George Soros is used to being the target of extremists of all stripes.
The legendary financier feeds the fantasies of anti-globalization activists, who wrongly see his hand behind the global transformation of trade and technology.
The conservatives see him behind everything dysfunctional and have made him the face of the threats to their values. Soros is also the subject of many right-wing conspiracy theories: these theories paint him as the face of a global elite that wants to control the world.
Most of these theories are fueled by the fact that the legendary investor is a big donor to the Democratic Party and, through his Open Societies Foundations, helps many non-governmental organizations around the world.
Open Society Foundations (OSF) funds many progressive causes and NGOs worldwide. OSF, a network of entities with interconnected operations across the globe, has set itself the goal of promoting democracy, human rights and press freedom. It is one of the world's richest foundations, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which allots billions to promote public health and development.
Soros and Bragg
Soros very rarely responds to conspiracy theorists. But for several days now, he has been targeted by former Republican President Donald Trump who sees his influence behind his legal setbacks in New York.
Trump was indicted last week by a New York grand jury which could be in connection with alleged hush money payments he made before the 2016 presidential election to an adult-film star, with whom he reportedly had an affair. Trump has denied making any hush money payments or having an affair with an adult film star.
The indictment, however, has not yet been unsealed, so any charges against Trump were unknown at this writing. It would be the first time that a former president has ever been charged in a criminal case. He has denied the allegations.
Trump, 76, is scheduled to appear before a judge on April 4, when charges against him will be read in full during the hearing, which is scheduled at the Manhattan Criminal Court Building at around 2:15 PM ET.
"I will be leaving Mar-a-Lago on Monday at 12 noon, heading to Trump Tower in New York," the former president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
In the meantime, Trump, who is running in the 2024 presidential election, has deployed a strategy of hard-hitting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, who inherited the yearlong Trump investigation, when he took office in January 2022. He portrays him as a Soros pawn.
"On Thursday, leftist Democrat District Attorney Alvin Bragg concocted a sham indictment of President Donald J. Trump. It is an unprecedented political persecution of the 45th President of the United States and a blatant attempt to interfere in the 2024 election," the Trump campaign wrote to its supporters on April 2.
It added that "the American people and Republican primary voters, in particular, are outraged by the weaponization of our justice system by George Soros’ hand-picked and funded Manhattan DA against a completely innocent person and the leading Republican candidate for president."
In another email sent on the same day to raise money, the former president continues to associate Bragg with Soros and presents the indictment as having been hatched by the financier.
"Not only is this Soros D.A.’s sham indictment – of which I am completely innocent – entirely un-American, but so are the Democrats who are cheering on and gloating for the FALL of our Republic," Trump alleged.
In an email the day before, he had already accused Soros and Democratic leaders of wanting his political end.
"George Soros, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Crooked Hillary [Clinton] are hoping that this will finally be the 'end of Trump,'" he wrote. "But these left-wing radicals will never understand that this movement is much bigger than me."
'I Don't Know Him'
These accusations by the former Republican president, repeated by his supporters and Republican elected officials, are unfounded. They don't provide any proof.
Given the stakes and the exceptional magnitude of the event, Soros, who very rarely responds to conspiracy theorists, broke his silence to reject the allegations.
"In the wake of the Manhattan District Attorney’s indictment of former President Donald Trump, the accused, his followers, and a number of GOP elected officials have sought to distract attention from the facts of the case at hand by branding DA Alvin Bragg as 'Soros-funded,' falsely suggesting that Soros played a role in influencing the decision of the grand jury and the district attorney’s prosecutors," Michael Vachon, a spokesperson said in an email.
"George Soros has never met, spoken with, or otherwise communicated with Alvin Bragg," the spokesperson continued. "Neither George Soros nor Democracy PAC (a PAC to which Mr. Soros has contributed funds) contributed to Alvin Bragg’s campaign for Manhattan District Attorney."
The billionaire himself says he doesn't know Bragg and never directly funded his campaign.
"I did not contribute to his campaign and I don't know him," Soros told Semafor about Bragg. "I think some on the right would rather focus on far-fetched conspiracy theories than on the serious charges against the former president."
While Soros did not contribute directly to Bragg's campaign, his son Jonathan and wife Jennifer donated a total of $20,000 to Bragg's 2021 campaign, according to the New York State Board of Elections.
The link between George Soros and Bragg is indirect: Between 2016 and 2022, George Soros personally and Democracy PAC have together contributed roughly $4 million to Color of Change’s PAC, including $1 million in May 2021, according to Vachon.
"None of those funds were earmarked for Bragg’s campaign," the spokesperson asserted.
The Color Of Change PAC spent $500,000 on Bragg's 2021 election campaign.
Soros has made numerous contributions in support of reform-minded prosecutors across the country since 2015. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last summer, the billionaire said that he has "no intention of stopping" to support progressive candidates running to become prosecutors or for reelection.
"The funds I provide enable sensible reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public. Judging by the results, the public likes what it's hearing," Soros said.
Soros, who is the subject of many conspiracy theories from the right and from extremists, is accused by his critics of supporting lax candidates for prosecutorial posts, which have contributed to the rise in crime in the cities under their authority.
