American Accountability Foundation
 | |
| Abbreviation | AAF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2020 |
| 85-4391204 | |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
Executive director | Tom Jones |
| Website | AAF website |
The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) is an American conservative opposition research group founded in 2020 that has opposed nominees to the Joe Biden administration.[1]
History
The AAF's executive director and co-founder, Tom Jones, previously worked for Republican senators Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz (directing opposition research for Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign), Jim DeMint, and John Ensign. Its other co-founder, Matthew Buckham, worked in the White House Presidential Personnel Office during the Trump presidency.[2] The New Yorker described the AAF as a dark money group ("a politically active, tax-exempt nonprofit charity that doesn’t disclose its backers") that is an offshoot of another such group, the Conservative Partnership Institute, which employed Mark Meadows after he left the Trump administration.[2][3]
The AAF describes itself as a "charitable and educational organization that conducts non-partisan governmental oversight research and fact-checking so Americans can hold their elected leaders accountable".[4] Jones told Fox News in April 2021 that he aimed to "take a big handful of sand and throw it in the gears of the Biden administration".[2][5]
Campaigns
According to The New Yorker, the AAF "aims to thwart the entire Biden slate", and as of April 2022 had targeted 29 nominees.[2] The AAF acknowledged its role in derailing Biden's nominations of David Chipman to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2021;[6] Sarah Bloom Raskin to be vice-chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board in 2022;[3] and David Weil for the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.[2] The AAF's research was used by Republican opponents of the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022.[7]
In September 2021, the AAF filed an ethics complaint against representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for attending the Met Gala. The AAF claimed that her attendance amounted to accepting an illegal gift since her estimated $35,000 ticket was paid for by Conde Nast, a for-profit company, not a charity. The event itself is however a charitable fundraiser.[8][9][10]
References
- ^ Wong, Scott (March 24, 2021). "Conservative group escalates earmarks war by infiltrating trainings". The Hill.
- ^ a b c d e Mayer, Jane (April 16, 2022). "The Slime Machine Targeting Dozens of Biden Nominees". The New Yorker.
- ^ a b Mayer, Jane (March 15, 2022). "Sarah Bloom Raskin Withdraws Her Nomination to the Federal Reserve Board". The New Yorker.
- ^ "American Accountability Foundation". AAF. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Shaw, Adam (April 11, 2021). "New conservative group wields unorthodox tactics to block Biden agenda, nominees". Fox News. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Markay, Lachlan (September 14, 2021). "Conservative group behind sunk ATF nomination takes a victory lap". Axios. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Pilkington, Ed (March 24, 2022). "Republicans turn Ketanji Brown Jackson hearing into a political circus". The Guardian. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Clark, Dartunorro. "Conservative group files ethics complaint against AOC for attending Met Gala". NBC News.
- ^ Mishra, Stuti (September 15, 2021). "AOC hit with ethics complaint over Met Gala appearance as she fires back at critics". The Independent.
- ^ Vakil, Caroline (September 15, 2021). "Conservative group files ethics complaint over Ocasio-Cortez appearance at Met Gala".