Government Accountability Institute GAI

“The Government Accountability Institute (GAI) is a conservative nonprofit think-tank[3] located in Tallahassee, Florida.[4][5] GAI was founded in 2012[6] by Peter Schweizer and Steve Bannon with funding from Robert Mercer and family.[7]Schweizer serves as the group’s president.[8] The group is known for its involvement with the publication of the books Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich and Bush Bucks: How Public Service and Corporations Helped Make Jeb Rich.[1]

The stated mission of GAI is to “investigate and expose crony capitalism, misuse of taxpayer monies, and other governmental corruption or malfeasance.”[9] According to Bloomberg Businessweek, GAI creates “rigorous, fact-based indictments against major politicians, then partners with mainstream media outlets to disseminate those findings to the broadest audience.”[1]Members of GAI’s board of directors include Steve Bannon, Peter Schweizer, Hunter Lewis, Ron Robinson (president of Young America’s Foundation), and Wynton Hall.[10]

GAI’s research methods include analyzing tax filings, flight logs, and foreign government documents as well as engaging in data-mining on the deep web, which includes the 97% of information on the World Wide Web that isn’t indexed by traditional search engines.[1]

Between 2012 and 2014, GAI received donations of almost $4 million from the Mercer Family Foundation and the Koch brothers-affiliated Donors Trust.[11][12]

November 2016 investigation by The Washington Post detailed ties between the Government Accountability Institute and the conservative website Breitbart News. Three GAI employees received full-time compensation while simultaneously being employed elsewhere.[19] From 2012 to 2015, GAI co-founder and executive chair Steve Bannon received $376,000 for working 30 hours a week. He simultaneously served as executive chairman for Breitbart News.[11] GAI communications strategist Wynton Hall received $600,000 during the same time period. Hall worked as a writer for Breitbart News and was promoted to managing editor in 2013. GAI president and treasurer Peter Schweizer, also an at-large editor and writer for Breitbart News, was paid $778,000 by the GAI from 2012 to 2015.[11]

As a 501(c)(3) public charity, GAI’s political advocacy has raised the question of whether the organization had been illegally intervening in political campaigns. The Washington Post report also found that, from 2013 to 2015, GAI purchased over $200,000 in advertising from Breitbart‘s website.[11] A spokesperson from GAI said that the non-profit had been in “total compliance with all 501(c)3 rules.”[20]“

Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich

Bush Bucks