Alexandria, VA – Today, Americans for Public Trust (APT) filed a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General against Protect Majority Rule Missouri and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation for a potential violation of Missouri’s ban on direct or indirect foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns.
The complaint alleges that because the ACLU Foundation has received foreign donations, their contribution to a Missouri ballot measure campaign runs afoul of Missouri’s Foreign Influence in Ballot Measures Act. This is the second instance of APT filing a complaint against a Missouri ballot campaign and the ACLU Foundation for prohibited donations.
Missouri law clearly prohibits Protect Majority Rule Missouri from receiving money from foreign-backed groups like the ACLU Foundation. As the recipient of millions in foreign money, the ACLU Foundation cannot bankroll Missouri ballot measures. Given the repeated violations and Attorney General Hanaway’s work to end foreign influence in Missouri, we trust swift action will be taken to protect Missourians from foreign influence. – Caitlin Sutherland, Executive Director, Americans for Public Trust
Click here to read the full complaint.
Fast Facts
- Effective August 28, 2025, the Foreign Influence in Ballot Measures Act comprehensively prohibits foreign funding of Missouri ballot measure campaigns.
- As part of that law, the ballot issue committee must attest in reporting forms that it has “not knowingly or willfully” received foreign funding “directly or indirectly.”
- The complaint alleges that Protect Majority Rule Missouri took $500,000 from the ACLU Foundation, which has knowingly received foreign donations — the exact pattern of giving the law was designed to stop.
- The ACLU Foundation most recently received a two-year (2025 and 2026) $2 million grant from the Switzerland-based Oak Foundation and has accepted millions in foreign money over the years.
- The grant was made to provide “core support” to the ACLU Foundation, which the Oak Foundation identifies as a grant meaning “unrestricted funding.”
- Protect Majority Rule Missouri is a Missouri ballot issue committee that organized to oppose Amendment 4. Amendment 4, among other things, would enshrine the prohibition on foreign funding of Missouri ballot measure campaigns in the state’s constitution.
