By JULIE CARR SMYTH and MICHELLE R. SMITH

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance is preparing to dismantle the remnants of a charitable initiative he launched in Ohio after the publication of his best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” the Trump-Vance campaign said.

Vance founded two nonprofits of the same name beginning in 2016 to address problems in Ohio and other Rust Belt states. They were primarily designed to focus on creating jobs, improving mental health treatment and combating the opioid crisis. The original organization closed within five years, and Vance put the other one on hold when he successfully ran for Senate in 2022.

During the campaign, he was criticized for how little the groups accomplished. Although Vance intended to find and develop statewide solutions to these problems, the nonprofits’ only notable accomplishment was sending an addiction specialist to southern Ohio for a year to question the well-documented role of prescription painkillers in the national opioid crisis. Vance has acknowledged that the groups’ efforts have fallen far short of his expectations.

One of the groups – a foundation – filed documents in April to restore corporate status, which was due to expire in 2022.

Taylor Van Kirk, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance campaign, told the Associated Press that the request was necessary because the foundation still had money in its bank account and Vance had not signaled that he intended to continue the foundation’s efforts. She said he planned to close the foundation’s accounts and distribute the remaining amount to causes that benefit Appalachia.

Documents the group filed with the state and obtained by the AP through a public records request show it reported a remaining balance of about $11,000 in the foundation’s account.

Vance’s first nonprofit, Our Ohio Renewal, was founded shortly after the publication of “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016. It was registered as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit charity. Such groups can endorse candidates, but this one never did. Their donations were not tax-deductible. Vance said his goal was to raise $500,000 a year to fund his work.

A year later, he founded Our Ohio Renewal Foundation. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, it is subject to more restrictions but also allows donors to deduct their donations from their taxes.

The groups failed to gain traction, in part because one of the main organizers was diagnosed with cancer. Our Ohio Renewal said it raised $221,000 in 2018 — $80,000 of which was Vance’s own funds. After that, the organization raised less than $50,000 a year before shutting down in 2021, records show.

Meanwhile, the foundation appears to have raised and spent only about $69,000 from 2017 to 2023 – although the numbers in its annual reports do not all add up. Neither Jai Chabria, a political adviser to Vance who previously served as a consultant to the foundation, nor the campaign could explain the discrepancies, citing the passage of time and personnel changes.

The AP reported in 2022 that the residency for Dr. Sally Satel in Ironton, Ohio, funded by Vance’s philanthropic efforts was overshadowed by ties between her, the American Enterprise Institute, where she was a research scientist, and OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. Satel cited Purdue-funded studies in some of her writings while being paid by the institute, which was receiving funds from the drugmaker at the time, ProPublica reported.

Vance’s Senate campaign said the candidate – whose family experience with addiction played a large role in his book and inspired his charity work – was not familiar with Satel’s reliance on Purdue research when she was selected for the 2018 residency. But he said he remains proud of her work treating patients in one of Ohio’s hardest-hit areas.

Satel said at the time that she had reached her conclusions independently, and the AEI said it maintained a firewall between its scientists and its funders.

Originally published: August 15, 2024 at 16:36