Tea Party Patriots
The Tea Party Patriots is an American conservative[1][2][3] political organization founded in 2009 as part of the Tea Party movement. It is known for organizing citizen opposition to the Affordable Care Act during the presidency of Barack Obama, and more recently for supporting President Donald Trump.
Formation
In 2020, Tea Party Patriots hosted and funded the "America's Frontline Doctors" event promoting use of the drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure to COVID-19. In 2021, Tea Party Patriots was among 11 groups listed on the website of the "March to Save America", the pro-Trump rally that led to the storming of the United States Capitol.
Finances[edit]
The organization is run with the help of FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit.[20][21][22][23]
A 2011 investigation by the magazine Mother Jones alleged that the Tea Party Patriots organization was using its 501(c)(4) status to avoid disclosing its expenditures both to the IRS and to local contributors. The magazine reported that when local Tea Party groups pressed for more details on the group's expenses, they were removed from the umbrella organization and threatened with legal action.[24] The magazine reported that Tea Party Patriots "has started to resemble the Beltway lobbying operations its members have denounced."[25]
In 2014, The Washington Post reported that Tea Party Patriots president Jenny Beth Martin was receiving two salaries from the organization: a $15,000 per month fee for strategic consulting and a $272,000 salary as president, with total annual compensation over $450,000.[26]
Richard Uihlein, CEO of the Uline business supplies company, donated a total of nearly $4.3 million in the five years through 2020 to the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, the group's political action committee.[19]