Dem House hopeful's delayed disclosure reveals mystery payments from Soros-linked groups

Rebecca Cooke has portrayed herself as a working-class outsider, touting her experience as a waitress, small business owner and nonprofit leader raised on a dairy farm. 

But a personal financial disclosure released two days after Wisconsin's Aug. 13 primary shows she received more than $5,000 apiece for work with Third Way and the Pipeline Fund, two left-leaning organizations with financial ties to George Soros' Open Society network.

The Open Society network awarded $1 million to Third Way's nonprofit research arm between 2023 and 2024, while the Pipeline Fund received $1.4 million directly from the Open Society Action Fund in 2024.

Soros has donated more than $32 billion of his personal fortune to the Open Society's Foundation, which has been overseen by his son Alex Soros since 2022.

The financial disclosure forms only report that the amount of money Cooke received from each organization was above $5,000, but they do not specify the exact amount. The personal financial disclosure form covered Jan. 1, 2025, through July 14, 2026.

A spokesperson for Third Way confirmed with Fox News Digital reporting by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Cooke received $30,000 in payment "for a project focused on elevating the voices and concerns of working-class Americans that have too often been missing from the rooms where decisions are made."

Third Way Institute serves as the 501(c) research arm of the Third Way. In 2024, Third Way Institute transferred $21.9 million to Third Way, accounting for roughly 98% of the institute's total spending that year. The institute said the money was used to support charitable and educational work on economic, national security, energy and social policy issues.

Fox News Digital reached out to Third Way for comment.

"Radical Rebecca Cooke is a paid political operative for far-left liberals and wants to push their socialist agenda. Commie Cooke may fit in at [a] Soros-funded consulting firm, but she is far too extreme to represent western Wisconsin," National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Cooke's personal financial disclosure was not released until two days after the Aug. 13 primary after an extension she requested from the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives in April.

All candidates who spend or raise more than $5,000 for a House of Representatives race must submit a personal financial disclosure form 30 days before the election.

"For months, Democrats and Republicans across the 3rd District called on Cooke to release her financial disclosures. She had every opportunity to be transparent with voters. Instead, she chose to keep them hidden until after the primary," Van Orden said in a news release.

"That tells Wisconsin voters everything they need to know about Rebecca Cooke's character. She was willing to deceive her own party to protect the political persona she built and gain political power."

But Cooke said her financial forms reveal that she truly is a working-class American.

"I've always worn multiple hats to make ends meet and, in addition to waitressing, I worked on two projects related to getting more working class people to run for office and conducted research for an organization about how to better connect with working class voters," Cooke said in an email to the Sentinel.

"There are unique challenges to running for office as a working class person with an hourly wage job and a full-time campaign schedule. For example, I'm one of the thousands of people in this district who can't afford health insurance. I've been proud to help make it easier for the next generation of working class leaders to step up and take our fight to Washington D.C."

Fox News Digital reached to Open Society Foundation, Cooke's campaign and Pipeline Fund for comment.