- Politico obtained a previously unseen list of donors to Nikki Haley's nonprofit, Stand For America, Inc.
- The list shows millions of dollars donated by GOP megadonors.
- It could give insight into who may fund Haley's potential bid for president.
Previously unseen documents obtained by Politico show the wealthy donors that have contributed millions of dollars to Nikki Haley's nonprofit, and could give insight into who may fund a potential 2024 presidential bid.
The top donors from Stand For America, Inc.'s 2019 financial disclosure include New Jersey health executive Vivek Garipalli and his mother, Lakshmi Garipalli, who gave half-a-million dollars each, Politico reported. The late casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam Adelson each gave $250,000 — Miriam also donated $5,000 to Haley's PAC in 2021.
The donations show a base of support for Haley as she looks to a 2024 presidential bid and potential match-up against former President Donald Trump. Some of the donors, Politico noted, have ties to the former president themselves.
But the donations also came in before Trump lost his 2020 reelection race, Politico noted. Now, he's emerged again as a frontrunner for the spot as the GOP candidate for the 2024 presidential race but is also up against mounting legal troubles.
Haley, who served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations in Trump's administration has walked a tightrope with her support for Trump — condemning his actions on January 6, but also opposing his second impeachment trial.
Documented, a government watchdog group, was the organization that first got its hands on a copy of the unredacted IRS filing and turned it over to Politico. Its deputy executive director, Brendan Fischer, told Politico that it's rare to get such a glimpse at the big-money donations that go into a nonprofit like Haley's.
"It's very rare that the public has the opportunity to see the identities of the donors who are providing five- or even six-figure contributions to a dark money group. It's called dark money for a reason. Typically, the public does not know who is financing these groups, and this is a rare exception," Fischer said.
And Haley's team didn't want the public to see the documents — Politico said it received a cease and desist letter from Haley's attorney prior to the publication of the story.
"This disclosure of a confidential tax return was clearly a corrupt violation of state and federal law to try to intimidate conservative donors," Haley said in a statement to Politico. "Liberals have always weaponized government against conservatives, and Republicans have been too nice for too long. We will make sure the buck stops here."
Other contributors named in the filing included Trump ally and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus with a six-figure donation and Chicago Cubs owner and GOP megadonor Joe Ricketts with $50,000.
