Climate activists attend a rally to end fossil fuels, in New York, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)
The attorneys general identified more than 150 U.S.-based organizations the DOJ should investigate, saying there was "substantial evidence" that many of them were violating FARA by "engaging in coordinated funding and advocacy efforts to influence U.S. energy policy and undermine American energy independence."
The five foreign groups named in the letter, the Oak Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, KR Foundation and Laudes Foundation, were found by the conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust to have funneled the money to the smaller organizations over the past decade.
The letter was led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Fox News Digital reached out to the five groups for comment.
The attorneys general alleged the foreign foundations used funding to "direct climate activism and influence energy policy in the United States, including by funding U.S. policy fights, litigation, research, protests, and lobbying to advance an extreme, foreign, activist agenda."
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen speaks during a rally for President Donald Trump, Aug. 9, 2024, in Bozeman, Montana. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images) (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
At least one of the foreign groups, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, "has documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party," the attorneys general said.
They noted a separate December 2025 request from more than two dozen state attorneys general seeking a FARA investigation into two U.S.-based groups connected to CIFF.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Under the FARA statute, entities must register if they act as an "agent" of a "foreign principal" and engage in certain political activities.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The attorneys general argued the foreign foundations qualified as foreign principals because they are incorporated in Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
They also said the nonprofits’ activities did not appear to fall under any exemptions under the law, adding that the "burden of establishing the availability of an exemption from registration under the Act shall rest upon the person for whose benefit the exemption is claimed."
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republican-attorneys-general-demand-doj-investigate-foreign-funding-tied-150-climate-groups-u-s