A series of tax documents have revealed that Rewiring America, a climate group that Democratic activist Stacey Abrams served as senior counsel for, banked over $5 million in federal climate funding just before President Donald Trump slashed the grant, which came into existence during former President Joe Biden’s administration, earlier in the year. The documentation indicates that Abrams played a much bigger part in getting the grant than she previously claimed.
The $5 million was the first portion of what ultimately ended up being a $2 billion grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency in April 2024 to a group called Power Forward Communities, which oversees a coalition led by Abram’s group. The grant was canceled by EPA administrator Lee Zeldin after reports came out revealing Abrams’s connection to Power Forward Communities.
The freshly reviewed tax documents reveal that out of the $9.5 million PFC received from the EPA by the end of last year, over half of it was sent to Rewiring America (RA). PFC stated in documents that this grant was the only source of revenue it had for 2024. This means that PFC acted as a pass-through to send taxpayer funding to RA. The disbursement was sent to the organization while Abrams served as the group’s senior counsel and senior adviser.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, Rewiring America’s director of partnerships, Ian Magruder, stated that Abrams “played a pivotal role” in getting the EPA grant. However, PFC said its relationship with Rewiring America, and by extension, Abrams, differently when it filed a lawsuit against Zeldin for canceling the grant.
“Power Forward Communities has no relationship with Ms. Abrams, other than the fact that she’s one of the people who have advised one of our coalition members in the past,” Power Forward Communities CEO Timothy Mayopoulos said. In the lawsuit that challenged the grant’s cancellation, PFC claimed its relationship with Abrams was “alleged.”
Zeldin, however, says that the newly filed tax forms show that the decision by the Biden administration to give the massive grant to PFC was politically motivated. “This revelation is the latest egregious example (on top of so many we’ve found) of how, in rushing $20 billion out the door before President Trump took office, the Biden EPA doled out hard-earned tax dollars to unqualified recipients riddled with self-dealing and conflicts of interest, while intentionally reducing agency oversight,” Zeldin said to the Free Beacon in a statement.
The report then shows that the amount PFC sent to RA was much higher than it sent to other members of the coalition. United Way Worldwide received $145,013, Enterprise Green Accelerator got $73,866, Local Initiatives Support received $244,756, and Habitat for Humanity didn’t receive a dime.
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“Every single penny given to this Stacey Abrams-connected NGO last year was either sent to another pass-through entity or used to pay the salaries of its well-connected top officials,” Zeldin explained. “This is the same organization that earned only $100 in 2023 but was handed $2 BILLION in 2024 by the Biden EPA. I proudly terminated this grant and all others in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in March, and since then Congress repealed the program entirely. At the Trump EPA, we will always be exceptional stewards of tax dollars, with a zero tolerance policy towards any waste or abuse.”
Neither Power Forward Communities, nor Rewiring America responded to requests for additional comment about the recent findings. The outlet also reached out to a spokesperson representing Abrams, who has been reemerging in the public spotlight lately, but did not receive a response.