As a Swiss national, Wyss cannot contribute directly to federal candidates but can use his deep-pocketed nonprofit to influence US politics
Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss funneled millions of dollars to the left-wing organizations that are organizing the anti-Donald Trump “No Kings” protests and spearheading lawsuits targeting President Trump’s immigration and energy policies, according to new tax filings obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. They reveal the extent to which Wyss, a foreign national, is central to anti-Trump resistance efforts.
The Berger Action Fund, one of two nonprofits Wyss has used to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to left-wing causes, gave a total of $57.3 million to 11 activist groups between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, the disclosures show. That includes $3 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), $2 million to the League of Conservation Voters, and $1 million to the Indivisible Project.
Indivisible is the main organizer of the No Kings movement—a series of nationwide anti-Trump protests that received significant mainstream media attention last summer—while the ACLU is part of the No Kings Coalition that is planning a new nationwide protest scheduled for late March. The League of Conservation Voters, meanwhile, was the lead plaintiff on the first environmental lawsuit filed against the Trump administration. It challenged Trump’s move to reopen tens of millions of acres of oceans for offshore oil leasing.
The disclosures put a renewed spotlight on Wyss’s involvement in U.S. politics, an issue that has raised ethics questions and attracted congressional investigations in recent years. The Swiss billionaire confirmed he is a foreign national in 2021, though he has denied breaking any laws governing the use of foreign money in American politics. Foreign nationals are barred from directly contributing to campaigns, but can give to politically active nonprofits. Wyss is positioned to do just that for years to come: His fund reported a single contribution of $176.7 million—almost certainly from Wyss himself—that increased its net assets to nearly $400 million.
“For far too long, foreign nationals like Hansjörg Wyss have been exploiting loopholes to funnel their foreign dark money into important policy fights—and this latest tax return shows he’s doubling down,” said Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of ethics watchdog group Americans for Public Trust.
The ACLU has used Wyss’s millions to take more than 200 legal actions against the Trump administration. The group reports that it has “successfully defeated, diluted, or delayed” Trump’s agenda in roughly 70 percent of its cases.
The group, for example, represents Minnesota citizens who accuse ICE agents of racially profiling them as well as a New York immigration group that opposes Trump’s fast-tracked deportations. It has also taken Trump to court over his lethal military strikes on drug-smuggling boats, his efforts to quash DEI programs, his executive order requiring proof of citizenship to vote, and his actions protecting minors from medical gender transition procedures.
“This was never meant to be a single day of outrage,” ACLU campaign director Ellen Flenniken said of the No Kings protests. “The ACLU will channel the energy and courage of [the protests] to continue to do everything in our power in the courts and our communities to defend and strengthen our democracy and push back against the Trump administration’s encroachment of our rights.”
The League of Conservation Voters, for its part, calls Trump’s energy agenda “dirty and dangerous.” It has opposed Trump’s picks to lead agencies that oversee energy and environmental policies, and it frequently condemns Trump’s actions to boost oil production and block Biden-era electric vehicle mandates. It spent $1.3 million lobbying against Trump’s agenda in 2025 alone.
And the Free Beacon reported last year that Indivisible was behind town hall protests held in Republican districts against Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative. The group created a reimbursement program to cover activists’ expenses associated with such protests, including “chicken suits.”
The Berger Action Fund’s largest contribution between 2024 and 2025 was a $27 million check to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal dark money group that funds and sponsors left-wing nonprofits. While it is unknown where it directed Wyss’s money, the Sixteen Thirty Fund supported dozens of prominent anti-Trump groups in 2024, including by giving $11.8 million to the League of Conservation Voters.
“In 2024, the Berger Action Fund supported organizations working to address climate change, protect access to health care, promote economic opportunity, and bring increased transparency to our campaign finance system,” a spokesman for the Berger Action Fund said in a statement. “Berger’s grants complied with laws and rules governing its charitable activities, and all grant funding was prohibited from being used to support or oppose political candidates or parties or other electoral activity.”
“We unequivocally denounce all forms of hate and violence, and through our grantmaking, remain committed to supporting causes and initiatives that foster unity, strengthen communities, and help build a more peaceful future,” the spokesman added.
The new filings come in the wake of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing that focused on how foreign actors use the U.S. tax-exempt sector to influence politics and “sow division, chaos, and hate in communities.” Witnesses, including Sutherland, cited Wyss as a prime example, while Rep. Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.) remarked that Wyss has a “documented history of laundering money through American tax-exempt organizations to influence U.S. elections, weaken American energy independence, and advance far-left policy priorities.”
“Year after year, Wyss consistently only funds left-wing groups, including those that sponsor protests and legal challenges against the U.S. government,” Sutherland told the Free Beacon. “More action is needed to stop this foreign interference in U.S. policy and politics.”
