The House Administration Committee, led by Republicans, will hold a hearing in Congress this week to discuss the Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wiess. Conservatives have been increasingly concerned about the foreign influence on U.S. election.

Wyss is in the spotlight, as Republican legislators back proposals to close what they call “loopholes,” which allow foreigners to influence elections. The House Administration Committee will hold an hearing on Thursday entitled “American Confidence In Elections: Preventing Noncitizen voting and Other Foreign Influence.”

The hearing will be a forum for Republicans to express their frustrations over, according to them, the lack of laws that prevent foreign nationals, such as Wyss, from using “dark” money to support state ballot initiatives, for “ballot-harvesting,” for get-out-the vote activity, and for public communications promoting political parties. Wyss is a Wyoming resident who was found in 2022 by the Federal Election Commission to have made unlawful contributions to political parties between 1990 and 2006 totaling $119,000 — but the regulator did not take any action because the statute had expired.

The Washington Examiner reported that Bryan Steil, the chairman of the House Administration Committee (R-WI), said “American elections cannot be influenced by foreigners.” Tomorrow’s hearing will reveal the truth about wealthy foreigners who are wrongly influencing American election.

Caitlin Southern, director of Americans for Public Trust and a conservative watchdog, is scheduled to testify before the House Administration Committee on Thursday. Wyss has been vilified by the group. APT published a report in 2013 pointing out how Wyss’s organizations sent hundreds of millions to groups linked to Arabella Advisors. This left-wing consultancy firm manages nonprofit organizations who hide their “dark” money giving through a complicated fiscal sponsorship arrangement.

Sutherland’s written testimony, which is not public, states that she will focus on Wyss’s role in helping to fund Sixteen Thirty Fund. This group, part of the Arabella Advisors Network, then spends money in order to support Democrats.

APT, a group that is part of a network of groups formed by conservative activist Leonard A. Leo in 2021, accused Wyss-related groups of violating the campaign finance laws which prohibit foreigners from making donations. The complaint was dismissed but the FEC general counsel stated that the Wyss-linked groups had failed to prove certain grant agreements.

Sutherland stated in a testimony submitted to the House Administration Committee that it was alarming when groups receiving funding from a non-resident spend their money on voter registration, get out-the-vote campaigns, Super PACs and state ballot question campaigns. These foreign influence loopholes need to be closed.

She wrote: “Foreigners are already prohibited from directly donating to candidates, so why would all these other vehicles that can influence elections be different?” “American elections are for American citizens.” It is easy to stop foreigners from funding U.S. policies, whether it’s a Swiss billionaire who lives in seclusion or a communist leader.

Bloomberg reported that the Wyss Foundation, since 2016, has distributed more than $807 millions in the United States. This money is primarily used for environmental causes. Berger Action Fund was its affiliate and it gave out over $343 million in the same time period to left-wing organizations.

Both nonprofits deny that they have violated the law.

The Washington Examiner was told by Marnee Bans, a spokesperson for both groups, that “the Wyss foundation and Berger Action Fund don’t support or oppose candidates, or engage in election activities. They comply with the rules and laws governing their activity.” “Any claims to the contrary are patently untrue.”

She cited their grantmaking to “expand access to public lands and lower the cost for healthcare and address income inequality” and said that the groups support the DISCLOSE act, a long-proposed bill by Democrats aiming at thwarting so-called dark funds in elections.

Sutherland, Scott Walter, the president of Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank, and others from the Right have continued to express concern over Wyss-backed groups who are spending large sums on support for Democrats via a purported loophole.

Conservatives claim that the loophole has been manifested also in states like Ohio. The Buckeye State is debating a bill supported by APT, and other right-leaning organizations that seeks to ban foreign money from supporting ballot measures.

Sutherland told the Ohio Senate earlier this year that “the flow of foreign money into Ohio politics must be stopped.” He also noted that Wyss, who was “uninterested in becoming an American,” made it his personal goal to influence American political affairs.