The International Republican Institute (IRI) is saying it will take no more money from Soros-related groups following our request last week that it “sever its relationship” with Soros. An IRI spokesman told the Daily Signal, “The project in question is closed; IRI does not work with [Open Society Foundations] and has no intention of doing so again.”
Here’s our July 31 letter to IRI Chairman and Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan (in photo):
I write to ask that the International Republican Institute (IRI) sever its relationship with the so-called Open Society Action Fund, and any other entities founded and/or funded by George Soros.
According to the “Awarded Grants” database appearing on the Open Society Foundations (OSF) website (https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past), IRI was the recipient of a $1,670,000 grant from the Open Society Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization. The purpose of the grant is “to support the Grantee’s work on capacity building for East Asia diaspora communities,” whatever that means.
IRI should end its relationship with Soros for the following reasons:
1.Contrary to his embrace of the “open society,” Soros, and many of the groups and projects he funds, seek to undermine free expression, individual rights, the rule of law and democratic norms. IRI compromises its own mission by accepting support from Soros entities that also support governmental censorship, illegal mass immigration, “lawfare,” and socialism.
2. The Open Society Action Fund is the primary financial supporter of the Indivisible Project, a group that organized and coordinated, along with other OSF-funded groups like MoveOn, the nationwide “Tesla Takedown” and “No Kings” protests. These events were marked by ugly, inflammatory messaging comparing Republicans to Nazis and President Trump to Adolf Hitler. They also coincided with violence, vandalism, arson and lawbreaking, which the organizers cannot disavow given their embrace of extremist displays, rhetoric and language. Indivisible’s “fight against fascism” now includes seeking to train 1,000,000 people for future anti-Trump protests.
3. Funded by 94-year-old billionaire George Soros, the OSF are now headed by his son Alex Soros, who has stated that he is “much more political” than his father. In his social media activity, Alex Soros consistently amplifies the most crude and misleading anti-Trump narratives, contributing to a polarized discourse that distorts rather than informs. On June 14, 2025, Alex married Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s top advisor and enforcer, who is ten years his senior.
4. OSF have been accused of interfering in the internal affairs, and the democratic processes, of foreign countries in which it and its grantees operate. IRI’s acceptance of financial support from Soros can only complicate its own activities in foreign countries. OSF grantees have promoted controversial causes abroad such as legalizing drugs and prostitution, that have not only enraged the local citizenry, but as the National Legal and Policy Center exposed as early as 2005, have violated U.S. law.
We are requesting the following actions:
1. IRI publicly commit to refraining from any further solicitation or acceptance of grants from Soros-related groups or from the giving vehicles of other Left-wing billionaires.
2. If the 2023 grant has not been fully spent, IRI close down the project and return any unspent funds to the Open Society Action Fund.
3. IRI initiate an internal review of how this grant was solicited and accepted so that such a poor decision will not be repeated.
I look forward to your response.
An IRI spokesman also told the Daily Signal, “IRI received a one-time grant to support persecuted Uyghurs in China, whose abhorrent treatment of Uyghurs was declared a genocide by the first Trump administration.”
Click here to read the full Daily Signal story by Fred Lucas.
As noted in the Sullivan letter, the purpose of the grant according to the OSF grant database was “to support the Grantee’s work on capacity building for East Asia diaspora communities,” a description that sounds deliberately vague. If this obfuscation was intentional, what was the reason? If it was to protect the Uyghurs, who are still under pressure from the Chinese government, why would an IRI spokesman disclose it now?
OSF has no shortage of nonprofits through which it can sponsor programs. So, what was the OSF motivation for routing money through a GOP group, and who approached whom about the grant?
Founded in 1983, IRI’s mission is to promote democracy abroad. Its primarily funder has been the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has come under criticism and scrutiny by the Trump administration, resulting in drastic budget cuts. Additionally, USAID has lost its status as an independent agency and has been folded into the State Department.
In addition to Sullivan, these Republican Senators serve on the IRI board of directors: Tom Cotton (AR), Joni Ernst (IA) and Lindsey Graham (SC).
NLPC was an early critic of the unholy mix of USAID and Soros money, publishing a Special Report in 2005 titled, Soros Groups Receive Taxpayer Funds: State Department Collaborates in Skirting U.S. Law Against Promoting Drug Use and Prostitution.
Click here to download a pdf of the Report.
