Exclusive | ‘Woke’ private-equity watchdog braces for Trump administration crackdown on ‘political’ nonprofits: sources

A watchdog group that has attacked the private-equity industry is hitting up donors for recent funds ahead of an anticipated crackdown by the Trump administration on ‘political’ nonprofits, The Post has realized.

Sources said the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) — which outlined a mission in a recent social media post to “expose abuses, bring transparency, and fight to hold this industry accountable to people, not profits” — is now scrambling for money, sources said.

Specifically, the Chicago-based group has requested supporters to donate on ‘Giving Tuesday’ ahead of an anticipated 2026 Treasury and IRS probe of the latest tax filings by so-called 501(c)3 nonprofit teams.

“It is more like Terrified Tuesday,” said one DC insider of the outfit that is often name-checked by left-wing firebrands such as AOC and Elizabeth Warren.

George Soros’s Open Society Policy Center has helped bankroll the Private Equity Stakeholder Project in the past. The group is often name-checked by left-wing Wall Street-bashing politicians. REUTERS

George Soros’s Open Society Policy Center, another nonprofit that may very well be in the Trump administration’s crosshairs, donated a complete of $400,000 to PESP from 2021 to 2022. The donations stopped in 2023, according to the latest obtainable filings for each outfits.

“All you have to do is look at who works at these places, their pronouns, and the sort of political activism they have been engaged in,” the source said. “They’ve handed in their homework, and now it’s going to get graded.”

A well-placed source said 501(c)3 organizations will face “heavy scrutiny” in the event that they “blur their lines” between real advocacy and political activism. In addition to Soros’ Open Society, that may put left-wing teams, including Black Lives Matter, under the microscope, the source said.

IRS filings show that Jim Baker, PESP’s govt director, rakes in $102,000 per yr for working a 40-hour week at the Chicago-based outfit. Jim Baker / Linkedin

Insiders pointed to Chicago-based PESP’s transfer to raise money that “would help fund potential lawsuits with the federal government.”

“The administration has a laundry list of suspects who have been using and abusing their non-profit tax status,” the source added. “No one is against political work. But you need to pay your fair share of taxes.”

Trump administration sources confirmed to The Post that a number of 501(c)3s — named after the section of the US tax code that was initially meant to grant tax breaks to numerous nonprofits such as charities, schools and spiritual teams — are on the radar of senior officers at Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.

Fox News reported in June how PESP staffers have been vocal supporters of anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the nation. Getty Images

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators collect at an encampment on the garden of Columbia University. James Keivom

“We have to get it right on the first shot. Everything we do has to be iron-clad,” one particular person conversant in the matter said in a thinly veiled reference to a potential legal challenge.

Indeed, one well-connected DC lobbyist, talking on condition of anonymity, warned Trump officers: “Anything that smacks of political vendetta simply won’t fly in court.”

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service didn’t reply to The Post’s requests for remark.

Fox News reported in June how PESP staffers have been vocal supporters of anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the nation, with one employee calling herself “a disciplined Communist” who enjoyed hobbies such as “queer line dancing.”

The two surviving founders of KKR, Henry Kravis (left) and George Roberts (proper) have been dubbed as the “godfathers of private equity” for pioneering leveraged buyouts in the Seventies, REUTERS

“Your claim that ‘PESP is bracing itself for a crackdown on non-profits’ is totally false. What is your source for this?” Sam Garin, a spokesperson for the group, said in an electronic mail response with a signature that displayed (she/they) pronouns.

Garin declined to remark additional when pressed by The Post about allegations the group was “political,” instead supplying a hyperlink to a Wikipedia web page about “Giving Tuesday”.

The group’s latest available annual tax filing, which nonprofits call a 990 type, describes its mission as exhibiting how non-public equity “impacts on human rights, jobs, housing, consumers and the environment.”

Its govt director, Jim Baker, earns just over $102,000 per yr for working a 40-hour week, the same source shows.

Private equity firms like Apollo Global Management, Blackstone and KKR pool money from rich purchasers, pension funds and establishments to purchase underperforming firms and then flip them round to be bought for a revenue.

Critics be aware that buyout corporations, in some case,s have slashed jobs to reap fats dividends for themselves, sometimes leaving firms on shaky footing.

Navigate the fast-paced world of business with us. At OurFinancetoday.com/business, we offer well timed and insightful coverage on every part from market tendencies and startup success tales to financial news, entrepreneurship ideas, and global financial shifts.

Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, a small business proprietor, or a seasoned govt, our content is designed to tell, empower, and inspire your next transfer in the business world.

Our editorial team dives deep into real-world methods, company profiles, and professional analysis to convey you articles that matter. We simplify complicated business developments and highlight the innovations, challenges, and alternatives shaping industries today.

Make sure to bookmark our Business part and go to often — in a world that never stops shifting, staying informed is your largest benefit.