Patagonia Implicated in Alleged ‘Straw Donor’ Scheme To Bankroll Major Democratic Super PACs in 'Blatant Violation of the Law,' FEC Complaint Says

Within days of its founding in early August, a mysterious company called Save Our Home Planet Action, Inc. managed to get ahold of nearly $2.2 million—funds that it promptly handed over to a collection of major Democratic super PACs.

Corporations can legally contribute to super PACs if the donated funds are earned through regular business activities. But it’s unclear what Save Our Home Planet Action did to earn the nearly $2.2 million it passed onto the Democratic groups after its founding in August through October. The company has neither an online presence nor a file with the Better Business Bureau or any other corporate databases.

Federal Election Commission records show the mysterious company shares an address with Patagonia, the self-proclaimed "activist company" that has committed to donating $100 million every year to combat climate change and uses the "Save Our Home Planet" slogan in the clothing it sells. And California business records show Greg Curtis, a former Patagonia legal officer who now heads the retailer’s parent nonprofit, signed documents on behalf of Save Our Home Planet Action.

To Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group, Save Our Home Planet Action likely isn’t a real company in the traditional sense but a shell corporation launched by Patagonia or its executives to facilitate an illegal "straw donor" scheme that concealed the true source of the funds it doled out to Democratic super PACs, which included $450,000 each to the Senate and House Democratic campaign funds, $1.2 million to the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, and $50,000 to Future Forward, the primary super PAC that backed Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.

Campaign Legal Center filed a Federal Election Commission complaint in December urging federal authorities to investigate Patagonia’s alleged "straw donor" scheme to determine whether it violated a federal law that prohibits any entities from making political contributions in the name of another.

The ties between the two companies "strongly suggest that Save Our Home Planet Action was established by [Patagonia] or its executives for the purpose of making contributions while concealing the contributors’ identities, a blatant violation of the law," Campaign Legal Center said in a statement.

Reporting in the weeks prior to Save Our Home Planet Action’s creation in early August suggests Patagonia may have had reason to want to hide its political giving from the public. In June, Patagonia came under fire after the Washington Examiner reported the company’s foundation granted $139,000 to Alliance for Global Justice, a group that has been banished from major payment processors for its support of anti-Israel terrorist organizations.

Patagonia’s vice president of environmental activism, Hans Cole, told the Washington Examiner in June that the company was "evaluating continued funding of local efforts through Alliance for Global Justice" amid the blowback. Weeks later, Save Our Home Planet Action would begin distributing millions of dollars to Democratic super PACs out of the same address as Patagonia’s corporate office.

Patagonia became a darling of the left as it ramped up its political activism during President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration, selling apparel with the tag "VOTE THE ASSHOLES OUT" and offering its full-throated support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The clothing retailer’s political activism reached a fever pitch in 2022 after its founder, Yvon Chouinard, transferred ownership of the $3 billion company to a trust and nonprofit organization controlled by his family. The move granted Chouinard generous tax benefits and enabled Patagonia to steer its profits—which clock in north of $100 million per year—into environmental causes and other liberal political initiatives.

Patagonia did not return a request for comment.

The post Patagonia Implicated in Alleged ‘Straw Donor’ Scheme To Bankroll Major Democratic Super PACs in 'Blatant Violation of the Law,' FEC Complaint Says appeared first on .