Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Mercer's Family Foundation is what happens when somebody gives a private equity firm the IRS code for “charity” and tells them to go to town. 021
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Mercer grantees: The Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society. Project Veritas., Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, because apparently someone in the family is a Coolidge guy, which is its own diagnosis. 111
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026501(c)(3) organizations are tax-exempt with tax-deductible donations, while 501(c)(4) organizations are tax-exempt but donations are generally not deductible. <--- So, donors would not be as likely to give massive amounts to 501c4 when they will not be able to deduct it (to their limit anyway). 101
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026The Mercer Family Foundation is not a charity in any meaningful sense. It is a political weapon wearing a charity’s ballgown. Every organization they donate to is a 501(c)(3) - a tax-deductible “public charity” - and the activities described across the rest of this story are partisan political work. 111
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026The Mercers did not need enough money to own the country outright. They needed enough money to own the right pieces of it. 101
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026This is not a complaint about how much money rich people have. It is a point about how cheap it is to take over a democracy once the laws have been rewritten to let private money speak louder than the public’s voice. 101
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026The US was sold the way a hedge fund quietly buys up a public company -slowly, over years, through stacks of paperwork & friendly go-betweens, until one morning the shareholders wake up & find the board has been replaced & new owners are running the place skeletonattic.substack.com/p/the-mercer...skeletonattic.substack.comThe Mercers and Dark-Money ArchitectureCitizens United, Part 3 of 5 101
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Just in case we all forgot how sleazy Brittany Kaiser is: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittan...en.wikipedia.orgBrittany Kaiser - Wikipedia 010
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Just when you think they couldn't get more delusional: www.levernews.com/the-church-o...levernews.comThe Church Of Leonard LeoThe Supreme Court’s dark-money operative bought a church near his tony summer home, where neighbors are protesting his political crusade. 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticPBS News @pbsnews.org · 17/05/2026Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement to mobilize a new voting rights era as conservative states dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation. to.pbs.org/49MM4mzto.pbs.orgThousands rally in birthplace of Civil Rights Movement to defend Black political representationA crowd of thousands gathered in front of the city’s historic Alabama Capitol, the place where the Confederacy was formed in 1861 and where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in 1965 at the end of... 5328103
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 17/05/2026This is obscene and not the way Democracy is supposed to work. 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticJenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 17/05/20262/ bsky.app/profile/jenn... 69540
Reposted by Skeleton AtticJenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 17/05/2026🚨Trump just named Marc Andreessen’s wife to the SF Presidio Trust board, along with other MAGA allies & ultra-wealthy tech figures. Meanwhile, the Tech Bros have made it clear that they want to build a “Freedom City” in the Presidio. sfstandard.com/2026/05/14/t...sfstandard.comTrump fills Presidio Trust board with MAGA allies, ultra-wealthy tech figuresThe new members include Lynne Benioff, who previously served as board chair, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, and four others in tech, finance, and real estate. 62907527
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Asked @microsoft-copilot.bsky.social to find me some articles on Floyd Brown (the founder of Citizens United and an avid racist). It gave me numerous articles that all returned a 404 or 403 error. 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticBloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 16/05/2026Yesteryear’s entrepreneurial revolution has produced two unexpected offspring: oligarchs and corporate bureaucrats (via Bloomberg Opinion) bloom.bgHow America’s Entrepreneurial Revolution Went Off the RailsOne of the most striking things about the posse of CEOs who accompanied Donald Trump to China this week is that they are almost as unpopular as the president himself. During the golden age of business in 1980-2008, it sometimes seemed as if businesspeople could do no wrong. Now, it seems that they can do no right. 63520
Reposted by Skeleton AtticPolitico @politico.com · 16/05/2026The South’s new redistricting fight could reach far beyond Congressdlvr.itThe South’s new redistricting fight could reach far beyond CongressBlack Democrats warn the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling will impact Black representation across southern state legislatures. 34210
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026"I’ve noticed an unfortunate trend — that too many American billionaires or near billionaires have curious ties to the mafia state of Russia. Some have curious ties to Deutsche Bank. Many have curious ties to data mining, and some financed Trump." #Mercer www.bettedangerous.com/p/american-m...bettedangerous.comAmerican Monster — Robert MercerEighth in a series on US criminals accelerating global fascism 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026... against the Sacklers, against apartheid-era South Africa, against the Confederate-flag retailers in 2015. It works because reputation is the one asset money cannot directly purchase. You can buy a senator. You cannot buy a daughter who refuses to sit at your table. 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The work is to make that proximity uncomfortable. Letters to trustees. Op-eds in the alumni magazine. Petitions that name names. Showing up at the annual gala with a banner. None of this is glamorous. All of it has worked before - against the tobacco companies,... 100
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026A reader who finishes Piece 5 should have one question in their head: where in my life am I still treating these people as respectable? My alma mater took $40 million from one of them. My city's symphony has another one on the board. My kid's private school is named after a third. 100
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026A country club. A church finance committee. A magazine masthead. A hospital wing. The strategic question is not "how do we put them in prison" - we cannot, the DOJ is gone - but "where are they still allowed in the room?" Then shame them out of it. 100
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The Citizens United series is, in part, an attribution document. Every billionaire we name in it - the Mercers, the Kochs, Adelson, Singer, Crow, Seid, the Bradley family - sits on something. A museum board. A university trustee seat. A think-tank advisory committee. (1/?) 100
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026open.substack.com/pub/heidicud...open.substack.comAmerican Monster — Robert MercerEighth in a series on US criminals accelerating global fascism 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The Council for Nat'l Policy (incl. Kellyanne, Bannon, DeVos, Mercers, & 2 men whose families funded the largest voting machine vendor in the U.S.) has set a deadline of 2020 for restoring “religion and economic freedom & Judeo-Christian values” under the Constitution. 12/27/2017 By Jennifer S. Cohn 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The Mercers funded Cambridge Analytica → Cambridge Analytica worked closely with AIQ → AIQ built and deployed the tools used in Mercer political projects. This is an ecosystem connection, not a direct funding relationship. 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticThe Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 16/05/2026The Justice Department is preparing to seek the dismissal of a pending bribery and fraud case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, potentially ending prosecution efforts following a defense campaign led by one of President Trump‘s personal attorneys. washingtonpost.comDOJ expected to drop fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam AdaniThe likely move comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission struck an $18 million deal to settle a parallel civil lawsuit. 173724
Reposted by Skeleton AtticThe Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 16/05/2026The legal showdown between Elon Musk and OpenAI exposed the personal and financial fault lines beneath Silicon Valley’s defining boom. on.wsj.com/3R9oVocon.wsj.comThe Messy Courtroom Drama Over AI’s Biggest BreakupThe legal showdown between Elon Musk and OpenAI exposed the personal and financial fault lines beneath Silicon Valley’s defining boom. 077
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026AggregateIQ (AIQ) originated as SCL Canada and worked as a subcontractor for SCL/Cambridge Analytica on multiple projects. AIQ built Ripon, the software platform used by Cambridge Analytica for the Cruz campaign — a campaign the Mercers also funded. 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Rebekah Mercer remains involved in: Heritage Foundation (trustee) Heritage Action (board member) 1789 Capital (co‑founder) Parler (co‑founder; platform used for political organizing) Mercer Family Foundation (major funder of conservative infrastructure) 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticPBS News @pbsnews.org · 16/05/2026Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted the sentence of election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters following pressure from President Trump, the latest instance of Trump using his powers to reward those who echoed his baseless claims of mass fraud as the cause of his 2020 loss. to.pbs.org/4wQ3yZxpbs.orgColorado Gov. Polis commutes ex-election clerk Tina Peters' sentence after Trump pressureTrump has championed the case of Peters, a 70-year-old former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in a scheme to make a copy of her county’s election compute... 308345
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026CNP “We will not try to reform the existing institutions.We only intend to weaken them, and eventually destroy them.We will maintain a constant barrage of criticism against the Left. We will attack the very legitimacy of the Left. We will not give them a moment’s rest. We will use guerrilla tactics" 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Rebekah Mercer remains active in Republican politics through Make America Number 1 and other vehicles. The architecture persists even as the Bannon relationship ends. This shows the infrastructure outlasts any individual operator and is still growing strong today. 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Rebekah Mercer issues a public statement ending the Mercer-Bannon relationship. Robert Mercer sells his stake in Breitbart. This is not just a personal falling-out — it is the moment when Bannon the operator loses his money source and must rebuild. 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The Mercer Family Foundation 990s show the architecture of Mercer philanthropy: direct grants to the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Club for Growth, Citizens United (the organization), and dozens of other conservative entities. 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticPolitico @politico.com · 16/05/2026House AI talks focus on vetting powerful modelsdlvr.itHouse AI talks focus on vetting powerful modelsPreviously unreported details of the talks come as the White House grapples with challenges from the emergence of Mythos. 164
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026with the production values and sourcing standards of investigative journalism, designed to be laundered through mainstream media. Clinton Cash (2015) is the most consequential product. (2of2) #GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026 The Mercers are "apoplectic" that Obama wins reelection, per Mayer's reporting. Bannon channels that frustration into a strategic expansion: the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) is funded to produce opposition research (1/2) 100
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Mercer commits approximately $10 million to Breitbart News based on Bannon's business plan. This is not a charitable donation; it is an equity investment in a media company conceived as an information-warfare platform. 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026internally it is an integrated political operations company with access to tens of millions of Facebook profiles and a mandate to build psychological targeting profiles for political advertising. (2of2) #SCLGroup #CambridgeAnalytica #Bannon #Mercers #CitizenUnited 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The Mercers invest a reported $15 million to create Cambridge Analytica as the American-facing operation of SCL Group. Rebekah Mercer joins the board. Bannon joins the board. The company is presented publicly as a data-analytics firm; (1/2) 100
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The Mercer Family Foundation 990s show the architecture of Mercer philanthropy: direct grants to the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Club for Growth, Citizens United (the organization), and dozens of other conservative entities. 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The four threads are labeled: Sex-Crime-adjacent, Far-Right, Russia-adjacent Faud-adjacent These are just ways of organizing the kind of documented relationships we are looking at. "You are the company you keep" skeletonattic.substack.com/p/bannon-ii-...skeletonattic.substack.comBannon II: The Company He KeptBannon II: The Company He Kept 000
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026The 2nd in a 5-part series on Citizens United, this piece establishes Bannon not only as brilliant and unethical, but as part of a vast network of criminals and sanctioned individuals around the world. skeletonattic.substack.com/p/bannon-ii-...skeletonattic.substack.comBannon II: The Company He KeptBannon II: The Company He Kept 001
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 16/05/2026This is the list of people Steve Bannon hired, replaced, defended, campaigned with, traveled with, briefed, did business with, or otherwise kept around him over twenty years. All are criminal or adjacent. 'Bannon II: The Company He Kept' skeletonattic.substack.com/p/bannon-ii-...skeletonattic.substack.comBannon II: The Company He KeptBannon II: The Company He Kept 111
Skeleton Attic @skeletonattic.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Racism is still on the throne of this country. substack.com/@mikaanderso...substack.comMika Anderson (@mikaanderson)This is heavy! Another break in our democratic systems. 000
Reposted by Skeleton AtticPBS News @pbsnews.org · 01/05/2026The hearings Wednesday and Thursday before the House and Senate Armed Services committees delved into the Trump administration's 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion. to.pbs.org/4cKIWK8 to.pbs.org4 takeaways from Hegseth's hearings on historic defense budget request, Iran warDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared before Congress at a pair of hourslong hearings this week for the first time since the Trump administration went to war against Iran, with the Pentagon chief fa... 124719