Two years ago, allies of Donald Trump descended upon the Capitol and attempted to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Now, they’re trying to disrupt the real estate market nearby, albeit through far less coercive means.
Since the start of last year, the Conservative Partnership Institute has purchased nine properties only a few blocks from the Capitol in Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported. The total cost of the spending spree so far: $41 million.
The nonprofit, which is led by former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, didn’t seem interested in drawing attention to the purchases. They were made by recently formed limited liability companies, obscuring the identity of the buyer to both public records and private sellers.
The properties are all in relative proximity to each other on or off a single block of Pennsylvania Avenue. They include four commercial properties, three row houses, a carriage house and a garage.
In an annual report, CPI expressed a desire to create a “Patriots’ Row” campus on the stretch. None of the executives at the nonprofit commented to the Post on the real estate binge.
There could be an old fashioned “West Side Story” brawl on Pennsylvania Avenue: The same block with the CPI’s holdings also has the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation and progressive consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Outside of the nine properties CPI recently bought in range of one another, it also spent $7.2 million on an Eastern Shore estate and $1.5 million on a row house next to its headquarters near the Capitol, courageously using its own name for the latter.
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Former senator Jim DeMint launched CPI in 2017 after being ousted from his leadership role at Heritage. Meadows, who was with Trump during the Jan. 6 insurrection, joined the nonprofit in 2021.
For 2021, the nonprofit reported $45 million in revenue, largely due to contributions and grants. Its major donors in past years have included Republic donor Richard Uihlein and Trump’s Save America political action, both of which have contributed at least $1 million.
— Holden Walter-Warner