House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) slipped away from the impeachment hearings on Friday to deliver a closed-door briefing to the nation’s most powerful network of liberal donors and activists, according to an agenda obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Pelosi appeared Friday afternoon at the annual fall meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a secretive coalition of more than 100 millionaire and billionaire donors, currently huddled at D.C.'s posh Mandarin Oriental Hotel to plot its upcoming agenda leading up to the 2020 elections. The sessions, which are closed to the press and open only to members of the Alliance, began Wednesday and will run until Saturday.
The documents obtained by the Free Beacon show that Pelosi was slated to discuss "what lies ahead" for Democrats and answer any questions that the deep-pocketed donors and activists may have.
"The most powerful and accomplished woman in American political history, now in the most critical position in Washington as we fight to save our democracy, returns to the DA to share her thinking about what lies ahead and answer Partner questions," the group's agenda reads.
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Democracy Alliance president Gara LaMarche declined to say whether Pelosi would discuss impeachment efforts during her Friday appearance but said before the session that the group's partners were "eager to hear her thoughts on matters before Congress."
"She's one of a number of political leaders coming to speak with the DA Partners, as she has done a number of times over the years," LaMarche said in an email. "Our Partners admire her leadership and are eager to hear her thoughts on matters before Congress."
Pelosi has been linked to the group as far back as 2013 and most recently appeared at the donor club's 2017 fall investment conference in California alongside liberal billionaire George Soros, a cofounder and partner of the Democracy Alliance, where the group mapped out its upcoming resistance against President Donald Trump and Republicans.
Pelosi's office did not respond to requests for comment.
Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also made himself available during this week's conference, attending a Wednesday night partners-only forum, according to the agenda.
The elite donor club receiving inside information from powerful Democratic members of Congress is nothing new. Last November, top House Intelligence Committee Democrat Adam Schiff (Calif.) delivered a closed-door briefing to the Democracy Alliance, and earlier this year House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler (N.Y.) attended the group's spring investment conference to speak on impeachment investigations into President Donald Trump.
Pelosi is not the only prominent Democrat appearing at the Alliance's fall gathering.
Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Cheri Bustos (Ill.), Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Washington governor Jay Inslee, and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams were also on hand. Former president Barack Obama will also deliver a "fireside chat" Friday evening.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) were not included in the agenda but were spotted mingling with progressive leaders and Alliance members at the Mandarin Oriental Wednesday night.
"We generally do not comment on who comes to the conference or doesn't, but we held a big opening reception to which many organizational and political leaders were invited, and a number of folks came to that who are not otherwise invited or part of the conference program," LaMarche said.
Liberal outlet Vox has referred to the Democracy Alliance as "the closest thing that exists to a 'left-wing conspiracy' in the U.S." The donor group has poured $1.83 billion into progressive infrastructure since its inception in 2005 and mapped out an additional $275 million in hopes of flipping state legislatures across the country and defeating Trump in 2020.
LaMarche, in a letter to conference attendees, called the 2020 election "the most important election of our lifetimes."
"We need to address the critical challenges of our time and ward off the dystopian future of a second Trump term," LaMarche wrote. "This really is the most important election of our lifetimes."
The group is undertaking sessions at its current gathering that include "deep dive" breakouts on its investment strategy in the "key states" of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.
The Alliance also touched on structural goals, including the use of ballot measures, "layered voter contact," and the expansion of its recent tactics in Virginia—described as the group's "campaign laboratory"—to other states.
The agenda also speaks of Alliance members who have undertaken a 2020 campaign and have met with presidential candidates and organized virtual forums focused on education.
Members are each obligated to spend at least $200,000 annually on approved groups. In confidential documents on the group's 2020 goals handed out to its members earlier this year, the group said its state victory fund previously drove $195 million into 15 states and recruited 343 new national and state donors to their initiative to "build and sustain an independent ecosystem of state-based political power."