How Trump allies and wealthy donors helped to fuel the GOP fight against ESG investing platforms

The 1792 Exchange says it intends to “develop policy and resources to protect and equip non-profits, small businesses and philanthropy from ‘woke’ corporations to educate Congress and stakeholder organizations about the dangers of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies.“ Critics have deployed the vague term “woke capitalism” in response to a broad range of stances taken by corporations that they see as too beholden to liberal politics.

The organization recently published an online index that grades over 1,000 companies on “policies, practices, and other relevant criteria to determine the likelihood a company will cancel a contract or client, or boycott, divest, or deny services based on views or beliefs.” The companies that the group has given a critical “high risk” grade include BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street.

The 1792 Exchange does not report on its website who its founders are, and the group’s president, Paul Fitzpatrick, would not reveal the identity of those who formed the organization.

Nathan Estruth, a former vice president at Procter Gamble, said this year that he was a co-founder of the 1792 Exchange. Estruth was among the group’s representatives at the State Financial Officers Foundation’s February 2022 national meeting in New Orleans.

Estruth has played a varied role in GOP politics in recent years. He ran a failed bid to become lieutenant governor of Ohio in 2018. He has also given money to conservative groups, including a $10,000 donation last year to the Women Speak Out PAC, a super PAC and partner of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

Records show the 1792 Exchange also has early ties to Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who worked with Trump as he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and Ken Blackwell, a Republican former Ohio secretary of state. Fitzpatrick told CNBC that neither Mitchell nor Blackwell have a current role with the 1792 Exchange.

In 2021, Mitchell was listed as secretary and Blackwell as director of Constitutional Congress Inc., the name by which the 1792 Exchange was previously known, according to financial forms filed to the Internal Revenue Service and obtained by CNBC. The original group, which said it focused on educating the public and lawmakers about the Constitution, changed its name to the 1792 Exchange last year and shifted its focus to fighting corporate policies, according to Delaware state business records.

“Constitutional Congress was formed to educate officials and citizens on various issues, and the 1792 Exchange carries on that mission but it is giving attention to retiree and also shareholder issues,” Fitzpatrick told CNBC.

Fitzpatrick, who provided CNBC with the group’s 2021 forms filed with the IRS, did not offer its 2022 documents because they have not been filed yet.

Both Mitchell and Blackwell have ties to Trump’s efforts to spread conspiracies about the 2020 election. Mitchell worked on the former president’s scheme to overturn 2020 state election results.

Meanwhile, Blackwell is the chair of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute’s Center for Election Integrity, which was created after Trump’s failed attempt to get reelected in 2020. It has challenged the integrity of the U.S. election system. He was also part of Trump’s controversial Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which the former president created shortly after the 2016 election.

Mitchell declined to answer questions to CNBC when asked about her role with Constitutional Congress, and instead ripped this reporter, falsely claiming in an email that he has “never done a single story that isn’t a hit piece against conservatives.”

Blackwell did not return requests for comment.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/01/esg-investing-gop-opposition-has-ties-to-trump-allies-wealthy-donors.html