A California billionaire spent $11 million trying to elect Kamala Harris in 2024.
Now he's running ads in a Republican primary calling a House Freedom Caucus member a "MAGA traitor."
The firm cutting those checks has one famous former client: Chuck Schumer.
The Man Behind the Curtain
Chris Larsen is the chairman of Ripple, a crypto company headquartered in San Francisco.
In 2024, he wired $5.4 million to Future Forward PAC – the super PAC that spent hundreds of millions to get Kamala Harris into the White House.
He also cut checks totaling more than $1 million to the Democratic Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees.
He gave money to Nancy Pelosi.
He funded the Jane Fonda Climate PAC.
This year, Larsen has poured $6 million into something called the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC – a group run by solar executives who are furious that Trump and House Republicans killed Biden's green energy subsidies in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Their target in South Carolina is Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the most conservative members of Congress and a House Freedom Caucus leader who voted to end the Green New Scam handouts that lined Larsen's industry.
The ads they're running don't mention solar energy.
They don't mention subsidies.
They call Norman a "MAGA traitor."
Schumer's Old Consultant Is Cutting the Checks
Here's what Breitbart found that the rest of the media missed.
The firm producing these "Ralph Norman betrayed Trump" ads is Tusk Strategies – a consulting firm led by Bradley Tusk, a political operative who previously worked for Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomberg.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition has paid Tusk Strategies at least $1.4 million to run their anti-Norman campaign.
And the media is covering this like it's a fun campaign finance story.
The Pattern Republicans Need to Understand
This isn't the first rodeo for these people.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition already toppled Rep. Andy Ogles in Tennessee – spending $2 million, more than both candidates combined, to push a primary challenger over the finish line.
Before that, they spent $1.7 million targeting Chip Roy in the Texas attorney general race.
They spent $75,000 against Norman when he ran for governor of South Carolina.
Their chairman, Tom Matzzie, isn't hiding the strategy at all.
He told E&E News the goal is to "make sure people choose not to cross the industry" – cross them, and they'll buy your opponent.
This is what the solar subsidy racket looks like when it's threatened.
Biden handed these companies billions in tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Trump and the House Republicans killed the credits.
Now the industry is spending whatever it takes to elect Republicans who will vote their way – hiding the operation behind consultants and fake MAGA messaging so conservative voters never see who's actually pulling the strings.
What's at Stake Tuesday
Norman and Sen. Darline Graham face off in the runoff August 25.
Graham holds the seat Lindsey Graham once occupied, appointed by the governor after her brother's death.
She has Trump's endorsement, along with backing from the NRSC, Tim Scott, Lisa Murkowski, and Russell Fry, who came in third in the primary and just handed her his endorsement.
Norman has Jim Jordan, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Tommy Tuberville, the Club for Growth, and the Senate Conservatives Fund.
And now Norman has something even more valuable – a Democrat megadonor running fake MAGA ads against him, which is probably the best endorsement a Freedom Caucus member can get in a Republican primary.
Trump endorsed Graham out of loyalty to Lindsey – he invited her to the Oval Office and asked her to run before the primary even started, before anyone knew a Kamala megadonor and a Schumer consultant would be bankrolling her outside support.
That's worth keeping in mind.
Norman said it himself on Breitbart News Saturday: "The Washington elite is going to put another $1 million into tearing me down, and I welcome that."
That's the right answer.
Every conservative in America should be watching South Carolina on Tuesday – because if a Kamala donor and a Schumer consultant can run fake MAGA ads to take out a Freedom Caucus member and get away with it, they'll replicate this operation in every red state in the country.
Sources:
- Eli Okun and Ester Wells, "The Solar Super PAC's Next Target," Politico Playbook, August 14, 2026.
- Katherine Doyle, "Green Energy PAC Targets Ralph Norman in South Carolina Senate Runoff," Breitbart, August 16, 2026.
- "Left Wing Green Energy PAC Dumps $1 Million Into South Carolina to Stop Ralph Norman," Big League Politics, August 17, 2026.
- "Top Trump Ally Warns Super PAC Bankrolled by Dem Billionaire Is Meddling in His GOP Primary," Fox News Digital, August 2026.
- House Freedom Fund, "Ralph Norman Under Attack from California Democrats," Substack, August 17, 2026.
- Jennifer Rust, "Norman and Graham Square Off in Final Debate for South Carolina Senate Seat," PJ Media, August 18, 2026.
- Paul Bedard, "The Green Energy Group Disrupting GOP Primaries This Cycle," Washington Examiner, August 2026.
