How James and Kathryn Murdoch became a political power couple in the Trump era

Still, the story of how the couple has become influential donors while remaining largely out of the political limelight starts, at least in part, around the time of the 2018 congressional midterm elections, when Democrats won the majority in the House. 

For a group known as Unite America, it was a time of reflection and recalculation. Many of the independent nominees that the nonpartisan organization endorsed that year ended up losing. Its political action committees, according to records, ended up having at least $230,000 on hand at the end of the 2018 election cycle. Their 501(c)3, called the Unite America Institute, finished with just over $10,000 in net assets, according to its 2018 disclosure report. 

The group needed a new path and more funding. After receiving multiyear donor commitments from their network, they turned to Kathryn Murdoch for a potential partnership. A blog post by Unite America says the group first met Murdoch in December 2017.

Just before she became the co-chair of Unite America in 2019, the couple’s foundation, Quadrivium, conducted a study that depicted where best to put financial resources to fight against what she saw as gridlock in Washington. She also aimed to increase voter participation and combat climate change, among other initiatives, she told CNBC.

That road map, which was presented to Unite America’s executive director, Nick Troiano at the time, mirrored what the group was hoping to move toward in the coming years, and the two organizations “combined forces,” she explained. 

Charles Wheelan, the founder of Unite America, declined to comment.

Quadrivium, Murdoch said, has continued to help many of the groups they originally planned to finance, including Defending Democracy Together, a 501(c)(4) organization led by Republican Bill Kristol, a former member of President Ronald Reagan’s administration and a staunch Trump critic. The group has crafted numerous projects involving other Republican officials, with the intention of taking down Trump in November. Those projects include the Republican Voters Against Trump, Republicans for the Rule of Law and Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden. A list of Quadrivium grantees provided to CNBC shows that Republicans for the Rule of Law has received funding from the Murdoch backed foundation. 

A spokeswoman for Defending Democracy Together confirmed that Quadrivium did help fund the group, which was founded nearly two years ago. 

Another group that received assistance from Quadrivium, Murdoch said, is Potential Energy, a nonprofit “that brings together America’s leading creative, analytic and media agencies to shift the narrative on climate change,” according to its website. Another group is Represent Us, which, according to their website, is “a powerful movement of independents, progressives, and conservatives building on America’s long tradition of pursuing federal reform through the states.” Their board includes actress Jennifer Lawrence and actor Ed Helms. Quadrivium is listed on the Represent Us website as a foundation that’s given at least $100,000. 

A representative for Potential Energy did not return a request for comment.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/09/how-james-and-kathryn-murdoch-became-a-political-power-couple-in-the-trump-era.html