Hawkeye Reporter

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has launched an inquiry into the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Ford Foundation regarding their compliance with tax-exempt status requirements under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The investigation focuses on whether these organizations have provided funding to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or its affiliates.

“According to recent reports, [your organizations], through grants and direct payments, have funded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its allies,” Grassley wrote in letters addressed to each foundation. “To maintain tax exempt status, an organization’s activities must be charitable in nature and may not directly support or promote the interests of a foreign government.”

“I am writing today to ask you whether these reports are true or not and, if true, how your organization’s conduct comports with 501(c)(3) requirements,” Grassley continued.

Grassley has sent formal requests for information to each foundation:

Read Grassley’s letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation HERE.

Read Grassley’s letter to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund HERE.

Read Grassley’s letter to the Ford Foundation HERE.

Section 501(c)(3) of federal tax law allows organizations that are charitable in nature to qualify for tax exemption as long as they do not directly support or promote a foreign government's interests. Private foundations can provide funds abroad but must ensure these resources are used for approved charitable purposes and avoid excise taxes.

Recent reports indicate that in 2023, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation allocated about $11.7 million to various branches of the CCP, $2 million to a company working with China’s military, and $6.7 million to state-run universities in China. In fiscal year 2022, it reportedly gave approximately $23 million to more than 20 Chinese entities—some described as “foreign governments.”

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is reported to have given $7.4 million between April 2020 and August 2024 to groups associated with or led by members of the CCP or involved in partnerships with China. This includes work with the Society of Entrepreneurs of Ecology Foundation, which collaborated with the CCP on Belt and Road Initiative projects.

From January 2020 through December 2024, nearly $10 million from the Ford Foundation reportedly went toward supporting Chinese government projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative. Most grants were directed at universities run by either state authorities or closely linked with China’s People’s Liberation Army.