At first glance, our elections in America look like a contest of competing ideas, supported by a wide range of independent groups and grassroots movements. Political action committees (PACs), nonprofits, and advocacy organizations appear to represent diverse voices across the political spectrum.
But when you look closer, a different picture emerges.
Behind the countless organization names and campaign brands lies a much smaller, tightly connected network of donors, strategists, and data operations. What appears to be a broad and decentralized system is often powered by the same small circles of wealth—funding multiple groups, shaping messaging, and influencing outcomes across party lines.
This isn’t just about who gives money. It’s about how that money moves—quietly, strategically, and often invisibly—through layered structures designed to maximize influence while minimizing transparency.
🧩 The Core Pattern of PACs: One Network, Many Names
Across both Republican and Democratic campaigns, the same structural playbook appears again and again:
• Split Structures
Campaigns operate through both PACs (which disclose donors) and nonprofits (which do not), creating a dual system of visible and hidden funding.
• Donor Overlap
The same billionaire donors often fund multiple organizations simultaneously, giving the illusion of widespread support.
• Shared Infrastructure
Consultants, data firms, and media strategists frequently overlap across these groups, enabling coordination without formal ties.
• Brand Multiplication
Different organization names create the appearance of independent voices—but often deliver the same coordinated message.
🔴🔵 A Bipartisan System
This structure is not unique to one party—it spans the entire political system.
• Trump Networks (2016–2020) grew from relatively modest elite backing into a fully aligned donor and Super PAC machine, powered by networks like the Mercer and Adelson circles.
• Clinton’s 2016 Campaign relied on a consolidated donor bloc funding multiple organizations like Priorities USA and American Bridge, sharing vendors and research pipelines.
• Biden’s 2020 Campaign mirrored the same model, with groups like Future Forward operating as both a PAC and a nonprofit—blending transparency and opacity within one coordinated system.
🧠 The Reality Behind the System
What looks like a sprawling ecosystem of political participation is, in reality, something far more controlled:
• A small circle of financial power centers
• Funding a vast network of political fronts
• Manufacturing the illusion of broad, independent support
This is the “invisible thread” tying it all together:
a concentrated network of wealth shaping political narratives and policies at scale—without accountability to the people who are supposed to be represented.
And I’m not speaking about this from a distance—I’m living it.
As one of the millions of Americans pushed to the margins of this system, I’ve watched my voice—and the voices of people like me—become secondary to money, access, and influence. Decisions like Citizens United v. FEC didn’t just change campaign finance—they redefined who this democracy actually listens to.
A handful of wealthy donors fund entire networks that shape elections, messaging, and policy, let’s stop pretending this is a real democracy—because it’s not.
By the time we vote, most of the important decisions have already been influenced—by money, by media, by people we never elected and never even see.
Voting doesn’t fix that.
It just puts a stamp on it.
That’s the part that’s hard to accept for Americans who still believe in “we the people.” Their vote ends up harming the country by legitimizing the power of a few billionaires and serving their interests—not the interests of everyday Americans.
Today’s electoral system makes it look like everything is working the way it’s supposed to.
It’s not—not even close.
And then we point to turnout numbers like that proves something. Even in 2020, with all the attention and energy, only about two-thirds of eligible Americans voted. In most elections, it’s way less than that.
So you’ve got a system shaped by a small group of wealthy interests…
and then “validated” by a portion of the public—many of whom are fed a steady diet of propaganda from outlets like Fox, or from media controlled by the same billionaires funding the system in the first place.
Because from where I’m standing, this isn’t representation. Rather, it’s a system that serves the interests of a few billionaires, with just enough participation at the bottom to keep the illusion alive.
And let me be clear—this isn’t naïveté.
This is what reality looks like when you strip away the propaganda, the media spin, and the constant stream of misinformation pushed by the very officials who benefit from this system.
This isn’t just imbalance. It’s disenfranchisement. And for people like me, it’s no longer theoretical—it’s personal.
⚖️ What This Means for Us, Everyday Americans
This system didn’t emerge by accident. It was enabled—and supercharged—by the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which opened the floodgates for unlimited independent political spending.
The result is a political landscape where money doesn’t just amplify speech—it overwhelms it.
When a handful of wealthy donors can fund entire networks of influence—spanning PACs, nonprofits, media strategies, and data operations—the voices of everyday Americans are no longer competing on equal ground. They are being drowned out.
This is not just a transparency problem. It is a democracy problem.
Because when influence can be multiplied, masked, and distributed through layers of organizations, accountability becomes nearly impossible. Voters are left navigating a system that appears open and competitive—but is, in reality, deeply consolidated.
And that consolidation comes at a cost:
• It dilutes the power of individual voters
• It prioritizes wealth over representation
• It erodes trust in democratic institutions
In the end, the greatest harm of Citizens United is not just the money it unleashed—but the illusion it created: that the system is still driven by the people, when the reality is, it is shaped by a wealthy few; many whose allegiance is to Israel.
A deeper dive
TRUMP NETWORKS (2016 → 2020)
Mercer Network (2016 Core) Primary Donors: Robert Mercer familyConnected Groups:
• Make America Number 1
• Data firms (Cambridge Analytica influence layer)
• Early digital targeting infrastructure
What’s “hidden”:
→ Same money + same data ecosystem
→ PAC + analytics + messaging were integrated, not separate
Adelson Network (2016 → 2020 Expansion) Primary Donor: Sheldon Adelson
Connected Groups:
• Future45
• Preserve America PAC
• GOP-aligned Senate PACs
• RNC joint funds
What’s “hidden”:
→ Multiple PAC names, same funding source
→ Strategy: spread money across entities to maximize legal impact
“America First” Cluster (2020)
Shared ecosystem:
• America First Action
• America First Policies
Overlap:
• Staff
• Messaging
• Donor pool
What’s “hidden”:
→ One is a PAC, one is “dark money” nonprofit
→ Same network operating across disclosure boundaries
CLINTON NETWORK (2016)
Priorities USA + Democratic Donor Bloc
Shared donor pool includes:
• George Soros
• Haim Saban
Connected Groups:
• Priorities USA Action
• Correct the Record
• American Bridge 21st Century
What’s “hidden”:
→ These groups look separate but:
• Share vendors
• Share opposition research pipelines
• Share donor class
Clinton Foundation / Political Orbit (Indirect Influence)
Not a PAC—but:
Connected influence sphere:
• Clinton Foundation
• Donor relationships overlapping with campaign-era contributors
What’s “hidden”:
→ Relationship networks pre-exist campaign structures
→ Access and influence don’t start at the PAC level
BIDEN NETWORK (2020)
“Future Forward” Cluster
Core groups:
• Future Forward USA Action
• Future Forward USA
Same pattern as Trump’s America First:
• PAC (disclosed donors)
• Nonprofit (undisclosed donors)
What’s “hidden”:
→ Same strategic brain + overlapping donor class
→ Split structure for legal flexibility
Democratic Megadonor Layer
Shared donors across multiple PACs:
• Michael Bloomberg
• Reed Hastings
• Dustin Moskovitz
Connected Groups:
• Priorities USA Action
• Unite the Country
• American Bridge 21st Century
What’s “hidden”:
→ Same donors fund multiple PACs simultaneously
→ Creates appearance of many independent actors
CROSS-PARTY PATTERN (this is the real takeaway)
Both sides use the same structural playbook:
- Split Identity Structure
• PAC (transparent)
• Nonprofit (opaque)
→ Same ecosystem - Donor Redundancy
• Same billionaire funds multiple groups
→ Looks like broader support than it is - Vendor Overlap
• Same consultants, ad firms, data firms
→ Coordination without formal coordination - Branding Layer
• Different PAC names = different “voices”
→ Actually one strategic narrative
The “Invisible Dot”
It’s not just “who gave money.” It’s:
Small donor networks → funding multiple entities → creating the illusion of distributed influence
In reality:
• The number of true financial power centers is small
• The number of organizational names is large
TRUMP (2016 → 2020)
Core Donor Nodes → Distribution Layer → Influence
• Robert Mercer
→ Make America Number 1
→ Data firms / targeting / early infrastructure
• Sheldon Adelson
→ Future45
→ Preserve America PAC
→ RNC + Senate PAC alignment
• Shared ecosystem
→ America First Action
→ America First Policies
→ Same donors + staff + messaging
CLINTON (2016)
• George Soros
• Haim Saban
→ Priorities USA Action
→ Correct the Record
→ American Bridge 21st Century
Shared reality:
Same donors → multiple PACs → same vendor networks
BIDEN (2020)
• Michael Bloomberg
• Dustin Moskovitz
• Reed Hastings
→ Future Forward USA Action
→ Future Forward USA
→ Priorities USA Action
Same structure as Trump network:
PAC (visible) + nonprofit (opaque) = one system
TOP 10 REAL POWER NODES (ACROSS ALL CAMPAIGNS)
These are not “the most famous”—these are structurally influential
Individuals
1. Sheldon Adelson
2. Michael Bloomberg
3. Robert Mercer
4. George Soros
5. Dustin Moskovitz
Network Structures (more powerful than individuals) 2016 forward
6. America First Action + America First Policies
7. Future Forward USA Action + Future Forward USA
8. Priorities USA Action ecosystem
9. Republican National Committee joint fundraising network
10. Democratic National Committee joint fundraising network
