Exposed: Progressive Victory PAC’s Dark Secret
I have spent the last week or so investigating a suddenly controversial political action committee (PAC) called, Progressive Victory; trying to get to the bottom of several serious concerns that have been raised about their organization by several political content creators.
But there was one unifying thread to all the concerns that had been expressed: Dark Money.
So my goal was answer one question:
Is Progressive Victory PAC a dark money operation?
The short answer is, absolutely.
But in trying to find that answer, I found so much more, and the truth is much darker than I imagined it would be.
Let me show you.
PART 1: MISSING PIECES
As a political action committee, Progressive Victory PAC (PVPAC) is registered with and regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
A quick look at PVPAC’s financials make one thing crystal clear, there are a ton of missing pieces — specifically, missing financial information.
Based on publicly available information — including a stunning interview with Progressive Victory PAC’s founder, Sam Dryzmala — we know that there are dozens of staff and influencers being paid by “Progressive Victory” who are not shown anywhere on PVPAC’s expense reports.
Similarly, given how many people we know “work for Progressive Victory” we know that the reported income on their FEC filings couldn’t possibly cover all of those expenses.
So, we know there are missing pieces (big ones), but what are they and where are they?
PART 2: PROGRESSIVE VICTORY ACTION
Having spent well over a decade of my life working in the political field, including for a Super PAC in 2020, I had a feeling I knew what was going on. And that hunch was right.
I knew there had to be more legal entities at play here.
And while I was trying to find out what those entities were, I asked a political influencer working with Progressive Victory who specifically was paying him.
He said, “What shows up on my bank statement is Prog Vic Act Pay.”
It turns out, “Prog Vic Act” is a perfect abreviation for “Progressive Victory Action” which was incorporated by Progressive Victory’s founder, in the state of Virginia in 2023.
After combing through Progressive Victory Action’s corporate documents on file with the State of Virginia, I discovered that Progressive Victory Action (PVA) is a dark money 501c4 nonprofit corporation.
Bingo.
The reason why Progressive Victory PAC’s financial disclosures don’t add up is because most of “Progressive Victory’s” financial action — including payments to political influencers and Progressive Victory staff, as well as the undisclosed foundations bankrolling Progressive Victory — has gone through PVA (a dark money org) and not PVPAC (a comparatively super transparent political action committee).
And don’t be fooled, just because 501c4s are a type of “nonprofit” does not mean they are the altruistic entities we usually associate with the term.
PART 3: POTENTIAL FALSE FEC FILINGS
The very first form a political action committee like PVPAC must file with the FEC is the FEC Form 1, and on the 3rd page of that document, the filing party must disclose any affiliated organizations they may have.
PVPAC’s FEC Form 1 says they have “NONE.”
This appears to be a lie.
A bald faced and deliberate lie.
And one that could bring about serious consequences.
PART 4: PROOF
Claiming that an organization like PVPAC appears to be lying to the FEC is not one I make lightly, and is not one I would make simply on a hunch — I would only make a claim like that if I had darn-near bulletproof receipts.
And I do.
Exhibit A: Sam Dryzmala’s Own Words
In a recent interview, Dryzmala said something that would be very easy to miss if you don’t have extensive campaign experience, but it’s an incredible admission — not quite as damning as Exhibit B, but when the two exhibits are taken together, along with the 501c4 revelation, bulletproof is a fair description if you ask me.
On June 12, 2024, Dryzmala was asked by progressive YouTuber, Matt Binder, how Progressive Victory is funded?
Dryzmala’s response was, “The organization itself, like the, the um, the core staff and budget that we use to keep the organization going is funded through private foundations…”
Now that we know what the missing pieces are, we can translate Dryzmala’s politi-speak to plain-English:
“The real organization is Progressive Victory Action, our unreported dark-money nonprofit corporation. That’s where the private foundations send their money, and that’s how we pay our staff and political influencers. But they’re certainly connected. And we won’t be offering any transparency because we don’t have to.”
Exhibit B: Progressive Victory PAC’s Non-Disclosure Agreement
While my background is in political campaigns, in recent years I have developed a keen interest in the world of Open Source Intelligence Techniques (OSINT), and after using one of the most basic OSINT techniques of all to work, I found the most iron-clad proof that Progressive Victory PAC has an unreported affiliated organization that I could imagine…
A website “snippet” preserved by DuckDuckGo — despite now going to a 404 page — of Progressive Victory PAC’s Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which explicitly states in black-and-white and in direct contradiction of their official FEC filings, that PVPAC has an affiliated organization and it is Progressive Victory Action.
PART 5: BOTTOM LINE
I can’t say for certain if any of the maneuvering by Dryzmala and Progressive Victory leadership is illegal.
I can’t say if it’s illegal because (a) I am not a lawyer, and (b) I have always chosen not to not to involve myself with political groups that conduct themselves in this way.
The very real possibility of legal repercussions for Progressive Victory will be up to regulators like the FEC. They will have to decide if Progressive Victory PAC falsified their FEC filings and if they have engaged in illegal coordination with their unreported affiliated 501c4.
Legalities aside, readers must understand that working in this way, and supporting this kind of group is a choice. I have always chosen not to, because it does not align with my ethics, and because political groups don’t need to operate this way to make a serious political impact.
We can all now say, however, Progressive Victory isn’t just a “dark money group” but it is an especially shady one. (As if you need an experienced campaign professional to tell you that by now.)
Nevermind — what appear to be — obvious attempts to mislead the FEC, the public was certainly led to believe that when “Progressive Victory” is mentioned, they are to assume “Progressive Victory PAC” is what is being referred to, and not a never-talked-about, dark money 501c4 nonprofit corporation with a different name.
There would be no question, no multi-hour debates, about whether or not Progressive Victory is a dark money group if the public (and I would venture to guess, most or all of PV’s influencers) knew that PVPAC wasn’t the main character and that the main character was a 501c4 — the epitome of a dark money organization.
For me — putting my feelings about the underlying mission and idea behind Progressive Victory aside — I never have been affiliated with Progressive Victory, and am grateful to say that now, and I would strongly encourage anyone affiliated with Progressive Victory to take a moment to reflect on whether or not this is the kind of operation you want to be affiliated with, let alone support.
