Efforts to overturn the election. Jan. 6 organizers. White supremacist groups. And more than a dozen private and public universities. They all have one thing in common: They received anonymous funding funnelled through a single conservative dark money behemoth. That’s the news in the latest IRS filing from Donors Trust—a conservative, Koch-aligned non-profit which does not need to reveal the names of its donors and has been called the “dark money ATM of the right.”

The disclosure, first obtained by CNBC, shows the group channelled major support for entities which fought to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and organized the Jan. 6 rallies in Washington, D.C. Donors Trust also gave more than $2 million to groups linked to white supremacists, including the VDARE Foundation. Norm Eisen, a government ethics expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, analysed the filing with colleagues and remarked that it was “profoundly concerning for the future of our democracy.”

“The Donors Trust is taking advantage of the dangerous opacity of our tax and related laws and regulations to fund alleged white supremacist and white nationalist associated groups, those who were bad actors in wrongly attempting to spread misinformation about or overturn the legitimate 2020 election results, and even groups that were responsible for the rally that helped trigger the Jan. 6 insurrection,” he told The Daily Beast. But the same vehicle that quietly fuels white supremacist rhetoric also fanned money out to major educational institutions, including state public schools like the University of Texas, Virginia Tech, Michigan State University, and Florida State University.

Leading private colleges like Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and a conservative think tank headquartered at Brown University also drew anonymous support. At the same time, the fund shipped millions of dollars to right-wing organizations agitating for education reform, including to groups pushing unfounded fears about critical race theory. The Donors Trust primarily funds right-leaning, libertarian, and free-market advocates. It describes itself as “a charitable savings account”—a go-between that allows wealthy donors to deposit money in lump sums, where it gets invested at tax-free growth. They can later direct contributions at any time while remaining anonymous.

Manchester United have confirmed the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Michael Carrick chosen to take over as interim manager.

United had originally earmarked technical director Darren Fletcher to take temporary charge but have decided to install Carrick for the forthcoming games.

Prosecutors plan to appeal the ruling that opened the possibility that Chrystul Kizer — accused of murdering a Kenosha man who had been filming sex with her and other underage girls — could use an affirmative defense for sex trafficking victims at her trial.

Kizer made her first court appearance in Kenosha County since the state Appellate Court ruling in early June. The decision by the state District II Court of Appeals found Kizer may be able to use an defense open to sex trafficking victims at her trial if she is able to show her actions were a direct result of the trafficking she experienced. At trial the defense, if allowed, would be similar to a self defense argument.

At a brief status hearing Friday, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley said that the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office is pursuing an appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He said that appeal has not yet been filed, but he anticipates it will be by a July 2 deadline. He asked that Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge David Wilk put the case on hold while the appeal is decided.

“It’s important to have a firm set of rules decided (through the appeal) before we proceed and have a trial,” Graveley said
Defense attorney Jennifer Bias said the appeal is likely to delay the case for at least several months as the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the appeal, months more if the court takes up the case.