Federal investigators raided a Soros-funded voter mobilization group on Thursday as part of a reported ongoing fraud investigation. The FBI agents raided the headquarters of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) on June 11 and deployed across the state to question members of the organization, sometimes bearing subpoenas or demanding to seize electronic devices.
Background of the Investigation
The raid marks the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s expanded use of federal law enforcement to scrutinize alleged voter fraud and election-related misconduct, a push cheered by conservatives who have long argued such cases were under-enforced and condemned by Democrats and voting rights groups who say the effort risks turning the FBI into a political weapon against liberal voter registration operations.
OOC is a nonprofit organization that works closely with the Democratic Party in Ohio on voter mobilization and registration efforts. It is especially active in ballot referendums, tapping its vast donor network that includes the Soros family’s philanthropies, to do so.
The Department of Justice has declined to comment on the specifics of the purported investigation. The group previously spent $250,000 in 2023 to oppose a GOP-led effort to block the right to an abortion from being enshrined in Ohio’s constitution and spent a further $300,000 against a Republican redistricting effort a year later.
Finances and Donors
OOC finances these expenditures by tapping a deep network of top-level liberal donors. Recent tax documents show that the organization had over $10 million in revenue during 2024. OOC’s considerable financial resources are provided by a variety of high-profile Democratic-aligned donor organizations, including the Soros family’s philanthropies, New Venture Fund, and the Tides Foundation, as well as unions such as the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union.
The Soros family’s Foundation to Promote Open Society gave OOC roughly $1.9 million between 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Open Society Action Fund gave an additional $1 million to OOC’s sister organization, the Ohio Organizing Campaign, followed by another $1 million donation in 2023.
OOC has characterized the federal scrutiny as an example of the Trump administration politicizing the justice system. Prentiss Haney, an OOC board member authorized to discuss the matter on behalf of the group, questioned the timing and motives behind the raid, suggesting it was intended to distract and intimidate civil rights leaders and voters.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
