Complaints filed with the Minnesota Attorney General and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday by The Center for Media and Democracy allege that the nonprofit American Majority broke campaign finance laws that limit political activity by charitable organizations.
The complaint says American Majority, which trains Republican political activists and candidates, should be barred from such activity in Minnesota and should lose its nonprofit status.
Charitable nonprofits — officially designated as 501(c)3 corporations — cannot act or spend politically. The complaints allege that American Majority, a 501(c)3, has supported Republican candidates in Minnesota through its training services since 2017. The organization posted a report in 2018 on the fundraising site GiveMN stating it was creating a Republican “farm team” of over 500 candidates running for offices across Minnesota, and its website lists training scheduled in Minnesota. The registration page for one event called “campaign school,” scheduled for this weekend in Fridley, says admission is free.
Arn Pearson, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, told MinnPost that American Majority’s training activities are outside the tight bounds of what charitable nonprofits are allowed: “A 501(c)3 can’t do anything to help a party or candidate, no matter what party. There’s a whole host of literature about where the line is, but they’re way over that line. They’re not even close to the line.”
The complaints further describe the close financial and operational relationship between American Majority and American Majority Action, a separate nonprofit. American Majority Action’s 501(c)4 designation allows them more political freedom, but the complaints go further to claim that the group’s training activities still overstep those looser bounds. Any training or instruction provided to a candidate committee is considered an in-kind contribution that must be reported, a step that the complaint says neither American Majority nor American Majority Action have taken.
Jennifer DeJournett, American Majority’s Minnesota executive director, did not respond to inquiries from MinnPost about the nonprofit and the complaint. DeJournett also holds political office in Minnesota as a Three Rivers Park District commissioner. Officials with the office of the Minnesota Attorney General said they were reviewing the complaint but declined to comment.
Michael Nolan is a freelance data journalist working with MinnPost on election-related coverage in 2024.
