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Bill Pulte’s family has ties to “The Family,” secretive Christian org with vast political influence

The new acting national intelligence director’s grandfather was close with Fellowship Foundation leader Doug Coe

Published June 9, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)

Incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte’s family has had extensive ties over two generations to leaders and financial backers of a secretive Christian organization that conducts shadow diplomacy around the world, according to public records and documents I obtained.

Pulte’s grandfather, at one point one of the wealthiest men in the world, built a Fortune 500 company and gave tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars to charity before his 2018 death. He was also friends with Doug Coe, died in 2017 after decades leading the secretive, controversial Fellowship Foundation that built and sustained a global right-wing network including dictators, lobbyists, and corrupt millionaires largely united against labor, LGBTQ and reproductive rights.

Better known as The Family, The Fellowship runs the National Prayer Breakfast and the congressional residence on Capitol Hill called C Street.

Pulte’s father, Mark, like others of the patriarch’s progeny, has kept a hand in the grandfather’s work, including funding religious charities with Fellowship ties.

It’s not clear whether Pulte’s grandfather, after whom he’s named, passed on any of his Fellowship relationships to his grandson.

If Pulte is personally connected to The Fellowship, he’d hardly be alone in the administration’s upper ranks.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio used to live at the C Street townhouse, as did Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the United Kingdom, former “Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett, is a regular at The Fellowship’s National Prayer Breakfast.

That said, I found no public indication that Pulte has direct, personal ties to The Fellowship. Coe died in 2017 and even before that, Pulte’s philanthropy focused primarily on giving cash to individuals rather than charities pushing the theocratic vision common among Fellowship recipients.

But Pulte also claimed to have been uniquely close to his grandfather, Coe’s close friend.

It’s not surprising that the Pulte family, based in Michigan, has ties to Fellowship insiders and funders. The Fellowship has had a strong presence among Michigan’s wealthy for decades.

But the ties extend beyond overlapping at religious charities in the orbits of Michigan philanthropists. Pulte had a significant personal relationship with Coe, who hobnobbed with presidents of both parties and leaders of nations around the world.

A 2019 tribute after the elder Pulte’s death, in a publication of one of his charities, said:

“Bill had a global vision rooted in his deep faith in Jesus Christ. He connected his vision and faith, joining with other philanthropists and leaders (including former President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. for prayer breakfasts where they prayed together for world peace.”

“Bill had a global vision........

© Salon