5 minPolitics
Анонімна група American Forge Coalition розсилає листи проти республіканців напередодні виборів
Невідома організація American Forge Coalition розіслала виборцям у кількох виборчих округах листи з критикою республіканських кандидатів, а їхні опоненти називають це прихованою схемою з придушення голосів республіканців.
A little-known group calling itself the American Forge Coalition is sending mailers to voters in battleground House districts across the country, accusing vulnerable Republicans of not being conservative enough. Several Republican campaigns say the effort is a coordinated scheme backed by Democrats to depress GOP turnout in midterm races only a week away.
According to Fox News Digital's investigation, the group has targeted Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in New York's 17th Congressional District; Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., in Pennsylvania's 1st District; Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., in Wisconsin's 3rd District; Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, in Iowa's 1st District; Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., in Virginia's 2nd District; and Laurie Buckhout, who is challenging Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., in North Carolina's 1st District. The mailers were sent at the start of early voting.
The content of the mailers varies by race. In the cases of Lawler, Kiggans and Fitzpatrick, the group accused them of supporting «mass amnesty» and «letting criminals escape justice after illegally entering our nation.» Mailers in the races of Van Orden and Buckhout accused them of being too lenient on abortion. One North Carolina mailer claimed Buckhout supports «abortions up until birth,» while Wisconsin voters received flyers saying Van Orden «would allow the murder of the unborn into the second trimester.»
Fox News Digital reported that both attack lines distort the candidates' positions. Lawler, Fitzpatrick and Kiggans support the Dignity Act, which would create a pathway to temporary legal status for undocumented migrants who pay certain fees and pass a background check, and which would also increase pay for Border Patrol agents. None of them, however, supports amnesty for immigrants with criminal histories. Van Orden and Buckhout have both presented themselves as pro-life, and Democrats have attacked them as anti-abortion.
Fitzpatrick's campaign said the group was a left-wing dark money operation and that the tactic was not new. «They are telling Republicans that we are too independent, and then telling Democrats that we're not independent enough,» the campaign said. A spokesman for Lawler's campaign, Ciro Riccardi, called it «a shady Democrat dark money scheme using a front group that isn't even registered with the Federal Election Commission.»
The source of the group's money remains unclear, and its structure appears designed to limit disclosure. Records show it was created in May 2026 and registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization rather than a political action committee, which means it does not have to disclose its donors to the FEC. Such groups may advocate on issues but are barred by law from directly campaigning for a specific candidate. Its registered address in Wilmington, Delaware, is also shared by roughly 285,000 other businesses, a fact that Fox News Digital noted limits what the public can learn from business filings alone.
Money in Politics Reform Director Michael Beckel told Fox News Digital that groups of both parties have used the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling to spend undisclosed money in elections, and that a group like the American Forge Coalition leaves a very thin paper trail. He said it was possible the group was a conservative-branded entity funded by liberal or Democratic-aligned donors, but added that the public lacks enough information to know. Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, said the group's funders were «assuredly leaning left» and called the pairing of democracy warnings with voter suppression efforts hypocritical.
Such tactics are not new on either side. Fox News Digital noted that in 2024 a California-based group linked to former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called True Patriots PA was accused of trying to shift voters away from Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania toward his more right-wing opponent.
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