Former Kentucky attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron will be the next CEO of an organization dedicated to pushing back on “woke” capitalism and corporations.
The 1792 Exchange announced Cameron’s hiring in a news release Wednesday, which described the group as a “not-for-profit organization that seeks to preserve freedom by partnering with allies to steer public companies back to neutral on divisive, ideological issues.”
Public records show the organization, which previously operated under a different name, once had close ties to associates of former President Donald Trump, including an attorney who worked with the ex-president in his attempt to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election.
The founder of the 1792 Exchange, Nathan Estruth, said in a news release he could not imagine “a more capable and qualified chief executive to help us safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise” than Cameron.
Cameron, 38, served as Kentucky’s attorney general until Monday, when his successor, Russell Coleman, took the oath of office.
Armed with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, Cameron won a 12-way contest to secure the GOP nomination for Kentucky governor in May 2023. He would go on to lose the general election against the incumbent Democrat, Gov. Andy Beshear, by 5 percentage points.
Cameron said he looked forward to continuing the “meaningful work to put an end to the anti-American ESG agenda that threatens to take over our corporations and change the fabric of our country.”
“We will shine a bright light on those whose ideological agendas seek to dismantle American freedom and prosperity,” he said in a news release. “We will stop investment management firms, elected officials, and corporate interests from using other people’s money to advance their radical political agendas.”
ESG — short for environmental, social and governance — refers to the guidelines and policies used by some companies to guide or inform their investments.
Conservative lawmakers and groups have increasingly turned their focus to fighting ESG in recent years, though the practice has been around for years.
The 1792 Exchange staff “partner with leaders and organizations countering ‘woke capitalism’ and with organizations vulnerable to corporations using their size and influence to stifle speech or deny services,” according to the organization’s website.
The 1792 Exchange was previously named Constitutional Congress Inc., which has been a tax-exempt organization for more than a decade, according to IRS filings.
Paul Fitzpatrick, president of 1792 Exchange, previously worked for former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Georgia, and former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, who went on to become Trump’s White House Chief of Staff.
Meadows would go on to be indicted in Georgia last year for allegedly taking part in an illegal conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss. Meadows has pleaded not guilty.
In the 2021 IRS filing for Constitutional Congress Inc., the organization’s listed director and secretary had close ties to Trump.
Ken Blackwell, the director, chairs the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute’s Center for Election Integrity.
The organization’s secretary at the time, Cleta Mitchell, played a key role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and falsely assert that he won. Mitchell was a participant on the call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when Trump urged the elected official to “find” enough votes to overturn the presidential election result there.
Mitchell was also listed as the applicant on the Constitutional Congress Inc.’s request for tax-exempt status, according to IRS records.
In the most recent IRS filing for the 1792 Exchange, Mitchell and Blackwell are no longer listed among the organization’s directors and officers, and CNBC reported in March 2023 that Fitzpatrick said neither had a current role with the group.
“Constitutional Congress was formed to educate officials and citizens on various issues, and the 1792 Exchange carries on that mission but it is giving attention to retiree and also shareholder issues,” CNBC reports Fitzpatrick said.