FALSE
The parental rights organization Moms for Liberty, Inc. has been in the news in recent weeks as they have been outspoken in regard to the Fox Chapel transgender teacher issue and other matters like inappropriate books in school libraries. A citizens comment speaker at the Board of County Commissioners meeting last week presented information about the organization, linking the 501c4 nonprofit corporation to a company called Cogency Global Inc. The speaker questioned whether the organization was being funded by China, pointing to the fact that Cogency Global Inc is listed as the organization’s registered agent. He also showed a photo of Gov. DeSantis with Moms for Liberty directors Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice.
A registered agent is a firm, typically an attorney, that is designated to receive and process legal documents dealing with entity formation for corporations. An entity that has a presence in several different states or overseas may hire an external agency to handle all of the different requirements of entity registration in the various states they operate. Moms for Liberty Inc is currently operating in 45 states, according to a map on their website.
In addition to registered agent services, Cogency Global Inc provides many other services to corporations worldwide, including corporate, international corporate, process agent, nonprofit, and real property services.
Cogency Global has headquarters in NY, NY, London, and Hong Kong. They maintain business locations in several states across the US in order to legally operate and represent businesses located in those states. Their Florida address is 115 N. CALHOUN ST.; SUITE 4; TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301. A Google map search confirms the address is a business location, and a marquee at the address lists Cogency Agency Inc as one of the businesses in operation there. Cogency Global is listed as the registered agent for at least 250 other corporate entities in Florida. However, the search we conducted may not have produced complete results since the state’s platform produced an error after a certain number of pages of results.
In comparison, a registered agent exact match search for “Cogency Global Inc.” for businesses filed with Georgia Corporations Divisions produces over 7000 business record results (active, revoked, and terminated).
We rate the implication that Moms for Liberty Inc. is funded by China via association with Cogency Global Inc as false because the evidence available points to Cogency Global Inc as providing registered agent services to Moms for Liberty in order to establish entities in other states. This does not establish a gainful financial relationship for Moms for Liberty. Hernando Sun did not investigate if Cogency Global Inc is controlled by the CCP.
