VoteVets claims that it "elevates the voices of Veterans and military families through Democratic legislative policies and electoral endorsements that impact the lives of active service members, Veterans, and the country."
But the bottom line is that it is a Super PAC, and one that specifically amplifies stories, causes, and candidates who are anti-conservative and anti-Trump. Heck, they have the feckless former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on their "About" page, so that alone tells you all you need to know about their political leanings.
That's perfectly fine. We are in America, after all. However, their designated tax status is 501(c)(4), purportedly to promote social welfare and advocate for policy changes. This might be called into question, particularly when VoteVets goes from advocating for policies and changes to targeting those they consider political enemies.
The latest example is this X post promoting a poorly sourced and edge-of-defamation hit piece on three X accounts of military veterans who support a SecWar and President whom VoteVets despises.
The Pentagon is secretly putting MAGA influencers (at least 3 retired colonels with 1M+ followers combined) on the Pentagon payroll to boost Pete Hegseth and attack critics, per the Washington Post. None of it was disclosed, and it comes amidst recent purges at Stars & Stripes.… pic.twitter.com/316J2KNsKq
— VoteVets (@votevets) September 3, 2026
The Pentagon is secretly putting MAGA influencers (at least 3 retired colonels with 1M+ followers combined) on the Pentagon payroll to boost Pete Hegseth and attack critics, per the Washington Post. None of it was disclosed, and it comes amidst recent purges at Stars & Stripes. They're trading in journalism for cronyism and propaganda.
Influence Watch has also documented the organization's disturbing overlap between the advocacy arm and the political arm.
VoteVets Action Fund has been characterized as a “dark money” group due to its failure to disclose donors. The organization operated alongside but as a legally separate entity from the VoteVets Political Action Committee, a federal hybrid committee that could both contribute directly to candidates and spend unlimited sums on independent expenditures. As a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt group, the Action Fund was required to devote the majority of its spending to issue advocacy rather than electoral politics; however, the Center for Public Integrity reported that in the fiscal year covering the 2014 election it spent more than half of the money it raised on “direct or indirect political campaign activities,” a level that remained lawful only because that spending amounted to roughly 41 percent of its total expenditures.
As well as VoteVets' embrace of generous donations from the Open Society Action Fund, a George Soros-affiliated PAC.
The X account Data Republican has uncovered much on VoteVets and its former Chairman and Director Jon Soltz. Soltz still gets paid well for a supposed "former." According to her research, Soltz maintains a controlling interest in the organization, despite a new leader at the helm who works fewer hours and gets paid significantly less money.
🧵THREAD - VoteVets[.]org, Vet Voice Foundation, "Former" Chairman
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 3, 2026
According to Legal Eagle, Jon Soltz deployed last year. That's 2025. And VoteVets actively called for the firing of Pete Hegseth then.
Jon Soltz, despite stepping down as chair in June 2024, is still listed on… pic.twitter.com/nPUbDAeztV
THREAD - VoteVets[.]org, Vet Voice Foundation, "Former" Chairman
According to Legal Eagle, Jon Soltz deployed last year. That's 2025. And VoteVets actively called for the firing of Pete Hegseth then.
Jon Soltz, despite stepping down as chair in June 2024, is still listed on the organization’s 2025 filing (issued May 1, 2026) as “Former Chair/Director,” working 30 hours per week and receiving $437,000 in compensation.
Meanwhile, the current chair, Paul Eaton, is listed as working fewer hours and receiving only $43,000.
On top of his VoteVets salary, Soltz collects another salary for the affiliated Vet Voice Foundation. Nice work, if you can get it.
Furthermore, the Vet Voice Foundation also paid Soltz 181K in the same fiscal year where he made 384K. Same mailing address / contact as VoteVets. pic.twitter.com/ToAlJw9xGt
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 3, 2026
Another X commenter made this salient point: Soltz's salary structure is not that of someone who leads a non-profit. It is one that has all the earmarks of a D.C. operative.
Jon Soltz isn’t paid like the head of an actual veterans’ service organization (like the VFW or Disabled American Veterans). He is paid like a high-level D.C. political operative.
— Qụanŧum Lịtterb¤x (@Ivajbrowning64) September 4, 2026
The outrage among everyday veterans comes from the grift dynamic: VoteVets uses pictures of soldiers…
VoteVets also went hard in the paint for Democrat Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA-07) during his 2024 congressional campaign. Vindman and his twin brother Alexander have made it their aim to vex the Trump administration and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Not surprisingly, his campaign had the distinct odor of mendacity attached to it, and it involved VoteVets.
When the Free Beacon emailed Vindman’s campaign to inquire about a discrepancy in his military record, campaign manager Jeremy Levinson copied VoteVets political director Travis Tazelaar and said to direct "all future questions" to the PAC staffer. Both the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) and the Functional Government Initiative said that amounted to an illegal contribution and called on the FEC to investigate the Vindman campaign and the left-wing political action committee.
"The facts are clear in this case, VoteVets PAC is providing communications services to Vindman’s campaign, including making statements to the media that are directly attributable to the campaign," the FACT complaint, filed Thursday, stated. "This is a service that has value and thus there is reason to believe that Vindman has accepted, and VoteVets has made, an illegal in-kind contribution of communication services."
FACT executive director Kendra Arnold said Levinson and Tazelaar’s emails "make the facts and evidence straightforward."
"This is a very simple case, but an extremely significant one," Arnold told the Free Beacon. She also pointed out that, according to FEC filings, VoteVets has spent more than $400,000 on ads supporting Vindman's bid for Virginia’s seventh district. The PAC has also endorsed Vindman and directly contributed $10,000 to his campaign.
"VoteVets is obviously not independent from the campaign and cannot make ‘independent expenditures,’" the complaint stated. "This provides clear reason to believe Vindman and VoteVets have already illegally coordinated on more than $400,000 in supportive advocacy advertisements paid for by VoteVets. We respectfully request the Commission immediately investigate the Respondents for these apparent violations of federal law and require the Vindman campaign to repay all illegal in-kind contributions should they be confirmed."
Data Republican also uncovered VoteVets' questionable ties to Alexander Vindman's "Here Right Matters" organization. Alexander Vindman attempted to run for the Florida U.S. Senate seat, and got his rear handed to him by DSA candidate Angie Nixon in the August 18 Florida primary.
Just deserts.
As a bonus, Vet Voice Foundation hires out to HERE RIGHT MATTERS for 220K, also hired by VoteVets for 512K...
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 3, 2026
According to the Florida filing, HERE RIGHT MATTERS is ran by none other than... Alex Vindman. lol. pic.twitter.com/AMbKE4Vdmr
So, this organization and its "former" leader are no beacons of light, and clearly have an agenda with their campaign to discredit SecWar Pete Hegseth and these so-called "MAGA Influencers."
Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel, author, and the senior columnist at our sister site Townhall, has been calling out VoteVets on their Leftist propaganda since 2018.
This is @votevets' role model.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) April 5, 2018
That's why vets despise them. https://t.co/Ijk3WVcotF
Retired Air Force colonel and author Rob Maness also had choice words for VoteVets, particularly the fact that Soltz is sitting pretty, being paid handsomely by VoteVets while grifting off the government dime and waging war on the head of the military under which he serves. Conflicts of interest, much?
Oh, so the dirtbags at @votevets smearing me and my colleagues with the completely fabricated @washingtonpost narrative pushed by @DanLamothe had a deployed Army Colonel covertly being paid $437,000 a year during the time they were calling for @Secwar's removal? Now that's an… https://t.co/r9yCd6oQUv
— Rob Maness (@RobManess) September 4, 2026
Oh, so the dirtbags at @votevets smearing me and my colleagues with the completely fabricated @washingtonpost narrative pushed by @DanLamothe had a deployed Army Colonel covertly being paid $437,000 a year during the time they were calling for @Secwar's removal? Now that's an actual crime but I'm sure the thugs at WaPo won't cover it because they're extremist buddies of the same persuasion (anti-America and anti-military leftists imo)
Retired Army colonel and attorney Cynical Publius is probably the newest to these internecine dramas, and rightly calls out WaPo for its stunning lack of journalistic integrity curiosity.
So these idiots who are defaming me with deliberate lies have all sorts of skeletons in their own closet.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) September 3, 2026
They are a political action committee masquerading as a pro-veterans organization.
Plus they take a bunch of money from George Soros (see the Grok link below).
But the… https://t.co/bc5Mm03Y4A
So these idiots who are defaming me with deliberate lies have all sorts of skeletons in their own closet.
They are a political action committee masquerading as a pro-veterans organization.
Plus they take a bunch of money from George Soros (see the Grok link below).
But the Washington Post dare not investigate all of this because they are on the same team.
This VoteVets intel by Data Republican probably doesn't even scratch the surface, and her reputation is to keep digging until she hits bottom. If VoteVets is not careful, the organization may be seeing the business end of an IRS investigation or the serious end of a defamation lawsuit.
Maybe both.
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