcode=2016PNAS..113...92F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dark-money-funds-climate-change-denial-effort/|title="Dark Money" Funds Climate Change Denial Effort|first=Douglas Fischer, The Daily|last=Climate|website=Scientific American}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/technology/2015/12/exxonmobil-koch-family-have-powered-climate-change-denial-for-decades.html|title=Researchers: Exxon, Koch Family Have Powered the Climate-Denial Machine for Decades|first=Eric|last=Holthaus|date=December 1, 2015|website=Slate Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2015/aug/07/maybe-koch-isnt-worried-about-climate-change-because-he-doesnt-get-the-science|title=Maybe Charles Koch isn't worried about climate change because he doesn't get the science|date=August 7, 2015|website=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131220154511.htm|title=Not just Koch brothers: New study reveals funders behind climate change denial effort|website=ScienceDaily}}</ref> and in particular that lobby against efforts to expand government's role in health care and [[climate change mitigation]].<ref name="mayer2010">{{cite magazine|first=Jane|last=Mayer|author-link=Jane Mayer|title=Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama|date=2010-08-30|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/covert-operations|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> Unlike less patient, shrewd, or deep-pocketed activists, they spent time and money on less visible projects "like influencing policy at the state legislative level".<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019"/> By 2010, they had donated more than $100 million to dozens of conservative advocacy organizations.<ref name="mayer2010"/> From 2009 to 2016, the network of conservative/right-wing donors they organized pledged to spend $889 million and its infrastructure was said by ''[[Politico]]'' to rival "that of the [[Republican National Committee]]".<ref name="Vogel-27-10-16">{{cite web|last1=Vogel|first1=Kenneth P.|title=Behind the retreat of the Koch brothers' operation |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/koch-brothers-campaign-struggles-230325|website=Politico|access-date=October 27, 2016|date=October 27, 2016}}</ref> Despite its secrecy, the vast reach, massive funding, and political success of the network has gradually raised the brothers' profile and made them a "bogeyman" among many [[Liberalism in the United States#21st century|liberal]]s and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]s.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-other-koch-brothers_n_5420230 |title=Better know a Koch Brother| agency=HuffPost |author=Jason Linkins |date=30 May 2014 |access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref>

By 2010, they had donated more than $100 million to dozens of conservative advocacy organizations.<ref name="mayer2010"/> From 2009 to 2016, the network of conservative/right-wing donors they organized pledged to spend $889 million and its infrastructure was said by ''[[Politico]]'' to rival "that of the [[Republican National Committee]]".<ref name="Vogel-27-10-16">{{cite web|last1=Vogel|first1=Kenneth P.|title=Behind the retreat of the Koch brothers' operation |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/koch-brothers-campaign-struggles-230325|website=Politico|access-date=October 27, 2016|date=October 27, 2016}}</ref> Despite its secrecy, the vast reach, massive funding, and political success of the network has gradually raised the brothers' profile and made them a "bogeyman" among many [[Liberalism in the United States#21st century|liberal]]s and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]s.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-other-koch-brothers_n_5420230 |title=Better know a Koch Brother| agency=HuffPost |author=Jason Linkins |date=30 May 2014 |access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref>

In May 2019, the Kochs announced a change in direction,<ref name=belkin-2020/> described as a "turn away from partisan politics to focus more on goals that cut across ideologies".<ref name=hohmann/> The Koch network would henceforth operate under the umbrella of [[Stand Together]], a nonprofit focused on supporting community groups. The network emphasized this was “not a branding exercise” and stated that its priorities would be efforts aimed at such anodyne goals as increasing employment, addressing poverty and addiction, ensuring excellent education, building a stronger economy, and bridging divides and building respect.<ref name=hohmann>{{cite news |last1=Hohmann |first1=James |title=The Koch network is reorganizing under a new name and with new priorities |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2019/05/20/daily-202-the-koch-network-is-reorganizing-under-a-new-name-and-with-new-priorities/5ce1a94fa7a0a435cff8c0d3/ |access-date=May 20, 2019 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=May 20, 2019}}</ref> Some critics maintain "Koch-affiliated groups" are still active "at the front lines of our current culture wars".<ref name="WIRESTONE-lurks-2021">{{cite news |last1=WIRESTONE |first1=CLAY |title=OPINION Koch network lurks behind school mask battles, despite soothing new tone at the top |url=https://kansasreflector.com/2021/10/07/koch-network-lurks-behind-school-mask-battles-despite-soothing-new-tone-at-the-top/ |access-date=9 January 2023 |agency=Kansas Reflector |date=7 October 2021}}</ref>

==Background and history==

The "Koch brothers" were sons of [[Fred C. Koch]], a founding member of the [[John Birch Society]].<ref name="mayer2010"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Jonathan T.|title=Forbes Richest People: The Forbes Annual Profile of the World's Wealthiest Men and Women|year=1997|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0471177517|page=138|quote=Founding member (1958) [[John Birch Society]]&nbsp; – reportedly after seeing Russian friends liquidated}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Hoover's 500: Profiles of America's Largest Business Enterprises|year=1996|publisher=[[Hoover's|Hoover's Business Press]]|isbn=978-1573110099|page=[https://archive.org/details/hoovers50000refe/page/286 286]|quote=In 1929 Koch took his process to the Soviet Union, but he grew disenchanted with Stalinism and returned home to become a founding member of the anticommunist John Birch Society.|url=https://archive.org/details/hoovers50000refe/page/286}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Brothers at Odds|last1=Wayne|first1=Leslie|newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 7, 1986|page=Sec. 6; Part 2, p 100 col. 1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/07/magazine/brothers-at-odds.html?pagewanted=all |quote=He returned a fervent anti-Communist who would later become a founding member of the John Birch Society.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Diamond|first1=Sara|title=Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States|year=1995|publisher=Guilford Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0898628623|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w1bqY–DxHMEC&pg=PA324&dq=86+koch 324 n. 86.]}}</ref> He gave a speech in 1963 warning of “a takeover” of America in which Communists would “infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us”.<ref name=covert>{{Cite news|author=[[Jane Mayer]]|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer|title=Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=2010-09-07}}</ref>▼

[[File:David Koch by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|David Koch (1940–2019)]]

▲The "Koch brothers" were sons of [[Fred C. Koch]], a founding member of the [[John Birch Society]].<ref name="mayer2010"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Jonathan T.|title=Forbes Richest People: The Forbes Annual Profile of the World's Wealthiest Men and Women|year=1997|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0471177517|page=138|quote=Founding member (1958) [[John Birch Society]]&nbsp; – reportedly after seeing Russian friends liquidated}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Hoover's 500: Profiles of America's Largest Business Enterprises|year=1996|publisher=[[Hoover's|Hoover's Business Press]]|isbn=978-1573110099|page=[https://archive.org/details/hoovers50000refe/page/286 286]|quote=In 1929 Koch took his process to the Soviet Union, but he grew disenchanted with Stalinism and returned home to become a founding member of the anticommunist John Birch Society.|url=https://archive.org/details/hoovers50000refe/page/286}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Brothers at Odds|last1=Wayne|first1=Leslie|newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 7, 1986|page=Sec. 6; Part 2, p 100 col. 1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/07/magazine/brothers-at-odds.html?pagewanted=all |quote=He returned a fervent anti-Communist who would later become a founding member of the John Birch Society.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Diamond|first1=Sara|title=Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States|year=1995|publisher=Guilford Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0898628623|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w1bqY–DxHMEC&pg=PA324&dq=86+koch 324 n. 86.]}}</ref> He gave a speech in 1963 warning of “a takeover” of America in which Communists would “infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us”.<ref name=covert>{{Cite news|author=[[Jane Mayer]]|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer|title=Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=2010-09-07}}</ref>

According to at least one source (Chris Cillizza), the Koch's domination of American politics, "especially among Republicans", began in 2004 and lasted "through at least 2016".<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019"/> In a 3 April 2014 op-ed piece in the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', Charles described himself as involved in politics "only reluctantly and recently" and "only in the past decade.", starting with the founding of the biannual donor seminars. However, the nonpartisan fact-checking group [[PolitiFact]] found the Kochs had "made many campaign contributions prior to 2004", coming to approximately $7 million, in addition to federal lobbying and contributions to conservative ideological think tanks (Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Mercatus Center and Citizens for a Sound Economy).<ref name=PoliticFact-2014>{{cite news|first1=Louis |last1=Jacobson |title='Charles Koch n Op-Ed, Says His Political Engagement Began Only in the Last Decade.'|agency= PoliticFact.com |date= April 3, 2014 |url= https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/apr/03/charles-koch/charles-koch-op-ed-says-his-political-engagement-b/ |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=mayer-dark-424>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |pages=368, 424–5}}</ref>

In public opinion pieces and other forums, Charles Koch proclaimed his conception of "[[economic freedom]]" as essential to the well-being of society. Believing society so far off course that it was far from sufficient to simply fund candidates for office, the Kochs sought to change the [[zeitgeist]]. To that end they founded and provided sustained funding for an array of free-market and libertarian think tanks and academic research entities starting in the 1970s. These included the [[Cato Institute]] (by the end of 1974, Mr. Koch had helped found what would become the Cato Institute)<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014/> and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

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;Libertarian candidate

David was the [[United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian Party's]] vice-presidential candidate in 1980,<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/us/politics/quixotic-80-campaign-gave-birth-to-kochs-powerful-network.html ''Quixotic ’80 Campaign Gave Birth to Kochs’ Powerful Network''] May 17, 2014 NYT.</ref> running on a platform of abolishing Social Security, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], and public schools.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Libertarians: Freedom to a Fault?|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=Phil|last=Kerby|date=September 13, 1979|page=D1|url=https://pqasbwww.pqarchiverproquest.com/latimes/docdocview/158993448.html|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="nytimes-dk-1984">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/16/arts/man-without-a-candidate.html|title=Man Without a Candidate|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author-link=Charlotte Curtis|first=Charlotte|last=Curtis|date=1984-10-16}}</ref> (His brother Charles also supported his candidacy.)<ref name="mayer2010"/>

By being a candidate, Koch took advantage of campaign finance laws exempting him from limits on donations and ultimately "contributed about $2.1 million, more than half the [Libertarian] campaign budget.”<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014/><ref name="Eric Black-5-19-14"/><ref name="nytimes-dk-1984"/> This gave the candidates enough cash to run advertisements and try to get on the ballot in all 50 states.<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014/>

However, he and running mate [[Ed Clark]] won only 1.1% of the vote,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reason.com/archives/2008/11/17/where-did-the-libertarian-part|title=Where Did the Libertarian Party Go Wrong?|first=Brian|last=Doherty|date=November 17, 2008|access-date=September 9, 2011|work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]}}</ref> and the experience of running for office led him to change course: "I had enough ... [W]e are not a nation that debates issues. We vote on candidates' personalities."

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According to writer [[Eric Black (writer)|Eric Black]], the brothers move to the Republican Party doesn't stem from "a change of heart, but one of tactics" since libertarianism "was costly and could be bad for the family business long term.<ref name="Eric Black-5-19-14" />

Charles Koch funds and supports [[right-Libertarianism|libertarian]] organizations such as the [[Cato Institute]],<ref name=Zernike>{{cite news|title=Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead|author=Kate Zernike|author-link=Kate Zernike|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 25, 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20koch.html}}</ref> which he co-founded with [[Edward H. Crane]] and [[Murray Rothbard]] in 1977,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/pubs/papers/25th_annual_report.pdf|title=25 Years at Cato|access-date=2009-07-10}}</ref> and is a board member at the [[Mercatus Center]], a market-oriented research [[think tank]] at [[George Mason University]]. In 1985, the Kochs and a new adviser, Richard Fink, formed "Citizens for a Sound Economy", a free enterprise-oriented group that evolved into Americans for Prosperity.<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014/>

In addition to funding think tanks, the brothers support libertarian academics;<ref>{{cite book|title=Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement|author=Brian Doherty|year=2008|publisher=[[PublicAffairs]]|isbn=978-1586485726|page=410|quote=One longtime Koch lieutenant characterized the overall strategy of Koch's libertarian funding over the years with both a theatrical metaphor and an Austrian capital theory one: Politicians, ultimately, are just actors playing out a script. The idea is, one gets better and quicker results aiming not at the actors but at the scriptwriters, to help supply the themes and words for the scripts – to try to influence the areas where policy ideas percolate from: academia and think tanks. Ideas, then, are the capital goods that go into building policy as a finished product – and there are insufficient libertarian capital goods at the top of the structure of production to build the policies libertarians demand.|author-link=Brian Doherty (journalist)}}</ref> since 1992, Charles has funded the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program through the [[Institute for Humane Studies]], which mentors young, self-described libertarians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theihs.org/node/456|title=Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program|access-date=2010-09-10|quote=The Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program combines a paid public policy internship with two career skills seminars and weekly policy lectures. You'll gain real-world experience, take a crash course in market-based policy analysis, and hone your professional skills. The intensive ten-week program begins in June and includes a $1,500 stipend and a housing allowance|publisher=[[Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830194048/http://www.theihs.org/node/456|archive-date=2010-08-30}}</ref>

===2003 beginning of the network===

It was in 2003 when the Koch'sKochs became disillusioned with mainstream Republican promotion of "certain regulations and new social spending on a Medicare drug program" under President [[George W. Bush]]. According to Charles, “we said, ‘Gosh, we’ve got to get involved in politics’”. This began the twice-yearly gatherings of wealthy conservative donors known as seminars, the funding and directing of "a full array of political party-like activities, including organizations that could operate in the states and mobilize grassroots activists along with paid operatives."<ref name="Moyers-myths"/> [[Richard Fink|Richard Harold Fink]], a former economics professor and former executive vice president of Koch Industries, was described in 2012 by Laurie Bennett as "a longtime associate of the Kochs who oversees much of their influence spending", and by [[Jane Mayer]] as "the central nervous system of the Kochtopus."<ref name="Bennett-2012">{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Laurie |title=A Tip for Kochologists |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriebennett/2012/04/18/a-tip-for-kochologists/?sh=640f9ca6768d |access-date=11 January 2023 |agency=Forbes |date=18 April 2012}}</ref>

===Since 2008===

The secrecy was effective enough that prior to the digging of investigative reporters such as Jane Mayer, even many Washington insiders had not heard of them.<ref name="Moyers-myths"/> However, after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, the Koch's led what some called an "all-out offensive" against Obama and congressional Democrats, attracting many other wealthy conservatives to their seminars and "deploying huge sums of secret money" to block Obama initiatives like cap and trade on carbon emissions and health care reform.<ref name="Moyers-myths"/>

However, after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, the Koch's led what some called an "all-out offensive" against Obama and congressional Democrats, attracting many other wealthy conservatives to their seminars and "deploying huge sums of secret money" to block Obama initiatives like cap and trade on carbon emissions and health care reform.<ref name="Moyers-myths"/>

Since 2010, the brotherbrothers have become highly visible, with "journalists and bloggers" reporting on their latest "fundraising goals and election maneuvers", Democrats demonizing them (Democratic fundraising appeals that mentioned the Koch brothers reportedly have generated more donations than those that do not),<ref name="Weigel-2014">{{cite news |last1=Weigel |first1=David |title=Bashing the Kochs Can Triple a Democrat's Fundraising Haul |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/03/24/bashing_the_kochs_can_triple_a_democrat_s_fundraising_haul.html |access-date=23 December 2022 |agency=Slate |date=24 March 2014}}</ref> media interviewing them<ref name="Moyers-myths"/> and publishing their op-eds.<ref>{{cite web|last=Koch|first=Charles|title=U.S. Economic Prosperity Demands More Freedom|url=http://www.ongo.com/v/971550/-1/8F2FDBD8AAD44275/us-economic-prosperity-demands-more-freedom|website=[[The Kansas City Star]]|publisher=Kansas City Star|access-date=May 22, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321205540/http://www.ongo.com/v/971550/-1/8F2FDBD8AAD44275/us-economic-prosperity-demands-more-freedom|archive-date=March 21, 2012|url-status=dead}} (password required to access URL)</ref>

==Political activity==

Koch Industries describes itself as being committed to free societies and [[free market]] principles and as supporting those who champion these things.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kochresources.org/Viewpoint |title=A Consistent, Principled Effort|publisher=Koch Industries|access-date=September 9, 2011}}</ref>

;Obama presidency

After the [[2008 United States presidential election]], when Democrats won the presidency, both houses of Congress, and the collapse of the housing market and threat of a bank collapse made ''[[laissez-faire]]'' free market economics appear untenable, the Koch brothers led the resistance to the triumphal Obama administration, warning that Americans "faced the greatest loss of liberty and prosperity since the 1930s".<ref>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=6 |publisher=Doubleday}}</ref> Billionaires came forth to invest in the Koch network" (nicknamed the "Kochtopus"<ref name="Tucker-HP-2016"/>{{NoteTag|the term "Kochtopus" was coined "in service of showing how far-reaching" the power of the Koch network was, but the originators of the term were not liberal or leftist critics, but "paleo-libertarians", who insisted that the network's influence was nefarious "because the DC organizations they fund are too liberal".<ref name="Friedersdorf-2010">{{cite magazine |last1=Friedersdorf |first1=Conor |title=DAILY DISH. The Koch Brothers Profiled |magazine=The Atlantic |date=30 August 2010 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/08/the-koch-brothers-profiled/183020/ |access-date=10 January 2023}}</ref>}} During Obama's administration, the Republican Party with the help of the Koch-network "made inroads at all levels of governments". At the state level, they gained 900 seats in state legislatures.<ref name="Tucker-HP-2016"/>

===Secrecy===

In a paper analyzing the John Birch Society, Charles Koch “argued in favor” of at least imitating the society when it came to "not widely advertising" who ran the society.<ref name=mayer-dark-55>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=55}}</ref> Their father is quoted as saying, “The whale that spouts is the one that gets harpooned."<ref name="Tucker-HP-2016">{{cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Pete |title=Did the Kochs Bring Us President Trump? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-the-kochs-brought-us-president-trump_b_583df558e4b002d13f7a8771 |access-date=24 December 2022 |agency=Huffington Post |date=1 December 2016}}</ref>

Not surprisingly, the Koch brothers' “ambitious enterprise” was “largely hidden” from public view.<ref name=mayer-dark-9/> They avoided “all but the minimum legally required financial disclosures”. The guest list at their gatherings was “shrouded in secrecy”.<ref name=mayer-dark-9/> Guests were admonished to destroy all paperwork, make no mention of the event online or to the media, and make all arrangements through Koch staff, not resort employees. Any audio or visual recording gear (smart phones, i-padstablets, cameras) were confiscated prior to sessions.<ref name=mayer-dark-9/> At at least one gathering, white-noise-emitting-loud speakers were pointed outwards from the event by audio technicians to foil any media attempting to listen in. When one breach of secrecy occurred, "an intense week-long internal investigation" was launched "to identify and plug the leak".<ref name=mayer-dark-9>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=9}}</ref> Interested in maintaining their discreet influence, Charles and David have donated to non-profit groups who do not disclose their donors.<ref name=Bykowicz/> The secrecy abated somewhat starting at the 2015 summer seminar, when some reporters were invited and "allowed to attend some sessions, including those featuring many of the Republican Party’s presidential candidates".<ref name="NYT-30-7-2015"/>

===Donors===

Based on the one list of donors to the Koch network to surface publicly (from a 2010 summit) Koch donors tend to be disproportionately from the financial or fossil fuel sector of the economy,<ref name=mayer-dark-12>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |pages=12 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=Introduction. The Investors}}</ref> and to have made or inherited money from private (not publicly traded) companies.<ref name=mayer-dark-17>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |pages=17 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=Introduction. The Investors}}</ref> Some of the most well-known donors to the network include: [[Steven A. Cohen]], [[Paul Singer (businessman)|Paul Singer]], and [[Stephen A. Schwarzman]].<ref name=mayer-dark-12-18>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |pages=12–18 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=Introduction. The Investors}}</ref> Other prominent and wealthy participants include: [[Robert Mercer]], [[Ken Langone]], Richard Strong, [[Philip Anschutz]], [[Richard DeVos]] (1926–2018), Richard Gilliam, J. Larry Nichols, [[Harold Hamm]], Richard Farmer.<ref name=mayer-dark-12-18/>

Some of the most well known donors to the network include [[Steven A. Cohen]], [[Paul Singer (businessman)|Paul Singer]], and [[Stephen A. Schwarzman]].<ref name=mayer-dark-12-18>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |pages=12–18 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=Introduction. The Investors}}</ref> Other prominent and wealthy participants include [[Robert Mercer]], [[Ken Langone]], Richard Strong, [[Philip Anschutz]], [[Richard DeVos]] (1926–2018), Richard Gilliam, J. Larry Nichols, [[Harold Hamm]], Richard Farmer.<ref name=mayer-dark-12-18/>

{{NoteTag|(Other "hugely wealthy, archconservative" families that preceded the Kochs in working to change "how Americans thought and voted"<ref name=mayer-dark-4>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |page=4 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=Introduction. The Investors}}</ref> include [[Richard Mellon Scaife]], (one of the heirs to the Mellon banking and Gulf Oil Fortunes); Harry and Lynde Bradley, (money from defense contracts, Harry Lynde Bradley died in 1965 but the [[Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation]] supports conservative causes), John M. Olin, (chemical and munitions company, Olin died in 1982 but his [[John M. Olin Foundation|foundation]] continued funding conservative causes until 2005 when it dissolved), Coors brewing family, DeVos family (founders of Amway marketing and the [[Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation]]).)<ref name=mayer-dark-anchor-cht1>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |page=51 |edition=Ebook |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=1. The Investors}}</ref>}}

===Political contributions===

In 2008, the three main Koch family foundations contributed to 34 political and policy organizations, three of which they founded, and several of which they directed.<ref name="mayer2010"/> As of 2011, Koch Industries' political action committee had donated more than $2.6 million to candidates.<ref name=MJ/> The Koch brothers support primarily Republican candidates and in 2010 they supported [[California Proposition 23 (2010)|California Proposition 23]], which would have suspended the state's ''[[Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=434&ext=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213204146/http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=434&ext=4|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-12-13|title=Names in the News: David and Charles Koch |website=followthemoney.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A Foil for the Koch Brothers?|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-03-15|url=http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/a-foil-for-the-koch-brothers|access-date=2012-10-05|first=Todd|last=Woody}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/2010archives/la-xpm-2010-sep/-04/local/-la-me-prop-23-koch-20100904-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Margot | last=Roosevelt | title=Bid to suspend California global-warming law gets million from billionaire brothers' firm | date=September 4, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=434|title=Names in the News: David and Charles Koch |website=followthemoney.org}}</ref> The brothers pledged to donate $60 million in the 2012 election season to defeat President [[Barack Obama]].<ref>[http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/02/koch-brothers-pledged-60-million-defeat-obama/48291 Koch Brothers pledge to defeat Obama in 2012], theatlanticwire.com</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/koch-brothers-pledged-60-million-defeat-obama-212914975.html|title=The Koch Brothers Pledged $60 Million to Defeat Obama|date=February 3, 2012|website=Yahoo News}}</ref> According to [[OpenSecrets]], of $274 million in anonymous 2012 contributions, at least $86 million is "attributed to donor groups in the Koch network".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/12/1-in-4-dark-money-dollars-in-2012-c.html |title=At Least 1 in 4 Dark Money Dollars in 2012 Had Koch Links |last1=Maguire |first1=Robert |date=December 3, 2013 |website=[[OpenSecrets]] |publisher=[[OpenSecrets]] |access-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Kraske>{{cite news | url=http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/05/4670792/when-it-comes-to-political-donations.html | title=When it comes to political donations, the Koch Brothers trump all | newspaper=[[Kansas City Star]] | date=December 5, 2013 | access-date=December 5, 2013 | author=Kraske, Steve}}</ref>

====Governor Scott Walker contributions====

According to ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'', Koch Industries' [[Political Action Committee]] (PAC) contributed the second largest donation to [[Scott Walker (politician)|Scott Walker]]'s [[Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2010|2010 campaign]] for governor of Wisconsin. It donated $43,000, second in size only to PAC donations of $43,125 from both the Wisconsin realtors and the Wisconsin home builders.<ref name=MJ>{{cite magazine|url=http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers|title=Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Funded by the Koch Bros|magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|date=2011-02-18|access-date=2011-04-15}}</ref><ref name="gab.wi.gov">{{cite web|title=Campaign Finance Limits and Deadlines|url=http://gab.wi.gov/campaign-finance/limits-deadlines|publisher=Wisconsin Government Accountability Board|access-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014173636/http://www.gab.wi.gov/campaign-finance/limits-deadlines|archive-date=October 14, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> That contribution amounted to less than 0.5% of Walker's campaign total<ref name=Continetti>{{cite news |first=Matthew |last=Continetti |author-link=Matthew Continetti |title=The Paranoid Style in Liberal Politics|work=[[The Weekly Standard]]|date=April 4, 2011|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/paranoid-style-liberal-politics_555525.html?nopager=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110329092753/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/paranoid-style-liberal-politics_555525.html?nopager=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2011}}</ref> because of the limits placed on campaign contributions.<ref name="gab.wi.gov"/> Most support for Walker was in the form of expenditures estimated at $3 million from Americans for Prosperity (AFP).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Koch brothers alone gave twice as much money to Scott Walker as the total amount of money raised by Tom Barrett|url=http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/jun/20/debbie-wasserman-schultz/billionaire-koch-brothers-gave-8-million-wisconsin/|publisher=PolitiFact|access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Due to Koch's contribution to Walker's campaign, David Koch became a symbolic target for the protests.<ref name=Continetti/>

According to the ''Palm Beach Post'', David Koch was active in Wisconsin politics. Americans for Prosperity reportedly spent $700,000 on ads supporting Governor Scott Walker's changes to collective bargaining.<ref>[http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/david-koch-intends-to-cure-cancer-in-his-2185046.html?page=2 "David Koch intends to cure cancer in his lifetime and remake American politics"], ''The Palm Beach Post'', February 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Carey|first=Nick|title=Money flows into Wisconsin governor recall fight|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-campaign-wisconsin-idUSTRE81F12L20120216|work=Reuters|access-date=November 5, 2013|date=February 16, 2012}}</ref>

==== Mitt Romney presidential candidacy ====

In July 2012, David H. Koch hosted a $50,000-a-person ($75,000 a couple) fundraising dinner for 2012 [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] Presidential [[Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2012|candidate]] [[Mitt Romney]], which was the subject of liberal and progressive protests.<ref name=Bykowicz>{{cite news|author=Bykowicz, Julie|title=Romney's 'Koch Problem': $3 Million|date=July 9, 2012|url=http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-07-09/romneys-koch-problem-3-million|work=[[Bloomberg L. P.|Bloomberg News]]|access-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref><ref>Reston, Maeve. [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-protests-20120709,0,5308609.story "Protesters raise cloud of sand as Romney raises $3 million in N.Y."], ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved July 9, 2012.</ref><ref>Gendar, Alison. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election-2012/mitt-romney-hits-hamptons-adds-3-million-campaign-war-chest-article-1.1110300 "Mitt Romney hits the Hamptons and adds $3 million to his campaign war chest"], ''New York Daily News'', retrieved July 9, 2012.</ref><ref>Rutenberg, Jim. [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/fashion/the-republicans-3-million-weekend-in-the-hamptons.html?pagewanted=all "The Republicans' $3 Million Weekend in the Hamptons"], ''[[The New York Times]]''; retrieved July 8, 2012.</ref> Koch Industries cited the protests an example of what they see as liberal hypocrisy regarding fundraising as these same groups don't protest big money donations for Democratic fundraisers.<ref>O'Connor, Claire. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/07/09/mitt-romney-koch-brothers-david-koch-hamptons-occupy-protest "'Mitt Romney Has A Koch Problem' Say Protesters At Billionaire's Hamptons Fundraiser"], ''Forbes'', retrieved July 9, 2012.</ref> William Koch, the younger brother of Charles and David, gave $1 million to [[Restore Our Future]], a [[super-PAC]] backing Romney.<ref name=Bykowicz/> During the [[Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008|2008 presidential race]], David Koch donated $2,300 to Romney.<ref name=Bykowicz/>

====2016 elections and President Donald Trump====

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Charles Koch criticized Trump's [[Trump travel ban|Muslim travel ban]] suggestions during the campaign and went so far as to say "it's possible" that Hillary Clinton could be a better president, although he strongly denied rumours that he would actually support Clinton.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/31/charles-koch-brothers-support-hillary-clinton-blood-libel |title= Charles Koch says rumours he will support Hillary Clinton are 'blood libel' |last=Pengelly, Martin |date=July 31, 2016 |website=The Guardian |access-date=June 6, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/koch-brothers-donald-trump-clash-resistance-conservative-billionaires-network-us-president-charles-a7560706.html? |title=Koch brothers lead billionaire resistance against Donald Trump |last=Forster |first=Katie |date=February 3, 2017 |website=The Independent |access-date=June 5, 2018 }}</ref> In June 2018, the Kochs backed a multimillion-dollar campaign organized by three pro-free trade political groups to oppose the [[Trump tariffs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44366737 |title=Billionaire Koch brothers take on Trump over tariffs |date=June 5, 2018 |website=BBC |access-date=June 5, 2018 }}</ref>

On the other hand, although they”they disavowed”disavowed Trump” and opposed the extremes of thehis populist movement, so many Koch operatives served in top positions in the Trump administration ([[Mike Pence]], [[Mike Pompeo]], [[Wilbur Ross]], [[Betsy DeVos]], [[Rebekah Mercer]]) that [[Politico]] dubbed it “Trump’s Koch administration.”<ref name="Tucker-HP-2016"/>

Koch’s have been accused of setting the general tone of Trump and the Trump-dominated Republican Party<ref name=mayer-dark-anchor-32>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |edition=Anchor books Ebook |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |pages=32}}</ref>—helping to "convince voters that Washington was corrupt and broken and that, when it came to governing, knowing nothing was preferable to expertise”,expertise.”<ref name=mayer-dark-anchor-32/> (after all, climate scientists had expertise but were trying to convince everyone that the climate was warming/changing and that [[fossil fuels]] were the problem).

According to a “former employee in the Koch’s political operation”operation," “we are partly responsible” for the Trump populist movement nastiness. “We invested a lot in grassroots army that was not controllable”.<ref name=mayer-dark-anchor-35-6>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |edition=Anchor books Ebook |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |pages=35–6}}</ref>

===Change in focus===

In the spring of 2019, the Koch network (made up of a "constellation of groups" and funded by "around 700 like-minded conservatives and libertarians who contribute at least $100,000 annually") rebranded itself from "The Seminar Network" to “Stand Together”. In a letter to supporters, Charles Koch outlined the change in mission.:<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019"/>

<blockquote>"We live in a period of unprecedented progress — economic, social, technological — but not everyone has shared in that progress. While many people have gotten ahead, too many people are falling behind. Our charge is clear: we must stand together to help every person rise In many ways, this new name already expresses who we are. … But this new name also marks a new chapter — and a new call to action."<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019"/></blockquote>

According to a description in the Washington Post, the Stand Together Foundation is the name of a nonprofit arm that the Koch apparatus created in 2016 "to support community groups addressing maladies like poverty, addiction, recidivism, gang violence and homelessness" and has (as of 2019) "provided grants to 140 organizations".

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The Kochs also told donors and supporters that they would not be involved in the 2020 presidential race.<ref name="Cillizza-changed-2019"/>

As early as mid-2015, the New York Times reported: <blockquote>Once known for grim letters to fellow wealthy Americans warning of socialist apocalypse, Charles G. Koch now promotes research on the link between freedom and everyday happiness.<ref name="NYT-30-7-2015">{{cite news |last1=Confessore |first1=Nicholas |title=Koch Brothers Brave Spotlight to Try to Alter Their Image |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/us/koch-brothers-brave-spotlight-to-try-to-alter-their-image.html |access-date=12 January 2023 |agency=New York Times |date=30 July 2015}}</ref></blockquote> The Koch's were "trading compliments with President Obama". James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners, “In light of the barrage of political attacks and distortions of our record, beliefs, and vision, we are taking the steps necessary to get our story out to the public.”<ref name="NYT-30-7-2015"/>

At least one critic (Clay Wirestone) maintains "Koch-affiliated groups" are still active "at the front lines of our current culture wars".<ref name="WIRESTONE-lurks-2021"/>

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===2024 Republican Party presidential primaries===

The donor network of [[Charles Koch]] announced it would fund a primary challenge to Trump during the [[2024 Republican Party presidential primaries]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Arnsdorf |first=Isaac |date=5 February 2023 |title=Koch network to back alternative to Trump after sitting out recent primaries |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/05/koch-trump-2024-gop-presidential-primary/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> On November 28, the Koch Network announced its endorsement of [[Nikki Haley]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-koch-network-endorsement-desantis-trump-938d932aaf2b9b299c32b4d736aaade4 | title=Nikki Haley wins backing from powerful Koch network as she aims to take on Trump | website=[[Associated Press News]] | date=November 28, 2023 }}</ref>

===Impact===

The impact of the Koch brothers' work has been called "extraordinary", unlike what anyone else has done (by Democratic activist [[Rob Stein]])<ref name=mayer-dark-373>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=373}}</ref> Another more sympathetic observer (Brian Doherty, [[Radicals for Capitalism|libertarian author]]) argues that while "there are few policy victories you can lay directly at their feet," the Kochs have changed the general political [[zeitgeist]] "of valuing [[free markets]]" and "libertarianism, in a way it never did 20 years ago."<ref>(Brian Doherty, interview with Jane Mayer, cited in {{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |pages=373–4}}</ref> Jane Mayer points out that while there may have been few Koch "policy victories", there were plenty of policy defeats inflicted on their adversaries that they can take credit for. Circa 2015, national opinion polls indicated public support for a government action to address global warming, raise taxes on the rich and close loopholes that benefited them, increase funding for social security, or infrastructure, limits on campaign spending. But [[inside the beltway|inside the "beltway"]] of the nation's capital, where the success of the Koch network's election campaign victories meant a majority in congress, there was an embrace of austerity, tax cuts for "job creators", and a dismissal as "out of the question" measures fighting global warming and inequality.<ref name=mayer-dark-374-5>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |pages=374–5}}</ref>

Critics like Mayer also allege that the secrecy of the Kochs and some of their operatives helped create a “conventional wisdom" that America's turn to the right was "a public backlash against liberal spending programs", when in fact out-of-sight, the Koch network was helping this political shift along.<ref name=mayer-7>{{cite book |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=7| title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the … |date=January 24, 2017 |

publisher=Knopf Doubleday |isbn=9780307947901 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDf4DQAAQBAJ&dq=%E2%80%9CConventional+wisdom+often+attributed+the+rightward+march+to+a+public+backlash+against+liberal+spending+programs.%22&pg=PA7 |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref> The Tea Party movement has been attacked as Koch-funded [[Astroturfing|Astroturf]]—as opposed to [[Grassroots]]—political movement, with groups like Sam Adams Alliance having "deep ties" to the Koch brothers.<ref name="Zuesse-2013">{{citeCite news |last1last=ZuesseMonbiot |first1first=EricGeorge |titledate=Final Proof2010-10-25 |title=The Tea Party Wasmovement: Foundeddeluded Asand Ainspired Bogusby AstroTurfbillionaires Movement|language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.huffposttheguardian.com/entrycommentisfree/finalcifamerica/2010/oct/25/tea-proofparty-thekoch-tea-party_b_4136722brothers |access-date=182023-08-09 March|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite 2023web |agencytitle=HuffpostThe Secret Origins of the Tea Party |url=https://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/ |access-date=22 October2023-08-09 2013|website=TIME.com}}</ref>

Another example being the seemingly spontaneous anti-Obamacare outrage at town hall meetings in summer of 2009, that was assisted by FreedomWorks (connected with the Koch brothers) which "circulating a memo instructing Tea Partiers on how to disrupt" the meetings.<ref name=mayer-238>{{cite book |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=238| title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the … |date=January 24, 2017 |

publisher=Knopf Doubleday |isbn=9780307947901 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDf4DQAAQBAJ&dq=%22investigative+reporter+Lee+Fang+discovered+that+a+volunteer+with+FreedomWorks+was+circulating+a+memo+instructing+Tea+Partiers+on+how+to+disrupt+the+meetings.%22&pg=PA238 |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>{{NoteTag|Investigative reporter Lee Fang "discovered that a volunteer with FreedomWorks was circulating a memo instructing Tea Partiers on how to disrupt the meetings").<ref name=mayer-238/>}}

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====Network seminars====

Charles and David have run fundraising/seminars on conservative public policy and political strategy twice a year since 2003. Only about 17 people participated in 2003, but that grew to around 500 in early 2016. The seminars grew from raising less than $100 million in 2008, under $300 million in 2014, and somewhere between $700 and $900 million for the 2016 election cycle.<ref name="Moyers-myths">{{cite web |last1=HERTELHertel-FERNANDEZ ANDFernandez |first1=ALEXANDERAlexander |last2=SKOCPOLSkocpol |first2=THEDATheda |title=MONEY & POLITICS Five Myths About the Koch Brothers — And Why It Matters To Set Them Straight |url=https://billmoyers.com/story/five-myths-about-the-koch-network-and-why-it-matters-to-set-them-straight/ |website=Bill Moyers |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>

The gatherings were characterized by great secrecy (participants were routinely urged to destroy all paperwork of the gatherings), commitment to conservative free market ideology, and the wealth of the participants, known as "investors" (in 2015, for example, 18 billionaires were present at a seminar).

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One 1997 study by the [[National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy]] (NCRP)<ref>Sally Covington, ''Moving A Public Policy Agenda: The Strategic Philanthropy of Conservative Foundations'', Washington, DC: [[National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy]], 1997.</ref> identified twelve American foundations which have had a key influence on U.S. public policy since the 1960s via their support for [[The Heritage Foundation]], the [[American Enterprise Institute]], and the [[Cato Institute]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dowie|first=Mark|title=American Foundations: An Investigative History|date=2012|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0262541411|page=19}}</ref> Three of these are Koch Family Foundations (the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation).<ref name="Behan">{{cite journal | last1 = Behan | first1 = Richard W | year = 2004 | title = Degenerate Democracy: The Neoliberal and Corporate Capture of America's Agenda | journal = Public Land & Resources Law Review | volume = 24 | pages = 9–24 }}</ref>

The NCRP has also stated that it is not surprising that the philanthropic giving directed by the Koch brothers often goes to "that do research and advocacy on issues that impact the profit margin of Koch Industries,”<ref name="Moyers-myths"/><ref name=mayer-dark-147>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |publisher=Doubleday |date=2016 |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |page=147}}</ref> the conservative non-profits the network funds working to promote lower taxes and less regulation favorable to that bottom line.

In 2017, historian [[Nancy MacLean]] found that several Koch Family Foundations had significantly nurtured the libertarian movement in the US.<ref name="Maclean_2017">{{cite book |last=MacLean |first= Nancy |orig-year=2017 |date=2018 |title=Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-1101980972 |oclc=1029879485 |pages= 368}}</ref>

Line 151 ⟶ 149:

===Think tanks and political organizations===

Among the think tanks and public policy organizations Charles and David Koch have been involved in, and/or provided funding to include: the [[Cato Institute]] (they provided the initial funding), the [[Federalist Society]] (they are key donors).<ref name="LATimes2011-02"/> They also support, or are members of, the [[Mercatus Center]],<ref name=levinthal>{{cite news|last1=Levinthal|first1=Dave|title=Inside the Koch brothers' campus crusade|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/03/27/14497/inside-koch-brothers-campus-crusade|access-date=December 4, 2015|publisher=Center for Public Integrity|date=March 27, 2014}}</ref> the [[Institute for Humane Studies]],<ref name=levinthal/> the [[Institute for Justice]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rosen|first1=Jeffrey|title=The Unregulated Offensive|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/magazine/the-unregulated-offensive.html?_r=0|access-date=December 4, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 17, 2005}}</ref> the [[Institute for Energy Research]],<ref name=gold>{{cite news|last1=Gold|first1=Matea|title=The players in the Koch-backed $400 million political donor network|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-players-in-the-koch-backed-400-million-political-donor-network/2014/01/05/714451a8-74b5-11e3-8b3f-b1666705ca3b_story.html|access-date=December 4, 2015|newspaper=Washington Post|date=January 5, 2014}}</ref> [[The Heritage Foundation]],<ref name=jones>{{cite magazine|last1=Lurie|first1=Julia|last2=Schulman|first2=Daniel|last3=Raja|first3=Tanseem|title=The Koch 130|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/koch-brothers-web-influence|access-date=December 4, 2015|magazine=Mother Jones|date=November 3, 2014}}</ref> the [[Manhattan Institute]],<ref name=jones/> the [[Reason Foundation]],<ref name=levinthal/> the [[George C. Marshall Institute]],<ref name=monbiot>{{cite news|last1=Monbiot|first1=George|title=The Tea Party movement: deluded and inspired by billionaires|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/25/tea-party-koch-brothers|access-date=December 4, 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|date=October 25, 2010}}</ref> the [[American Enterprise Institute]],<ref name=monbiot/> and the [[Fraser Institute]],<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/26/koch-brothers-fraser-institute_n_1456223.html?ref=canada ''Huffington Post Canada'', April 26, 2012]; retrieved April 26, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/04/25/%E2%80%9Ccharitable%E2%80%9D-fraser-institute-accepted-500k-foreign-funding-oil-billionaires "Fraser Institute accepted $500K dollars in funding from oil billionaires"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427112558/http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/04/25/%E2%80%9Ccharitable%E2%80%9D-fraser-institute-accepted-500k-foreign-funding-oil-billionaires |date=2012-04-27 }}, ''Vancouver Observer'', April 25, 2012; retrieved April 26, 2012.</ref> and the [[Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/09/politics/matthew-whitaker-dark-money/index.html|title=Whitaker ran conservative group funded by dark money|first=Scott |last=Bronstein|work=CNN|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/11/matt-whitaker-foundation-accountability-civic-trust-hillary-clinton.html|title=The New Acting Attorney General Was Previously a Dark Money–Funded Clinton Antagonist|last=Zeitlin|first=Matthew|work=Slate Magazine|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}</ref> As of 2015, David Koch sat on the board of directors of the Cato Institute,<ref>Cato Institute, [http://www.cato.org/people/directors.html Board of Directors]; accessed February 1, 2011.</ref> the Reason Foundation and the [[Aspen Institute]].<ref name='KochDavidBio'/> A 2013 study by [[OpenSecrets]] said that nonprofit groups backed by a donor network organized by Charles and David Koch raised more than $400 million in the 2011–2012 election cycle.<ref name=gold/>▼

Among the think tanks and public policy organizations

▲Charles and David Koch have been involved in, and/or provided funding to include: the [[Cato Institute]] (they provided the initial funding), the [[Federalist Society]] (they are key donors).<ref name="LATimes2011-02"/> They also support, or are members of, the [[Mercatus Center]],<ref name=levinthal>{{cite news|last1=Levinthal|first1=Dave|title=Inside the Koch brothers' campus crusade|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/03/27/14497/inside-koch-brothers-campus-crusade|access-date=December 4, 2015|publisher=Center for Public Integrity|date=March 27, 2014}}</ref> the [[Institute for Humane Studies]],<ref name=levinthal/> the [[Institute for Justice]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rosen|first1=Jeffrey|title=The Unregulated Offensive|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/magazine/the-unregulated-offensive.html?_r=0|access-date=December 4, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 17, 2005}}</ref> the [[Institute for Energy Research]],<ref name=gold>{{cite news|last1=Gold|first1=Matea|title=The players in the Koch-backed $400 million political donor network|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-players-in-the-koch-backed-400-million-political-donor-network/2014/01/05/714451a8-74b5-11e3-8b3f-b1666705ca3b_story.html|access-date=December 4, 2015|newspaper=Washington Post|date=January 5, 2014}}</ref> [[The Heritage Foundation]],<ref name=jones>{{cite magazine|last1=Lurie|first1=Julia|last2=Schulman|first2=Daniel|last3=Raja|first3=Tanseem|title=The Koch 130|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/koch-brothers-web-influence|access-date=December 4, 2015|magazine=Mother Jones|date=November 3, 2014}}</ref> the [[Manhattan Institute]],<ref name=jones/> the [[Reason Foundation]],<ref name=levinthal/> the [[George C. Marshall Institute]],<ref name=monbiot>{{cite news|last1=Monbiot|first1=George|title=The Tea Party movement: deluded and inspired by billionaires|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/25/tea-party-koch-brothers|access-date=December 4, 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|date=October 25, 2010}}</ref> the [[American Enterprise Institute]],<ref name=monbiot/> and the [[Fraser Institute]],<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/26/koch-brothers-fraser-institute_n_1456223.html?ref=canada ''Huffington Post Canada'', April 26, 2012]; retrieved April 26, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/04/25/%E2%80%9Ccharitable%E2%80%9D-fraser-institute-accepted-500k-foreign-funding-oil-billionaires "Fraser Institute accepted $500K dollars in funding from oil billionaires"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427112558/http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/04/25/%E2%80%9Ccharitable%E2%80%9D-fraser-institute-accepted-500k-foreign-funding-oil-billionaires |date=2012-04-27 }}, ''Vancouver Observer'', April 25, 2012; retrieved April 26, 2012.</ref> and the [[Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/09/politics/matthew-whitaker-dark-money/index.html|title=Whitaker ran conservative group funded by dark money|first=Scott |last=Bronstein|work=CNN|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/11/matt-whitaker-foundation-accountability-civic-trust-hillary-clinton.html|title=The New Acting Attorney General Was Previously a Dark Money–Funded Clinton Antagonist|last=Zeitlin|first=Matthew|work=Slate Magazine|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}</ref> As of 2015, David Koch sat on the board of directors of the Cato Institute,<ref>Cato Institute, [http://www.cato.org/people/directors.html Board of Directors]; accessed February 1, 2011.</ref> the Reason Foundation and the [[Aspen Institute]].<ref name='KochDavidBio'/> A 2013 study by [[OpenSecrets]] said that nonprofit groups backed by a donor network organized by Charles and David Koch raised more than $400 million in the 2011–2012 election cycle.<ref name=gold/>

====Citizens for a Sound Economy====

{{Main|Citizens for a Sound Economy}}

Citizens for a Sound Economy was co-founded by David Koch in 1985.<ref name="LATimes2011-02"/> According to the [[Center for Public Integrity]], the Koch Brothers donated a total of $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.<ref name="mayer2010"/> In 1990, the brothers created the spinoff group Citizens for the Environment.<ref name="mayer2010"/> In 2004, [[Citizens for a Sound Economy]] was renamed [[FreedomWorks]], while its affiliated Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation became [[Americans for Prosperity]] (AFP). Since then, the Koch brothers have given more than one million dollars to AFP.<ref name="mayer2010"/><ref name='LATimes2011-02'>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Hamburger |author2=Kathleen Hennessey |author3=Neela Banerjee |title=Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power|date=2011-02-06|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-koch-brothers-20110206,0,4692342,full.story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217132904/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-koch-brothers-20110206,0,4692342,full.story|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-02-17|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2011-02-06}}</ref><ref name="overby2011">{{cite news|title=Billionaire Brothers In Spotlight In Wis. Union Battle|author=Peter Overby|work=[[National Public Radio]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/02/25/134040226/in-wis-union-battle-focus-on-billionaire-brothers|date=2011-02-25}}</ref>

====Americans for Prosperity====

{{Main|Americans for Prosperity}}

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation has been called the Koch brothers' "main political arm",<ref name=politico20140509>{{cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/koch-brothers-americans-for-prosperity-2014-elections-106520.html |author-link=Kenneth P. Vogel |first=Kenneth P. |last=Vogel |title=Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity plans $125 million spending spree |date=May 9, 2014 |access-date=May 6, 2015 |publisher=[[Politico]] |quote=The Koch brothers' main political arm intends to spend more than $125 million this year on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group. The projected budget for Americans for Prosperity would be unprecedented for a private political group in a midterm, and would likely rival even the spending of the Republican and Democratic parties' congressional campaign arms.}}</ref> "primary political [[advocacy group]]",<ref name=Wallet>{{cite news |url=http://nymag.com/news/features/67285/ |title=The Billionaire's Party: David Koch is New York's second-richest man, a celebrated patron of the arts, and the tea party's wallet |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York magazine]] |date=July 25, 2010 |first=Andrew |last=Goldman |access-date=March 25, 2015 |quote=AFPF is now Koch's primary political-advocacy group.}}</ref> "flagship political operation",<ref name=admachine>{{cite magazine |title=The Kochs' Political Ad Machine |first=Michael |last=Beckel |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=September 4, 2014 |access-date=April 20, 2015 |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/09/david_and_charles_koch_s_political_ad_machine_the_conservative_billionaires.html |agency=[[Center for Public Integrity]] |quote=In all, Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers' flagship political operation, alone has aired more than 27,000 ads in a combined nine battleground states, according to Kantar Media/CMAG.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |first=Andy |last=Kroll |access-date=May 9, 2015 |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/koch-steyer-senate-elections-rove-big-money |title=2014: The Year of Koch |date=November 6, 2014 |quote=The Koch brothers' flagship organization, Americans for Prosperity, had an equally stellar Election Day.}}</ref>

As of 2016, it had "paid staff in 34 states and contact lists for millions of conservative activists nationwide".<ref name="Moyers-myths"/> David Koch was the top initial funder ("by far the single largest contributor") of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.<ref name=nj20130924>{{cite magazine |title=David Koch Seeded Major Tea-Party Group, Private Donor List Reveals |first=Alex |last=Seitz-Wald |date=September 24, 2013 |access-date=March 20, 2015 |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/david-koch-seeded-major-tea-party-group-private-donor-list-reveals-20130924 |magazine=[[National Journal]] |quote=But a donor list filed with the IRS labeled "not open for public inspection" from 2003, the year of AFP's first filing, lists David Koch as by far the single largest contributor to its foundation, donating $850,000.}}</ref><ref name=ibt20130924>{{cite web |title=Money In Politics: The Companies Behind David Koch's Americans For Prosperity |first=Pema |last=Levy |date=September 24, 2013 |access-date=March 20, 2015 |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/money-politics-companies-behind-david-kochs-americans-prosperity-1410408 |website=[[International Business Times]] |quote=David Koch was the top contributor, providing $850,000.}}</ref> At AFP's 2009 annual summit meeting, David Koch said "Five years ago, my brother Charles and I provided the funds to start the Americans for Prosperity, and it's beyond my wildest dreams how AFP has grown into this enormous organization."<ref name="overby2011"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Tea Party movement: Billionaire Koch brothers who helped it grow |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg |author-link=Suzanne Goldenberg |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/13/tea-party-billionaire-koch-brothers |date=October 13, 2010 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |quote="Five years ago, my brothers Charles and I provided the funds to start Americans for Prosperity," David Koch told AFP's annual Defending the Dream gathering in 2009. "It is beyond my wildest dreams that AFP has grown into this enormous organization. The American dream of free enterprise and capitalism is alive and well."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 14, 2010 |title=Koch Industries Shifts on Tea Party |first=Jonathan |last=Weisman |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=May 29, 2015 |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/10/14/koch-industries-shifts-on-tea-party/ |quote="Five years ago my brother Charles and I provided the funds to start the Americans for Prosperity," Koch says}}</ref> AFP is the political arm of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, for which David Koch served as chairman of the board of trustees.<ref name="LATimes2011-02"/><ref name='KochDavidBio'>{{cite web|url=http://www.kochind.com/newsroom/bios_DavidKoch.aspx|title=Koch Industries, Inc. – Leadership|access-date=2011-02-06|publisher=[[Koch Industries]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909121548/http://www.kochind.com/newsroom/bios_DavidKoch.aspx|archive-date=2014-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=nbc20150115>{{cite news |publisher=[[NBC News]] |first=Leigh Ann |last=Caldwell |title=Koch-backed Group Vows To Hold GOP's Feet To The Fire |date=January 15, 2015 |access-date=June 5, 2015 |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/koch-backed-group-vows-hold-gops-feet-fire-n287001}}</ref><ref name=aj20140812>{{cite news |title=Americans for Prosperity: Koch brothers' advocacy gets local in Colorado |date=August 12, 2014 |first=Sandra |last=Fish |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/12/colorado-kochtopusamericansprosperity.html |access-date=May 11, 2015 |agency=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref>

Americans for Prosperity created [[Americans for Prosperity#Health care and 2014 midterm|Patients United Now]], which advocated against a [[single-payer health care]] system during the 2009-2010 [[Health care reform in the United States|healthcare reform]] debate. Both FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity have provided support for the [[Tea Party movement]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Vogel|first=Kenneth P.|title=The Tea party's growing money problem|newspaper=[[Politico (newspaper)|Politico]]|date=August 9, 2010|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40800.html|access-date=2011-06-14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Fenn |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Fenn|title=Tea Party Funding Koch Brothers Emerge From Anonymity|newspaper=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|date=February 2, 2011 |url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/Peter-Fenn/2011/02/02/tea-party-funding-koch-brothers-emerge-from-anonymity|access-date=2011-06-13}}</ref> AFP spent $45 million in the 2010 election.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=O'Connor|first1=Clare|title=Billionaires List: Koch Brothers, Right Wing Bankrollers|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/03/10/billionaires-list-koch-brothers-right-wing-bankrollers/|magazine=Forbes Magazine|access-date=July 20, 2014}}</ref>

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====Concerned Veterans for America====

The Koch network funds the nonprofit group Concerned Veterans for America.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zornick|first1=George|title=How the Koch Network Exploited the Veterans Affairs Crisis|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/how-koch-network-exploited-veterans-affairs-crisis/|work=The Nation|date=September 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Barker|first1=Kim|last2=Meyer|first2=Theodoric|title=Who Controls the Kochs' Political Network? ASMI, SLAH and TOHE|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/who-controls-koch-political-network-asmi-slah-tohe|access-date=October 28, 2015|work=[[ProPublica]]|date=March 17, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Gold|first1=Matea|title=The players in the Koch-backed $400 million political donor network|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-players-in-the-koch-backed-400-million-political-donor-network/2014/01/05/714451a8-74b5-11e3-8b3f-b1666705ca3b_story.html|access-date=October 28, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 5, 2014}}</ref> The group favors privatizing the Veterans Administration, or as the organization describes it, converting the VA into an "independent, government-chartered nonprofit corporation". The goal is opposed by Veterans Service Organizations such as the American Legion and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.<ref name="VanDiver-2016">{{cite news |last1=VanDiver |first1=Shawn |title=Concerned Veterans for America - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/concerned-veterans-of-ame_b_13635396 |access-date=23 December 2022 |agency=Huffington Post |date=14 December 2016}}</ref>

====Other groups====

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The Kochs have donated millions of dollars via organizations they fund to the [[National Federation of Independent Business]]. In 2013 "NFIB and its affiliated groups received $2.5 million from Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a conservative advocacy group with deep ties to the Koch empire. Of the five men that sit on the group's board, four are current or former employees of Koch companies and one is a friend of Charles Koch's."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/21/politics/small-business-big-donor/index.html|title=Koch Bros.-backed group gave millions to small business lobby |first= Chris |last=Frates|date=November 21, 2013 |publisher=CNNPolitics}}</ref>

Other groups the Kochs have supported include:

*"[[Generation Opportunity]]", a former [[Centre-right politics|center-wingright]] youth mobilization effort;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/koch-world-reboots-87834.html|title=Koch World reboots|author=Kenneth P. Vogel|website=Politico|date=February 20, 2013 }}</ref>

*"[[Libre Initiative]]" to engage Hispanics to support low taxes and less business regulation, or “to empower Hispanics” and advance "liberty, freedom and prosperity".;<ref name="HANANOKI-MM-2015">{{cite web |last1=HANANOKI |first1=ERIC |title=The Libre Initiative: A Koch-Funded Group Being Passed Off As Empowering Hispanics |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/libre-initiative-koch-funded-group-being-passed-empowering-hispanics |website=media matters |access-date=23 December 2022 |date=4 June 2015}}</ref>

*[[Themis/i360]], which collects and analyzes voter data,<ref name="Moyers-myths"/> maintaining "a database of over 250 million 18+ adults, including the 190 million who are registered to vote";<ref name="Sourcewatch-i360">{{cite web |title=i360 |url=https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/I360 |website=Sourcewatch |access-date=23 December 2022}}</ref> and

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===Educational grants===

Between 2007 and 2012, Koch family foundations reportedly "contributed $30.5 million to 221 colleges and universities".<ref name=nyt-quixotic-2014/><ref name="Lewis-2013">{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Charles |title=Koch millions spread influence through nonprofits, colleges |url=https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A64012 |website=Investigative Reporting Workshop. American University School of Communication |access-date=24 December 2022 |date=1 July 2013}}</ref>

The Charles Koch Foundation (and in the case of Kansas schools, the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation) provides grants as of 2013, to nearly 270 U.S. colleges and universities for "projects that explore how the principles of free enterprise and classical liberalism promote a more peaceful and prosperous society".<ref>Last update on record at archive.org said "190" in {{cite web |title=Doing Good in Many Ways |url=http://www.kochfamilyfoundations.org/Foundations.asp |publisher=Koch family foundations and philanthropy via Internet Archive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912003304/http://www.kochfamilyfoundations.org/Foundations.asp |archive-date=September 12, 2012 }} and 269 schools listed in {{cite web |title=University Programs Supported by the Charles Koch Foundation |url=http://www.kochfamilyfoundations.org/pdfs/CKFUniversityPrograms.pdf |date=September 2013 |publisher=Koch family foundations and philanthropy |access-date=October 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014172739/http://www.kochfamilyfoundations.org/pdfs/CKFUniversityPrograms.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2013 }}</ref>

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(the Democrats) and president who had pledged to pass climate change legislation<ref name=mayer-dark-anchor-cht8>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |edition= Ebook |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=8. The Fossils}}</ref><ref name=mayer-dark-anchor-641>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2017 |edition=Anchor books Ebook |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=8. The Fossils| pages=641–642}}</ref> (although both parties' candidates had "spoken of the importance of addressing global warming").

The Koch brothers and the other fossil fuel industry magnates (Corbin Robertson Jr., Harold Hamm, Larry Nichols, Philip Anschutz, etc.) that formed the core of the Koch donor network are thought to have been particularly alarmed by legislation that would have cut carbon emissions, so they stayed within the range thought necessary to prevent "irreversible global damage to life on earth". Doing so would have meant 80% of the known coal, oil and gas reserves owned by industry would have to "stay unused in the ground"—a potentially "catastrophic" financial loss to these fossil fuel titans (according to climate scientists and journalist [[Jane Mayer]]).<ref name=mayer-dark-200-202>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter= 8 The Fossils| pages=200–202}}</ref>

The Koch brothers and their network fought global warming legislation (such as the market-based regulation of carbon emissions proposed by the Obama administration known as "[[Carbon emission trading#US|cap and trade]]") both through direct political activity ("massively increasing" its lobbying of congress,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/books/review/kochland-christopher-leonard.html| title= The Truth About Koch Industries | work=The New York Times |date=August 15, 2019 | access-date=2019-08-27 | first=Bryan | last=Burrough }}</ref><ref>{{cite book

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agency=Gallop |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref>

According to Kert Davies, the founder and director of Climate Investigations Center, "you’d have a carbon tax, or something better, today, if not for the Kochs. They stopped anything from happening back when there was still time."<ref name="Robinson-2019">{{cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=Nathan |title=The Koch brothers tried to build a plutocracy in the name of freedom |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/28/the-koch-brothers-tried-to-build-a-plutocracy-in-the-name-of-freedom |access-date=24 December 2022 |agency=The Guardian |date=28 Aug 2019}}</ref> In January 2011, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine included the Koch brothers on its list of the top twelve people blocking progress on [[global warming]].<ref name=rollingstone>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/lists/whos-to-blame-12-politicians-and-execs-blocking-progress-on-global-warming-20110119/tim-phillips-president-americans-for-prosperity-19691231 |title=7 Tim Phillips President, Americans for Prosperity |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 3, 2011 |access-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref> In 2011, ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reporter [[Margot Roosevelt]] called the Koch Brothers "the nation's most prominent funders of efforts to prevent curbs on [[fossil-fuel]] burning".<ref>Margot Roosevelt.[httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/2011local/la-xpm-2011-mar/-31/local/-la-me-berkeley-climate-20110331-story.html "Berkeley scientists' climate data review puts them at center of national debate"], ''Los Angeles Times'', March 31, 2011.</ref>

In "2011 and 2012, Koch Industries Public Sector LLC, (the lobbying arm of Koch Industries)", pushed for the [[Energy Tax Prevention Act]], which would have prevented the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases, according to the Investigative Reporting Workshop at [[American University]]<ref name=Rayfield /><ref name=Holmberg>{{cite web | url=http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/the_koch_club/story/Koch_climate_pledge_strategy/ | title=Koch: Climate pledge strategy continues to grow | publisher=Investigative Reporting Workshop, American University School of Communication | date=July 1, 2013 | access-date=December 14, 2013 | author=Holmberg, Eric | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101439/http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/the_koch_club/story/Koch_climate_pledge_strategy/ | archive-date=April 2, 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Regarding public opinion, over $500 million was spent on a "campaign to manipulate and mislead the public about the threat posed by climate change" between 2003 and 2010 according to researcher Robert Brule.<ref name=mayer-dark-205/>

Although much of the funding was untraceable (often passed through [[Donors Trust]] or [[Donors Capital Fund]], which are not required to disclose their donors),<ref name=mayer-dark-205-7>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter= 8 The Fossils| pages=205–7}}</ref> 140 conservative foundations (many if not all affiliated with the Koch network), gave 5299 grants to 91 different non-profit organizations.<ref name=mayer-dark-205>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter=8 The Fossils| pages=205}}</ref>

The environmentalist group [[Greenpeace]] writes that organizations that the Koch brothers help fund such as Americans for Prosperity, The Heritage Foundation, the [[Cato Institute]], and the Manhattan Institute were active in questioning global warming.<ref>Vidal, John.[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/mar/30/us-oil-donated-millions-climate-sceptics "US oil company donated millions to climate sceptic groups, says Greenpeace"], ''The Guardian'', March 30, 2010.</ref> Through Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers influenced more than 400 members of Congress to sign a pledge to vote against "legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue".<ref name=Rayfield>{{cite news | url=http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/koch_brothers_helped_derail_climate_change_with_lawmaker_pledge/ | title=Koch brothers helped derail climate change with lawmaker pledge | work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] | date=July 1, 2013 | access-date=December 14, 2013 | author=Rayfield, Jullian | quote=A new two-year study by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University demonstrates how the Koch brothers have helped to derail climate change legislation.}}</ref><ref name=Mayer2013>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/07/the-kochs-and-the-action-on-global-warming.html | title=Koch Pledge Tied to Congressional Climate Inaction | magazine=[[The New Yorker]] | date=July 1, 2013 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Mayer, Jane}}</ref><ref name=Langrock>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-denier-elite-20130912 | title=Global Warming's Denier Elite | magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] | date=September 12, 2013 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Langrock, Paul}}</ref><ref name=NCT>{{cite web | url=http://www.noclimatetax.com/ | title=Don't Use Climate Change to Hide Tax Hikes! | publisher=[[Americans for Prosperity]] | access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref> Political scientist Theda Skocpol describes 2007 as the "turning point" in the fight for global warming denial,: <blockquote>Climate denial got disseminated deliberately and rapidly from think tanks tomes to the daily media fare of about 30 to 40% of the U.S. populace<ref>{{cite book |title=Making Sense of the Past and Future Politics of Global Warming | author=Theda Skocpol | year=2014}}</ref>

</blockquote>

This involved "saturation coverage" by conservative media, portraying climate scientists as "swindler pushing a radical, partisan, anti-American agenda".<ref name=mayer-dark-213>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter= 8 The Fossils| pages=213}}</ref>

Among the climate change research projects funded in part by Koch brother affiliated groups were the [[Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature]] project, and one by [[climate change denier]] [[Willie Soon]]. The Koch Foundation was a major funder of the Berkeley Earth, an effort started by two scientists -- [[Richard A. Muller]] (a [[UC Berkeley]] physicist) and Elizabeth Muller—who "found merit in some of the concerns of [[climate skeptics]]",<ref name=Berkeley-about/> and believed [[global warming]] climate data was flawed.<ref name=Perlman/> The Mullers organized a group of scientists in early 2010 to "reanalyze the Earth’s surface temperature record".<ref name=Berkeley-about>{{cite web |url=https://berkeleyearth.org/about/ |title=About Berkeley Earth |access-date=24 December 2022

}}</ref><ref name="Rust">{{cite web|last1=Rust|first1=Susanne|title=Berkeley project seeks to resolve climate change debate|url=http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/berkeley-project-seeks-resolve-climate-change-debate-8953|access-date=November 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321033300/http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/berkeley-project-seeks-resolve-climate-change-debate-8953|archive-date=March 21, 2017|date=March 1, 2011}}</ref> Unfortunately for the Koch's campaign, Richard Muller later reversed his views, issuing a statement in mid-2012 supporting [[Scientific opinion on climate change|scientific consensus]].<ref name=Perlman>{{cite news | url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SFCB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1405E195648EA098&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FB3382EE6AD1E46 | title=Staunch opponent of theories on causes of global warming explains his about-face | date=July 31, 2012 | agency=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Perlman, David | location=San Francisco, CA}}</ref><ref name=Wile>{{cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/koch-brothers-funded-study-proves-climate-change-2012-7 | title=Everyone's Talking About The Koch Brothers-Funded Study That Proves Climate Change Is Real | website=[[Business Insider]] | date=July 30, 2012 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Wile, Rob}}</ref>▼

The Koch Foundation was a major funder of the Berkeley Earth, an effort started

by two scientists -- [[Richard A. Muller]] (a [[UC Berkeley]] physicist) and Elizabeth Muller—who "found merit in some of the concerns of [[climate skeptics]]",<ref name=Berkeley-about/> and believed [[global warming]] climate data was flawed.<ref name=Perlman/>

The Mullers organized a group of scientists in early 2010 to "reanalyze the Earth’s surface temperature record".<ref name=Berkeley-about>{{cite web |url=https://berkeleyearth.org/about/ |title=About Berkeley Earth |access-date=24 December 2022

▲}}</ref><ref name="Rust">{{cite web|last1=Rust|first1=Susanne|title=Berkeley project seeks to resolve climate change debate|url=http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/berkeley-project-seeks-resolve-climate-change-debate-8953|access-date=November 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321033300/http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/berkeley-project-seeks-resolve-climate-change-debate-8953|archive-date=March 21, 2017|date=March 1, 2011}}</ref> Unfortunately for the Koch's campaign, Richard Muller later reversed his views, issuing a statement in mid-2012 supporting [[Scientific opinion on climate change|scientific consensus]].<ref name=Perlman>{{cite news | url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SFCB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1405E195648EA098&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FB3382EE6AD1E46 | title=Staunch opponent of theories on causes of global warming explains his about-face | date=July 31, 2012 | agency=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Perlman, David | location=San Francisco, CA}}</ref><ref name=Wile>{{cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/koch-brothers-funded-study-proves-climate-change-2012-7 | title=Everyone's Talking About The Koch Brothers-Funded Study That Proves Climate Change Is Real | website=[[Business Insider]] | date=July 30, 2012 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Wile, Rob}}</ref>

The Charles G. Koch Foundation gave the Smithsonian Institution two grants totaling $175,000 in 2005/6 and again in 2010 to support research of [[climate change denier]] [[Willie Soon]]. The foundation helped finance a 2007 analysis suggesting that climate change was not a threat to the survival of polar bears,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/greenpeace-takes-aim-at-koch-industries |title=Greenpeace Takes Aim at Koch Industries |first=Tom |last=Zeller Jr. |date=March 30, 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> which was questioned by other researchers,<ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.1016/j.ecocom.2008.01.004 | volume=5 | issue=3 | title=Response to Dyck et al. (2007) on polar bears and climate change in western Hudson Bay | year=2008 | journal=Ecological Complexity | pages=193–201 | last1 = Stirling | first1 = Ian | last2 = Derocher | first2 = Andrew E. | last3 = Gough | first3 = William A. | last4 = Rode | first4 = Karyn| bibcode=2008EcoCm...5..193S }}</ref> but nonetheless "echoed throughout the Koch network".<ref name=mayer-dark-210>{{cite book|title=Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right |date=2016 |publisher=Doubleday |first1=Jane |last1=Mayer |chapter =8 The Fossils| page=210}}</ref> Jane Mayer reports that Soon accepted "more than $1.2 million from the fossil fuel industry from 2005 to 2015 ... without disclosing it".<ref name=mayer-dark-210/>

Soon has stated that he has "never been motivated by financial reward in any of my scientific research".<ref name=Vidal>{{cite news|first=John|last=Vidal|title=Climate sceptic Willie Soon received $1m from oil companies, papers show|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2011-06-27|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jun/28/climate-change-sceptic-willie-soon|location=London}}</ref>

At the state level, Koch Industries (unsuccessfully) supported efforts in 2010 to roll back [[California Proposition 23 (2010)|emission regulations in California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/koch-electric-vehicles_us_56c4d63ce4b0b40245c8cbf6 |title=The Kochs Are Plotting A Multimillion-Dollar Assault On Electric Vehicles |quote=Koch was also a big donor to the ballot campaign|website=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=February 18, 2016|access-date=May 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Rutten, Tim|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/2010archives/la-xpm-2010-sep/-25/opinion/-la-oe-rutten-fiorina-koch-20100925-story.html|title=Fiorina's billionaire backers|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 27, 2010|date=September 25, 2010}}</ref>

The Koch brothers' Lambe Foundation has donated to the American Energy Alliance, an offshoot of the Institute for Energy Research that promotes oil and gas energy exploration and production and looser government regulations to encourage them.<ref>{{cite news |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/secretmoney/2008/09/udall_radio_ad.html|title=New Group Tied To Oil Industry Runs Ads Promoting Drilling, Attacking Democrat|date=September 22, 2008|access-date=September 9, 2011|first=Will|last=Evans}}</ref>

In March 2015, the general counsel of Koch Industries, in a letter responding to a request from three Senate Democrats, wrote that "The activity efforts about which you inquire, and Koch's involvement, if any, in them, are at the core of the fundamental liberties protected by the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]]", and declined to cooperate with the senators' inquiry into the funding of researchers skeptical of climate change.<ref>{{cite news |url=httphttps://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/235308-koch-fights-senate-dems-climate-skepticism-funding-probe/ |title=Koch fighting climate research funding probe |date=March 11, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=March 17, 2015 |first=Timothy |last=Cama}}</ref><ref name="Yuhas 2015">{{cite web | last=Yuhas | first=Alan | title=Koch Industries refuses to comply with US senators' climate investigation | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | date=March 13, 2015| url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/13/koch-industries-refuses-senators-climate-investigation | access-date= March 18, 2015}}</ref>

The Kochs have also funded efforts to stop the growth of solar power.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-koch-brothers-dirty-war-on-solar-power-20160211 |title=The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power |first=Tim |last=Dickinson |date=February 11, 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-solar-kochs-20140420-story.html |title=Koch brothers, big utilities attack solar, green energy policies |first=Evan |last=Halper |date=April 19, 2014 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Line 246 ⟶ 240:

Koch brothers-funded groups including Americans for Prosperity, [[Pacific Research Institute]], [[Center to Protect Patient Rights]], and [[Generation Opportunity]] opposed the 2010 [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]] (PPACA) commonly called Obamacare, favoring a free-market approach.<ref name=Franke-Ruta /><ref name=Ungar>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/12/27/koch-brothers-financed-research-institute-steps-up-obamacare-attacks/ | title=Koch Brothers Financed 'Research' Institute Steps Up Misleading Obamacare Attacks | magazine=[[Forbes]] | date=December 27, 2011 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Ungar, Rick}}</ref>

Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity and Generation Opportunity<ref name=Confessore-130430>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/us/politics/koch-brothers-plan-more-political-involvement-for-their-conservative-network.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 | title=Koch Brothers Plan More Political Involvement for Their Conservative Network | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 30, 2013 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Confessore, Nicholas}}</ref> ran more than $3 million worth of advertisements opposing the Affordable Care Act, including a series of ads in which [[Uncle Sam]] was depicted as a "creepy" doctor. The ads are directed at women and young adults, and are designed to "undermine confidence"<ref name=Condon>{{cite news | url=httphttps://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57592645news/koch-brothers-group-launches-ad-raising-questions-about-obamacare/ | title=Koch brothers' group launches ad raising questions about Obamacare | publisher=[[CBS News]] | date=July 8, 2012 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Condon, Stephanie}}</ref> and to dissuade younger people from enrolling in health care coverage through exchanges which opened October 1, 2013.<ref name=Franke-Ruta>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/09/creepy-anti-obamacare-ads-suggest-where-uncle-sam-wants-to-stick-it/279825/ |title=Creepy Anti-Obamacare Ads Suggest Where Uncle Sam Wants to Stick It |last1=Franke-Ruta |first1=Garance |date=September 19, 2013 | magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Schouten>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/19/affordable-care-act-advertising-exchanges-health-care-president-obama-americans-for-prosperity-koch-brothers/2833979/ | title=Koch-backed group launches new attack on health care law | newspaper=[[USA Today]] | date=September 19, 2013 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Schouten, Fredreka}}</ref><ref name=Pickert>{{cite magazine | url=http://nation.time.com/2013/09/19/spread-your-legs-for-uncle-sam/ | title=Spread Your Legs for Uncle Sam | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=September 19, 2013 | access-date=September 21, 2013 | author=Pickert, Kate}}</ref> In October 2013, the Americans for Prosperity group began a campaign to oppose "[[Obamacare]]" in the state of [[Virginia]].<ref name="NYT-20131018">{{cite news |last=Stolberg |first=Sheryl Gay |title=States Are Focus of Effort to Foil Health Care Law |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/19/us/politics/states-are-focus-of-effort-to-foil-health-care-law.html |date=October 18, 2013 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 19, 2013 }}</ref>

===Criminal justice reform===

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Among the reforms are a push for further [[mens rea]] requirements, meaning criminal intent must be proven to establish fault. The [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] noted that some [[white-collar crime]]s, including food safety violations and corporate pollution, would become more difficult to prosecute. However, the Justice Department has been accused{{By whom|date=December 2015}} of over-criminalizing persons who have committed minor infractions without intent or even knowledge of the law. In essence, the reforms could potentially overturn ''[[Ignorantia juris non excusat]]'' statutes.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Apuzzo|first1=Matt|last2=Lipton|first2=Eric|title=Rare White House Accord With Koch Brothers on Sentencing Frays|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/us/politics/rare-alliance-of-libertarians-and-white-house-on-sentencing-begins-to-fray.html|access-date=November 26, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=November 24, 2015}}</ref>

In early 2018, the Koch network continued its mission to "promote criminal justice reform and anti-recidivism programs" through discussions with the Department of Justice in Washington, and initiatives like the Safe Streets and Second changes program.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/455875/koch-brothers-network-faces-year-two-trump-era-midterms|title=Koch World Faces Year Two of the Trump Era – and the 2018 Midterms |date=January 29, 2018|magazine=National Review}}</ref><ref name="usatoday.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/01/24/koch-brothers-launch-pilot-project-tackle-prisoner-reentry/1059791001/|title=Koch brothers to launch pilot project to tackle prisoner reentry|date=January 24, 2018|work=USA Today}}</ref> While many see Attorney General [[Jeff Sessions]] as a potential roadblock to the Koch networksnetwork's goal of broader criminal justice reform in the United States, [[Mark Holden]], vice president and general counsel for Koch Industries, notes that they are making in roadsinroads with the Attorney General, starting with prison reform.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/27/politics/koch-criminal-justice-reform-sessions/index.html|title=Koch network says Sessions 'on board' with prison reform|first=Rebecca|last=Berg|date=January 27, 2018|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/28/politics/koch-network-2018-outlook/index.html|title=The Koch network isn't slowing down|first=Rebecca|last=Berg|date=January 28, 2018|publisher=CNN}}</ref>

The Koch network, at their 2018 meeting the launch of Safe Streets and Second Chances, announced a $4 million pilot project designed to shift the American criminal justice system from punishment to prioritizing rehabilitation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortune.com/2018/01/28/koch-seminar-paul-ryan-tax-reform/|title=Paul Ryan Praises Koch Seminar for Tax Reform Passage|last=Abramson|first=Alana|date=January 28, 2018|work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]}}</ref> The initiative, led by Koch Industries in conjunction with the [[Texas Public Policy Foundation]] and [[Right on Crime]], will launch in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Pennsylvania.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/koch-brothers-introducing-new-criminal-justice-reform-initiative/article/2646909|title=Koch brothers introducing new criminal justice reform initiative|first=David M.|last=Drucker|date=January 24, 2018|work=The Washington Examiner}}</ref> Researchers will develop "individualized re-entry" plans for over 1,000 participants at 8 sites and then analyze the results.<ref name="usatoday.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2018/02/01/koch-network-targets-texas-push-prison-reform-trump-era/|title=Koch network targets Texas in push for prison reform in Trump era|first=Patrick|last=Svitek|date=February 1, 2018|work=Texas Tribune}}</ref>

=== COVID-19 pandemic===

The Koch-funded [[American Institute for Economic Research]] sponsored the [[Great Barrington Declaration]], a statement that advocates an alternative, risk-based approach to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] that involves "Focused Protection" of those most at risk and seeks to avoid or minimize the societal harm of the [[COVID-19 lockdowns]].<ref name="AIER">{{cite web|date=5 October 2020|title=AIER Hosts Top Epidemiologists, Authors of the Great Barrington Declaration|url=https://www.aier.org/article/aier-hosts-top-epidemiologists-authors-of-the-great-barrington-declaration/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009174054/https://www.aier.org/article/aier-hosts-top-epidemiologists-authors-of-the-great-barrington-declaration/|archive-date=9 October 2020|access-date=10 October 2020|publisher=American Institute for Economic Research}}</ref><ref name="BMJ">{{cite journal|author=Lenzer, Jeanne|date=7 October 2020|title=Covid-19: Group of UK and US experts argues for "focused protection" instead of lockdowns|url=https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3908|journal=[[British Medical Journal]]|publisher=British Medical Association|volume=371|pages=m3908|doi=10.1136/bmj.m3908|pmid=33028622|access-date=18 October 2020|doi-access=free|s2cid=222141502}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Sample|first=Ian|date=7 October 2020|title=Why herd immunity strategy is regarded as fringe viewpoint|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/07/why-herd-immunity-strategy-is-regarded-as-fringe-viewpoint|url-status=live|access-date=10 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010024403/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/07/why-herd-immunity-strategy-is-regarded-as-fringe-viewpoint|archive-date=10 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="NABT">{{cite news|last=Ahmed|first=Nafeez|author-link=Nafeez Ahmed|date=9 October 2020|title=Climate Science Denial Network Behind Great Barrington Declaration|work=Byline Times|url=https://bylinetimes.com/2020/10/09/climate-science-denial-network-behind-great-barrington-declaration/|url-status=live|access-date=11 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010075115/https://bylinetimes.com/2020/10/09/climate-science-denial-network-behind-great-barrington-declaration/|archive-date=10 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Ahmed2">{{Cite news|author=Ahmed|first=Nafeez|author-link=Nafeez Ahmed|date=2020-10-03|title=Koch-Funded PR Agency Aided Great Barrington Declaration Sponsor|language=en|website=BylineTimes|url=https://bylinetimes.com/2020/10/13/koch-funded-pr-agency-aided-great-barrington-declaration-sponsor/|access-date=2020-10-13}}</ref>

The Charles Koch Institute is a "major benefactor" of the [[Independent Women's Forum]], an American [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] non-profit organization focused on economic policy issues of concern to women, which opposed efforts to combat the coronavirus through [[mask mandate]]s in schools.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stanley-Becker |first=Isaac |date=October 1, 2021 |title=Koch-backed group fuels opposition to school mask mandates, leaked letter shows |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/01/masks-schools-koch-money/ |access-date=July 4, 2022}}</ref> The group circulated a template letter to its members encouraging them to personalize and mail it to "your own school superintendents and administrators, principals, and teachers!" Among other things the proposed letter asserted that "young kids do not significantly spread COVID either" and claimed that "common sense" teaches that requiring masks in school may lead to anxiety, depression, decreases in socialization skills, and increases in tooth decay in children.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 1, 2021 |title=Independent Women's Forum Template Letter Opposing School Mask Mandates |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/independent-women-s-forum-template-letter-opposing-school-mask-mandates/4a991d69-67f2-42b2-8fa7-f9abc0a2fb08/ |access-date=July 4, 2021}}</ref>

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Koch network funded several research projects that expressed support for lockdowns and similar [[Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology)]] policies. In March 2020 the Koch-funded [[Mercatus Center]] at [[George Mason University]] awarded an Emergent Ventures grant to [[Neil M. Ferguson]] of [[Imperial College London]] for "good policy thinking" in support of his COVID-19 epidemiological model.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mason's Tyler Cowen leads efforts to incentivize coronavirus response |url=https://www.gmu.edu/news/2020-03/masons-tyler-cowen-leads-efforts-incentivize-coronavirus-response |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=George Mason University |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Affairs |first1=Current |last2=Medicine |date=2020-03-21 |title=Emergent Ventures prize winners for coronavirus work |url=https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/emergent-ventures-prize-winners-for-coronavirus-work.html |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=Marginal REVOLUTION |language=en-US}}</ref> Ferguson's model proved highly influential in inducing public health officials to adopt lockdown policies worldwide.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Landler |first1=Mark |last2=Castle |first2=Stephen |date=2020-03-17 |title=Behind the Virus Report That Jarred the U.S. and the U.K. to Action |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/world/europe/coronavirus-imperial-college-johnson.html |access-date=2022-03-30 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A grant from the Charles Koch Foundation funded a [[National Bureau of Economic Research]] study finding that [[California]]'s shelter-in-place style lockdown policy "led to as many as 1,661 fewer COVID-19 deaths" in the spring of 2020.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Friedson |first1=Andrew I. |last2=McNichols |first2=Drew |last3=Sabia |first3=Joseph J. |last4=Dave |first4=Dhaval |date=April 2020 |title=Did California's Shelter-in-Place Order Work? Early Coronavirus-Related Public Health Effects |series=Working Paper Series |doi=10.3386/w26992 |s2cid=216034142 |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w26992|hdl=10419/216472 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> A Koch Foundation grant supported a study by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, attributing a [[Superspreader]] event to the lack of social distancing at the August 2020 [[Sturgis Motorcycle Rally]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID-19 |url=https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13670/the-contagion-externality-of-a-superspreading-event-the-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-and-covid-19 |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=www.iza.org |language=en}}</ref> The Koch Foundation similarly funded a set of studies by faculty at [[Bowling Green State University]], arguing that political opposition to lockdowns and non-compliance with lockdown measures were explained by "libertarian and neoliberal elements within Christian nationalism" and "xenophobic" beliefs within these groups.<ref>{{Cite webjournal |journal=Sociology of Religion |title=Validate UserSave the Economy, Liberty, and Yourself: Christian Nationalism and Americans' Views on Government COVID-19 Restrictions |date= 2021 |doi=10.1093/socrel/sraa047 |doi-access=free |url=https://academic.oup.com/crawlpreventionsocrel/governor?content=%2fsocrel%2farticle%2f82%2f4%2f426%2f6054784article/82/4/426/6054784 |access-date=2022-03-30 |websitelast1=academic Perry |first1= Samuel L.oup |last2= Whitehead |first2= Andrew L.com |last3= Grubbs |first3= Joshua B. |volume= 82 |issue= 4 |pages= 426–446 |pmc= 7798614 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Samuel L. |last2=Whitehead |first2=Andrew L. |last3=Grubbs |first3=Joshua B. |date=2021-04-09 |title=Prejudice and pandemic in the promised land: how white Christian nationalism shapes Americans' racist and xenophobic views of COVID-19 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1839114 |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies |volume=44 |issue=5 |pages=759–772 |doi=10.1080/01419870.2020.1839114 |s2cid=229403180 |issn=0141-9870}}</ref>

=== Gay rights ===

David Koch voiced support for gay marriage; in 2015 signed an [[amicus curiae]] in the ''[[DeBoer v. Snyder]]'' case which supported [[Same-sex marriage|same-sex couples constitutional right to marry]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lerner |first=Adam |date=3 April 2015 |title=David Koch to sign amicus brief supporting gay marriage |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/david-koch-gay-marriage-amicus-brief-115752?_amp=true |access-date= |website=[[Politico]]}}</ref> Some gay rights advocates have complained that despite the brothers' vocal ideological libertarian stand against "government ‘intrusions,’ including ... laws that criminalized homosexuality", their devotion to conservative causes sometimes led them to support anti-gay rights politicians, (such as former Vice President Mike Pence, whose two campaigns for governor of Indiana the network "contributed heavily to"), and organizations (such as the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]], which "at least in its early years, strongly opposed LGBTQ equality").<ref name="RING-2019">{{cite news |last1=RING |first1=TRUDY |title=David Koch, Whose Money Harmed LGBTQ People, Dead at 79 |url=https://www.advocate.com/politics/2019/8/23/david-koch-whose-money-harmed-lgbtq-people-dead-79 |access-date=17 December 2022 |agency=Advocate |date=23 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Abortion ===

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In 2009 David Koch gave the [[Smithsonian Institution]] $15 million for the purpose of building a hall covering 6 million years of human evolution. He has given the [[American Museum of Natural History]] $20 million and the Smithsonian $35 million to build dinosaur halls.<ref name="HP-2012">{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/koch-gives-smithsonian-35_n_1474389.html | title=David Koch Gives Smithsonian $35 Million For New Dinosaur Hall | work=[[The Huffington Post]] | date=May 3, 2012 | access-date=November 8, 2015 | author=Zongker, Brett}}</ref>

Salon writes that "one of David Koch’s biggest hobbies, beyond his more general philanthropic pursuits, is [[paleontology]]", and that Koch Industries and other an oil companies:

{{blockquote|"make their money from the daily business of rock strata and fossil fuels, the kind of practical geological work that leaves no doubt about the age of the Earth. In the Archeology interview, [David] Koch spoke about young earth creationists with a kind of bewildered disdain. He had nothing but kind words for Darwin."<ref name="ELBEIN-fetish-2014">{{cite news |last1=ELBEIN |first1=ASHER |title=The right's dinosaur fetish: Why the Koch brothers are obsessed with paleontology |url=https://www.salon.com/2014/07/28/the_rights_dinosaur_fetish_why_the_koch_brothers_are_obsessed_with_paleontology/ |access-date=18 March 2023 |agency=Salon |date=28 July 2014}}</ref>}}

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==Response to liberal critics==

=== Response to Harry Reid ===

In 2014, DemocratDemocratic Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] accused the Koch brothers of trying to "buy the country" in a statement made on the floor of the Senate. Koch Companies Public Sector CEO Philip Ellender responded: "Sen. Reid's divisive remarks were not only disrespectful and beneath the office he holds, they were indicative of what lengths he and his Democratic allies will go to eliminate and silence their political opposition."<ref>{{cite web |url=httphttps://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/197056-koch-industries-fire-back-at-reid/ |title=Koch brothers fire back at Reid's remark |last1=Wilson |first1=Megan R. |date=January 30, 2014 |website=The Hill.com |publisher=News Communications, Inc. |access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref>

===Jane Mayer article in ''The New Yorker''===

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According to journalist Jane Mayer: "The Koch brothers are known for their strongly conservative politics and for their efforts to finance a network of advocacy groups whose goal is to move the country to the right."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=A Word From Our Sponsor |magazine=The New Yorker|date=2013-05-27 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/05/27/130527fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=1}}</ref>

[[Conor Friedersdorf]] of the ''[[The Atlantic]]''{{'}}s "[[Daily Dish]]" defended the Kochs, saying that while he respected Mayer, "as best I can tell, the Koch brothers are legitimately upset by ''some'' aspects of the piece, and anyone who reads it should also look at the rebuttals from libertarians who are persuasively pushing back against ''some'' of its conclusions."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/08/the-koch-brothers-profiled/183020 |title=The Koch Brothers Profiled|first=Conor|last=Friedersdorf|website=The Daily Dish|publisher=[[The Atlantic]]|date=August 30, 2010|access-date=2012-01-06}}</ref>

A [[Koch Industries]] company spokesperson issued a statement saying, "No funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundation, or Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties".<ref name="mayer2010"/> Koch Industries posted a reply on its website. It acknowledged funding libertarian and conservative causes,<ref>[http://www.kochfacts.com/kf/koch-facts/ Koch Industries webpage, "Koch Facts" section] Accessed 2014-11-27.</ref> but stated there were inaccuracies and distortions in Mayer's article, and that she failed to identify alleged conflicts of interest on the part of several persons whom she quoted.<ref name="holden">{{cite web|url=http://www.kochind.com/files/Response%20to%20The%20New%20Yorker.pdf|title=Letter to Lynn B. Oberlander|last=Holden|first=Mark V.|date=September 28, 2010|access-date=January 31, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216223423/http://kochind.com/files/Response%20to%20The%20New%20Yorker.pdf|archive-date=December 16, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==

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* [[Campaign finance in the United States]]

* ''[[Citizen Koch]]'', 2013 documentary film

* ''[[Koch Brothers Exposed]]'' (2012), a documentary film about the political activities of the Koch brothers

* [[KochPAC]], the Koch Industries Inc Political Action Committee

* [[Political finance]]

* [[Climate change]]

==References==