Are there public FEC records tracing Soros-backed nonprofit transfers to organizations that support Mark Kelly?
Executive summary
Public federal campaign-finance records can be searched for donations and transfers involving organizations linked to George Soros and for committees supporting Sen. Mark Kelly, but the supplied sources do not show a direct, traceable line on the FEC between a Soros-funded nonprofit and contributions explicitly to Mark Kelly’s campaign (available sources do not mention a direct FEC-recorded transfer) [1] [2]. OpenSecrets aggregates FEC and other filings and lists donations to Mark Kelly and recipients from Soros-related entities, but those pages are summaries and not raw FEC transfer documents [3] [2].
1. What public FEC records cover and what they don’t
The Federal Election Commission records itemize direct contributions to federal candidates, transfers between political committees (PACs, joint fundraising committees) and required disclosures by independent expenditures; those filings are what researchers use to trace money to a candidate like Mark Kelly (OpenSecrets notes its data are based on FEC reports) [4] [2]. However, many Soros-funded entities are philanthropic nonprofits that issue grants rather than direct candidate contributions; those grants may not appear as FEC “transfers” to candidate committees if money flows first through 501(c) nonprofits, donor-advised funds, or intermediaries — circumstances OpenSecrets and reporting on Soros’ giving note when donations don’t go directly to political causes [1] [2].
2. What OpenSecrets shows about Soros-linked donors and Mark Kelly
OpenSecrets maintains donor and recipient profiles that compile FEC data and other disclosures; its “Donor Lookup,” “Soros Fund Management recipients,” and Mark Kelly profiles are starting points to see contributions from Soros-affiliated firms, PACs, or individuals to Kelly or his joint fundraising vehicles [5] [2] [3]. OpenSecrets cautions that some pages reflect PAC and individual contributions $200+, and its summaries rely on FEC releases and candidate-reported expenditures, so researchers should treat these as synthesized databases rather than original FEC forms [2] [4].
3. Why a direct “Soros nonprofit → Kelly” FEC line may be absent
Public reporting cited here explains that Soros’ philanthropic network gives billions via grants and that not all of that money is political; grants to nonprofits aren’t necessarily FEC-reportable transfers to campaigns [1]. When political activity exists, it often travels through separate tax-status organizations (PACs, 501(c)s, or independent expenditure groups) whose filings, not the philanthropic grant paperwork, would appear on the FEC if they make reportable federal expenditures [1] [2]. The supplied sources do not include an FEC form or OpenSecrets page that documents a nonprofit funded by Soros directly transferring money to a Mark Kelly campaign committee.
4. Where to look next, based on available resources
Start with OpenSecrets’ donor lookup and the profiles for Soros-linked organizations and Mark Kelly committees; those pages aggregate FEC-reported contributions and list top donors and recipient links [5] [3]. For primary source verification, consult the FEC’s public filings for Mark Kelly’s principal campaign committee and for large outside groups named on OpenSecrets pages; compare committee-to-committee transfers and independent expenditure filings to see any match (OpenSecrets notes its data derive from FEC filings) [4] [2].
5. Caveats, competing interpretations and potential for misattribution
Reporting and databases emphasize that donation chains can be complex: philanthropy vs. political giving are legally distinct, and some outlets or commentators conflate Soros’ global grantmaking with campaign spending [1]. The sources here include partisan and fringe claims alleging hidden links (for example, internet articles and partisan PDF briefings are in search results), but the documents cited in this dataset do not substantiate an FEC-recorded direct transfer from a Soros-funded nonprofit to a Mark Kelly campaign [6] [7]. Researchers should treat sensational claims in non-transparent outlets cautiously and rely on FEC forms and reputable aggregators like OpenSecrets for verification [3] [2].
6. Bottom line and practical next steps
Available reporting shows tools and aggregated data exist to trace contributions (OpenSecrets’ Mark Kelly and Soros-related pages), but the sources provided do not contain an FEC filing that proves a direct nonprofit-to-campaign transfer from a Soros-funded nonprofit to an organization supporting Mark Kelly [3] [2] [1]. To resolve the question definitively, pull the FEC filings for the specific nonprofit or PAC names listed on OpenSecrets and the Mark Kelly campaign/Mark Kelly Victory Fund records and compare committee-to-committee transfer lines on their FEC Form 3, 3X, or 24 filings — OpenSecrets’ summaries will point to candidate and donor names to search [4] [8].