Much of the weekend served as a real-time brochure for David Brock's organizations. | AP Photo Brock groups set $40 million budget to fight Trump

AVENTURA, Fla. — The constellation of political groups in Democratic strategist David Brock’s network are aiming to raise roughly $40 million in 2017, the Clinton antagonist-turned-top ally told roughly 120 donors gathered here on Saturday.

Speaking shortly before a forum of the candidates for Democratic National Committee chair on the third day of his weekend conference at the Turnberry Isle golf resort, Brock told the wealthy party members that approximately half of the money would go into 501(c)(3) arms of the organizations, and the rest would be for the 501(c)(4) or super PAC sides.


Brock’s groups include Media Matters, a liberal news media watchdog; ShareBlue, a liberal news site; American Bridge, the party’s primary opposition research organization; and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which carries out legal actions. CREW will be a particular locus of activity this year, according to donors briefed on the plans.

Brock left the board of CREW in December as former George W. Bush White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter joined, lending the group a bipartisan air. As Donald Trump was inaugurated on Friday, CREW sent the Government Services Agency a complaint noting an apparent conflict in Trump’s agreement with the GSA and his Washington, D.C. hotel, and released a statement claiming Trump is in violation of the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause.

But most of the activity will be centered at American Bridge, a super PAC that intends to do opposition research in every competitive Senate race in 2018 while also playing in governor’s races, Brock told reporters. The group has not decided whether to play in House races, but it will also be involved in the New Jersey and Virginia governor’s races in 2017.

The gathering, which featured some of the party's top strategists in addition to the donors, was largely based around finding a path forward for Democrats. But the run-up to its kickoff featured tensions in the party’s big-donor communities, as some donors associated with the liberal Democracy Alliance donor network feared a turf war before Brock strove to assuage their concerns.

Much of the weekend also served as a real-time brochure for Brock's organizations.

Before Brock spoke to open the conference’s Friday programming, for example, a slick video played touting the groups’ work and taking credit for placing the opposition research that helped push Rudy Giuliani out of contention to be Trump’s secretary of state, before finishing with a clip of Fox News host Sean Hannity complaining, “they want to render his presidency impotent."