GOP Senate hopeful kept ties to George Soros-backed group where Hunter Biden served on board

A Republican running to replace Mitt Romney as Utah’s junior senator kept ties to a group partially funded by liberal billionaire George Soros and where Hunter Biden served as a board member, a Fox News analysis has found.

Trent Staggs, the Republican mayor of Riverton, Utah, who announced his Senate run last year, previously served on the Utah Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), a coalition of corporations and non-governmental organizations, some of which promote liberal and left-leaning policies.

According to the Open Society Foundations network, Soros’ network of nonprofits through which he finances his political agenda, it has given nearly $1.2 million to the USGLC since 2017, covering at least some of the years Staggs served on the advisory committee, as well as in 2022, when he received its Global Statesman Award “for his leadership and advocacy for U.S. leadership in the world.”

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Republican Utah Senate candidate Trent Staggs and liberal billionaire George Soros. (Trent Staggs/Getty Images)

In his acceptance speech, Staggs said he appreciated the work of the USGLC, including promoting “increased support for development, diplomacy and defense that contribute to strong U.S. leadership in the world.” He also praised America’s defense spending, charitable giving and the overall “generous, compassionate nature of the United States.”

The previous year, Staggs issued a mayoral proclamation declaring Dec. 14, 2021, to be Global Engagement Day 2021, asking his community’s residents “to support the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s efforts to strengthen diplomacy and America’s international affairs programs.”

A 2020 report by The Daily Caller found that Hunter Biden served on USGLC’s board of directors from 2012 to 2018, during which time the group lobbied for more spending on Ukraine while Hunter was also serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.

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Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, leaves the Senate floor after voting yes on a procedural vote on federal legislation protecting same-sex marriages at the U.S. Capitol Nov. 16, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In addition to Soros, the USGLC is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, two other prominent liberal organizations.

According to the Rockefeller Foundation, it awarded a $750,000 grant to the U.S. Center For Global Leadership, a close affiliate of the USGLC, in October 2021, just months before Staggs was awarded the Global Statesman Award.

“Greg Hughes and other Utah conservatives serve on a local advisory council I was asked to be part of. I will take every opportunity to talk about the importance of the free market, free and fair trade and U.S. global dominance. Now, we need to elect Donald Trump, get our economy back on track and once again lead the world,” Staggs told Fox News Digital in a statement, referencing a well-known former Utah congressman.

In announcing his candidacy, Staggs became the first person to publicly pose a challenge to Romney, who has angered many voters within his own party for his reasoning and support for certain policies and bills. (Trent Staggs)

His campaign did not share information on how long Staggs had served on the advisory council for the organization, but a source told Fox News Digital the mayor was no longer serving on it and that he left in early 2023.

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The source also pointed to other conservatives with recent connections to USGLC, including former Trump officials Bill Stepien and Kenneth Braithwaite.

Staggs is running as an “America First” candidate, often referred to as “MAGA,” and is facing a crowded field of Republican primary hopefuls.

The primary election will be held June 25.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.