. . .A secretive nonprofit closely linked to House Speaker Paul Ryan has begun playing a pivotal role in supporting Republican policies and candidates since the November 2016 election, a MapLight analysis has found.

The American Action Network (AAN) has donated more than $6.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) -- a super PAC that has been the top-spending outside organization this year, pouring almost $10 million into GOP special election victories in Georgia and Montana. The AAN has been the super PAC’s largest donor, accounting for more than 60 percent of its funding since the 2016 election.

Meanwhile, the network has spent at least $5.6 million on ads to boost the American Health Care Act, a bill that would undo much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, and cause as many as 14 million Americans to lose their health insurance coverage next year. AAN has also worked to promote corporate tax reform, another item high on the GOP’s legislative wish list.

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The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the drug industry’s primary trade association, gave $4.5 million to AAN in 2010, and another $1.5 million in 2012, according to its tax records. The organization has not endorsed or opposed the American Health Care Act.

Aetna, one of America’s largest health insurers, donated $3 million to AAN in 2011, according to a filing accidentally disclosed to insurance regulators. The company’s CEO, Mark Bertolini, said earlier this month that Aetna had “provided input about the American Health Care Act” to Republicans. Aetna has moved to withdraw entirely from the state exchanges created to sell individual health insurance plans under the 2010 health care law.