Millions of dollars sent to Barack Obama’s foundation has ended up being donated to a progressive fund that supported anti-Israel groups, accused of setting up encampments at Ivy League universities, according to public documents.
Donations to The Obama Foundation, set up by the former president to build a 19-acre campus including a museum, athletic facility and fruit and vegetable gardens in Chicago, totalling $2 million were instead sent on to Tides Foundation in 2022 and 2023, according to their latest available federal tax filings.
The cash was earmarked to “support local organizations that are working to reduce violence in communities,” according to the nonprofit’s filings.
Tides Foundation — also funded by Democratic mega donor George Soros — is a network which operates as a fiscal sponsor for groups that have not registered with the IRS as charities.
The third-party grant making group is currently under scrutiny by the House Ways and Means Committee for handling donations for anti-Israel groups such as the Adalah Justice Project, Samidoun and the People’s Forum. Such groups helped set up pro-Palestinian demonstrations and college encampments after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel that left 1,200 Israelis dead.
Tides has also handled donations for Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which sued the group in California Superior Court last year. It alleged “egregious mismanagement” of more than $33 million in their funds, according to court documents. That lawsuit is ongoing.
In addition to sending donations to Tides, the Obama Foundation has also sent more than $3 million in 2022 and 2023 in grants to Gofundme.org for undisclosed “grassroots leaders to empower girls through education,” according to the group’s filings.
Meanwhile, the foundation admitted it has so far spent more than $615 million building the Obama Presidential Center, which is scheduled to open in spring 2026, according to its website.
The group, which received just $129,320 in donations in 2022, spent more than $27 million on salaries.
Among the highest paid board members are Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Obama and CEO of the foundation, who raked in more than $750,000 in compensation in 2023.
Robbin Cohen, the executive vice president of the Obama Presidential Center, took in nearly $650,000 in 2023, according to the tax filings. Cohen is a former president of the Pritzker Realty Group, founded by Penny Pritzker, a philanthropist who is also on Obama Foundation board of directors. Pritzker, whose brother, J.B. Pritzker, is the governor of Illinois, does not have a salary.
The Center, located in Jackson Park on the city’s South Side and taking up 20 acres is still under construction and rises like a concrete monolith out of the ground. The privately funded project was started in 2021 but suffered many setbacks during its construction, including blowing through its original $500 million budget.
“It’s a monstrosity … it’s taking way too long to finish and it’s going to drive up prices and bring headaches and problems for everyone who lives here. It feels like a washing away of the neighborhood and culture that used to be here,” said Ken Woodward, a lawyer and father of six who grew up in the area earlier this year.
Neither the Obama Foundation nor the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama returned requests for comment Thursday.
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