Tue. Feb 11th, 2025

The Secret Megadonor Behind the MAGA Movement’s ‘Nerve Center’<!-- wp:html --><p>Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty</p> <p>In a few short years, the Conservative Partnership Institute has become known in Washington as the “<a href="https://documented.net/investigations/conservative-partnership-institute">nerve center</a>” of the MAGA movement—an outsized power player in Congress and a <a href="https://themessenger.com/grid/the-insurrectionists-clubhouse-former-trump-aides-find-a-home-at-a-little-known-maga-hub">hotbed of election denialism</a>.</p> <p>What hasn't been known, however, is who exactly has underwritten the group's rise and rapid expansion, as the conservative nonprofit buys up prime real estate on Capitol Hill and turns pricey row houses into the <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/freedom-caucus-holds-shutdown-talks-in-a-tax-cheats-home-the-neighbors-are-pissed">concealed tentacles of its grip on the House Freedom Caucus</a>—until now.</p> <p>It turns out there’s one relatively unknown conservative megadonor behind much of the group’s expansion. And that donor is not on the familiar shortlist of major Republican backers. In fact, he’s not even among the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors">top 100 political donors</a> in the country.</p> <p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-secret-megadonor-mike-rydin-behind-the-maga-movements-nerve-center-conservative-partnership-institute">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

In a few short years, the Conservative Partnership Institute has become known in Washington as the “nerve center” of the MAGA movement—an outsized power player in Congress and a hotbed of election denialism.

What hasn’t been known, however, is who exactly has underwritten the group’s rise and rapid expansion, as the conservative nonprofit buys up prime real estate on Capitol Hill and turns pricey row houses into the concealed tentacles of its grip on the House Freedom Caucus—until now.

It turns out there’s one relatively unknown conservative megadonor behind much of the group’s expansion. And that donor is not on the familiar shortlist of major Republican backers. In fact, he’s not even among the top 100 political donors in the country.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

By