A DONOR NAMED “ANONYMOUS”: MYSTERIOUS $250,000 RNC CONTRIBUTOR HAS CLOSE TIES TO GÜLEN MOVEMENT
On September 4, 2018, a man named Ömer Adsız gave four large contributions to the Republican National Committee, one to the committee’s main fund and the rest to three different RNC expense accounts. In total, Adsız’s donations added up to the eyebrow-raising sum of $250,000, all given to the RNC in a single day. These contributions placed Adsız in an elite category: He is one of less than 50 donors who gave maxed-out contributions to multiple RNC accounts during the 2018 election. Given the unusual circumstances surrounding these contributions, the RNC should follow past precedent and refund the contributions or, at the least, conduct a thorough investigation into the money’s origins.
Adsız, whose surname literally means “anonymous” in Turkish, has a very unusual profile for such a large political donor. Prior to these donations, he did not have a history of making any major political contributions. His source of income was unclear at the time he gave the money, having left his most recent publicly known job in 2016. Instead, in statements filed with the Federal Election Commission in 2018, Adsız listed himself as the president and founder of a mysterious limited liability corporation with no publicly traceable record of commercial activities.
Adsız does have one notable connection to a monied interest, however: He is a longtime associate of the Gülen movement, a political and religious network led by exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, who has been accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government. While it’s not clear whether Adsiz’s Gülenist ties were the impetus for his sudden political generosity, he adds to a growing trend, reported on by CREW and others, of individuals with deep foreign ties who appear to be ramping up their involvement in politics via large, first-time political contributions made during the Trump administration.
A LONGTIME GÜLEN AFFILIATE
Who is Ömer Adsız? Publicly available information paints a fairly comprehensive picture. According to one biographical web page, Adsız was born in Turkey in 1979. After going to school in Turkey, he pursued his postgraduate education in the United States, receiving masters’ CONTINUE READING: A Donor Named “Anonymous”: Mysterious $250,000 RNC Contributor has Close Ties to Gülen Movement - CREW