Watchdog Seeks Probe Of ACLU Over Foreign-Funded Missouri Ballot Spending
Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint asking the Missouri attorney general to investigate the ACLU Foundation and Stop the Ban under the state's Foreign Influence in Ballot Measures Act.[1]
The complaint cites financial records showing a $2 million unrestricted grant from the Oak Foundation to the ACLU Foundation beginning in 2025 and a $500,000 ACLU donation to Stop the Ban in early 2026.[1] An ACLU spokesperson said the organization is aware of and compliant with Missouri's campaign-finance law, while Stop the Ban and the Oak Foundation did not comment.[1]
The ballot measure at issue would repeal Missouri's 2024 abortion-rights amendment, ban most abortions with narrow exceptions, and prohibit gender transition procedures for minors starting with the 2026 election.[1] The complaint also leans on a 2025 federal court ruling that a Kansas law could reach groups funded by foreign nationals that then give to domestic nonprofits supporting political committees, even when the foreign funding is one step removed.[1]
The filing turns the August 2025 law into an early test of how broadly Missouri will police foreign-linked money in ballot campaigns and could reshape how nonprofits and foreign funders engage in future state ballot fights if the attorney general pursues the probe.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint asking the Missouri attorney general to investigate the ACLU Foundation and Stop the Ban under Missouri's Foreign Influence in Ballot Measures Act, which took effect in August 2025.
- Financial records cited in the complaint show a $2 million unrestricted Oak Foundation grant to the ACLU Foundation beginning in 2025 and a $500,000 ACLU Foundation donation to Stop the Ban in early 2026.
- The ballot measure at issue would repeal Missouri's 2024 abortion-rights amendment, ban most abortions with narrow exceptions, and prohibit gender transition procedures for minors starting with the 2026 election.
- The complaint relies in part on a 2025 federal court ruling that a similar Kansas law reaches organizations funded by foreign nationals that donate to domestic nonprofits which then support political committees, even when the foreign funding is one step removed.
- An ACLU spokesperson told Fox News the organization is aware of and compliant with Missouri's campaign-finance law; Stop the Ban and Oak Foundation did not comment in the article.
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