FreedomWorks gained prominence as a key organizer of the Tea Party movement that launched shortly after President Barack Obama was sworn into office. According to the New York Times, FreedomWorks “has done more than any other organization to build the Tea Party movement.” FreedomWorks has opposed Obamacare and climate change legislation. In a 2020 attempt to help re-elect Donald Trump, FreedomWorks ran a “deceptive digital ad campaign” aimed at suppressing minority voters and stoking fears about election integrity. It aims to defund public education, eliminate financial sector and other regulations that protect people and communities, and push against effective government.
Koch Network
FreedomWorks was launched in 2004 along with Americans for Prosperity as spin-offs from the Koch-created Citizens for a Sound Economy. Between 1997 and 2002 alone, the Koch fortune pumped $6,510,375 into Citizens for a Sound Economy. FreedomWorks is a current associate member of the Koch-funded State Policy Network.
Horatio Alger Association
The Horatio Alger Association is an exclusive circle of wealthy business elites that has lavished Clarence Thomas with luxury gifts and received unprecedented access to the Supreme Court building. In 2022, David Sokol — a business executive and Horatio Alger Association award recipient — co-authored a book with the President of FreedomWorks, Adam Brandon. Sokol gave FreedomWorks at least $25,000 in 2020.
Harlan and Kathy Crow
FreedomWorks has received significant funding from billionaire Harlan Crow (including at least $100,000 in 2020).
Leonard Leo
Leonard Leo is an arch right-wing operative who has amassed a fortune through a web of dark money organizations he has used to radically transform the judiciary. Leo’s Freedom and Opportunity Fund has given FreedomWorks at least $100,000.
Justice Thomas
FreedomWorks partners with Ginni Thomas’s Frontliners for Liberty. Ginni Thomas is the wife of sitting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
