Sidney Powell nonprofit raised more than $16M following 2020 election

A nonprofit run by attorney and Trump ally Sidney Powell raised almost $16.4 million in the year following the 2020 presidential election, a tax filing shows. 

The filing, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that Defending the Republic raised that amount between Dec. 1, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2021. 

The organization spent almost $8 million during that period, more than $3.8 million of which was for legal fees. More than $2 million was spent on “other” expenses. 

Brendan Fischer, the deputy executive director of Documented, a watchdog organization that reviews nonprofits’ and corporations’ activities, told the Post that the filing shows spreading disinformation about the results of the 2020 presidential election is “incredibly lucrative.” 

The Post previously reported in December that Defending the Republic raised more than $14 million in the eight months after it was founded following the election based on promoting false claims of election fraud. 

The nonprofit states on its website that its goal is to fight legal battles and advocate for “American values, the rule of law, and the principles upon which this Republic was founded.” 

The form names Powell as the president and director of the organization and also lists two other directors and the chief financial officer. It states that their compensation was $0, but the group was only required to report compensation through the end of the calendar year, only for the month of December 2020. 

Fischer told the Post that the form, the nonprofit’s Form 990 and other documents submitted to the IRS show “almost nothing about where the nonprofit’s millions in reported legal expenses are flowing.” 

Powell told the Post that the nonprofit has independent accountants, legal counsel and auditors and that if any errors or omissions are present in the Form 990, they will be “corrected as soon as possible.” 

Powell has gained notoriety since the 2020 election for being one of the leading proponents of former President Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen from him through voter fraud. 

She is facing a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems for allegedly defamatory statements that she and other Trump allies made about the voting machine company in their attempts to overturn the results of the election. 

A federal judge tossed a countersuit she filed against Dominion last month and has denied her requests to dismiss Dominion’s lawsuit against her.