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</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Opinion</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Who’s Behind the ‘Reopen’ Protests?</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">They are anything but spontaneous.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>By Lisa Graves</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ms. Graves is the executive director of True North Research and curator of KochDocs.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">April 22, 2020</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A protest against Michigan’s stay-at-home order outside the State Capitol last week.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I first became aware of the political influence of Charles and David Koch in 2009 when I started looking into who was behind the protests at health care town halls.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Tea Party, formed after America elected its first black president, used a series of health care town halls to spur angry Republicans to oppose the Affordable Care Act as a socialist takeover of American medicine. Little matter that it was modeled on a plan devised by Mitt Romney, a Republican, when he was the governor of Massachusetts.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Such false claims about the act have not aged well, as millions of Americans now depend on the law for health care coverage as the coronavirus contagion sweeps across the nation. And yet a Tea Party co-founder, Mark Meckler, is using the same tactics and same phony claims to stir his followers to protest against governors seeking to mitigate the Covid-19 death toll by closing businesses and banning public gatherings.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That public anger is both real and manufactured. The same was true in 2009, when the Koch fortune fueled the Tea Party’s attacks on the Obama administration’s health care law.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Still, the legend that the Tea Party was a spontaneous uprising took hold and continues to be peddled. As we face Tea Party 2.0, let’s not be fooled again.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The protests playing out now have the same feel as the Tea Party protests aided by Koch-financed Americans for Prosperity and others a decade ago — and with good reason: Early evidence suggests they are not organic but a brush fire being stoked by some of the same people and money that built the Tea Party.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Look no further than the first protest organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund — whose chairman manages the vast financial investments of Dick and Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary — to see that the campaign to “open” America flows from the superrich and their front groups.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Stephen Moore — a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a Koch ally and a Trump adviser — admitted as much in a video I obtained comparing these new protesters to Rosa Parks, as first reported in The Times.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Moore, who is now leading an enterprise to end the virus precautions called Save Our Country, which includes the Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council, boasted that he has been working behind the scenes with a conservative donor who agreed to cover bail and legal fees for demonstrators who get arrested for defying Wisconsin’s virus protective measures.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Others are providing legal assistance as well. The Times reports that a private Facebook group called Reopen NC has retained the legal services of Michael Best & Friedrich, a Wisconsin law firm whose clients include President Trump. The firm is well known for its work with dark-money groups that fought the recall of the Koch ally Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and waged war on unions.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Then there’s the Convention of States, established in 2015 with a big contribution from the conservative hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer. The group recruits activists at gun shows to support a balanced-budget amendment and is promoting the protests online via “Open the States.” COS is an offshoot of Citizens for Self-Governance, which Mr. Meckler co-founded with a longtime Koch operative, Eric O’Keefe.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>To give you a flavor of what’s unfolding to help orchestrate these events, this week one of Mr. Meckler’s organizers told supporters via Facebook that “optics are everything” and that they should be sure to wear a mask to the protests and stand six feet apart — because it will make the crowds look bigger.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">COS and a Koch-financed public relations firm, In Pursuit Of, are also purchasing domain names tied to protests to open the states, suggesting they are investing for a long battle — even as the death toll rises.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The consequences are already starting. One week after a Kentucky protest, the state experienced its largest spike in coronavirus cases. Other states may soon see similar spikes.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Those fanning these flames, including President Trump and Fox News hosts, are unlikely to get burned by infection themselves, though they may be goading their followers to risk their health by attending mass demonstrations.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">America is now facing three calamities: a deadly contagion, a capricious president and a well-funded right-wing infrastructure willing to devalue human life in pursuit of its political agenda. Some very rich men and women are making this medical disaster worse through their reckless bellows, inflaming people to demand that states open now no matter how many lives that costs.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lisa Graves is the executive director of True North Research and curator of KochDocs, and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</div><div><b>The Quiet Hand of Conservative Groups in the Anti-Lockdown Protests</b></div><div>Groups in a loose coalition have tapped their networks to drive up turnout at recent rallies in state capitals and financed lawsuits, polling and research to combat the stay-at-home orders.</div><div>
</div><div>Kenneth P. VogelJim RutenbergLisa Lerer</div><div>
</div><div>By Kenneth P. Vogel, Jim Rutenberg and Lisa Lerer</div><div>April 21, 2020</div><div>
</div><div>WASHINGTON — An informal coalition of influential conservative leaders and groups, some with close connections to the White House, has been quietly working to nurture protests and apply political and legal pressure to overturn state and local orders intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus.</div><div>
</div><div>The groups have tapped their networks to drive up turnout at recent rallies in state capitals, dispatched their lawyers to file lawsuits, and paid for polling and research to undercut the arguments behind restrictions that have closed businesses and limited the movement of most Americans.</div><div>
</div><div>Among those fighting the orders are FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots, which played pivotal roles in the beginning of Tea Party protests starting more than a decade ago. Also involved are a law firm led partly by former Trump White House officials, a network of state-based conservative policy groups, and an ad hoc coalition of conservative leaders known as Save Our Country that has advised the White House on strategies for a tiered reopening of the economy.</div><div>
</div><div><b>The effort picked up some influential support on Tuesday, when Attorney General William P. Barr expressed concerns about state-level restrictions potentially infringing on constitutional rights,</b>&nbsp;and suggested that, if that occurred, the Justice Department might&nbsp; weigh in, including by supporting legal challenges by others. Separately, in Wisconsin, Republicans in the state legislature sued to block the Democratic governor’s order extending stay-at-home rules through May 26.</div><div>
</div><div>Those helping orchestrate the fight against restrictions predict the effort could energize the right in the same way the Tea Party movement did in 2009 and 2010, and potentially be helpful to President Trump as he campaigns for re-election. But the cause has yet to demonstrate that kind of traction.</div><div>
</div><div>Polls show a majority of Americans are more concerned about reopening the country too quickly than they are about the damage to the economy. And coronavirus protests have drawn smaller crowds ranging from a few dozen to several thousand at a rally in Michigan last week.</div><div>
</div><div>Conditions are hardly ideal for a protest movement related to the virus. In addition to the health risks, demonstrators potentially face legal exposure for violating the very measures they are protesting. Plus, some key Republican leaders have embraced the types of restrictions being targeted, while powerful grass-roots mobilizing groups, including those spearheaded by the billionaire activist Charles Koch, have so far not embraced the protests.</div><div>
</div><div>Still, the fight has emerged as a galvanizing cause for a vocal element of Mr. Trump’s base and others on the political right. Organizers see it as unifying social conservatives, who view the orders as targeting religious groups; fiscal conservatives who chafe at the economic devastation wrought by the restrictions on businesses; and civil libertarians who contend that the restrictions infringe on constitutional rights.</div><div>
</div><div>“Groups are united in purpose on this,” said Noah Wall, advocacy director for FreedomWorks, which in 2009 organized a Tea Party protest that drew tens of thousands of people or more to Washington. He described the current efforts as appealing to a “much broader” group. “This is about people who want to get back to work and leave their homes,” he said.</div><div>
</div><div>More than 10 protests are planned for this week, Mr. Wall said, adding that elected officials “are going to see a lot of angry activists, and I think that could change minds.”</div><div>
</div><div>The protests mostly appear to have been organized by local residents, and are framed primarily as pushback against what they view as government overreach. But some rallies have prominently featured iconography boosting Mr. Trump and Republicans and denouncing Democrats, as well the occasional Confederate flag and signs promoting conspiracy theories.</div><div>
</div><div>As was the case with the Tea Party movement, established national groups that generally align with the Republican Party have sought to fuel the protests, harnessing their energy in a manner that can increase their profiles and build their membership base and donor rolls.</div><div>
</div><div>Nonprofit groups including FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots have used their social media accounts and text and email lists to spread the word about protests across the country.</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Most of FreedomWorks’s 40 employees are working remotely on the effort, helping to connect local protesters and set up websites for them</b>.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The group is considering paid digital advertising to further increase turnout, and has been conducting weekly tracking polls in swing suburban districts that it says show support for reopening parts of country. It is sharing the data with advisers on the president’s economic task force and other conservative allies on Capitol Hill.</span></div><div>
</div><div>While social media has been a key platform for organizing the protests, those efforts have drawn scrutiny. Facebook removed some posts devoted to the protests on Monday for encouraging violations of social distancing laws. And similarities in online organizing efforts behind different protests have sparked accusations that they are not, in fact, organic grass-roots campaigns, but “astroturfing” efforts that are manipulated by Washington conservatives to appear locally driven.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Organizers of recent protests in Oklahoma acknowledged that FreedomWorks helped arrange the events and said they hoped the “rolling protests</b>,” which were intended to keep people in their vehicles, helped Mr. Trump politically. But they stressed that the events reflected real concerns from real people about the economic damage inflicted by mitigation measures.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Carol Hefner, an Oklahoma co-chair of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign who helped organize a protest last week in Oklahoma City, cited the state’s flat terrain as a factor in any decision to ease restrictions. “We have a lot of wind and the wind has pretty much helped us here,” she said. “We are in a much better position than many of the other states to go ahead and open back up.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, an Oklahoma HVAC contractor who helped with the capital rally and another one on Monday in Tulsa, said she encouraged protesters to remain in their vehicles. But Ms. Vuillemont-Smith, who serves on FreedomWorks’s activist advisory council, added, “I see absolutely no risks whatsoever” for open-air protests. “We are adults. We assume personal responsibility for the decisions that we make,” she said.</div><div>
</div><div>The Oklahoma organizers and Mr. Wall, as well as the White House and the Trump campaign, said there was no coordination between the protests and Mr. Trump’s team.</div><div>
</div><div>But the protests coincide with messages from Mr. Trump, and have been helped and organized by his supporters, some of whom have begun new ventures to advance the cause.</div><div>
</div><div>One of them is Reopen America Political Action Committee, which aims to bring small business owners to Washington to lobby lawmakers to reopen, starting with a 24-hour rally at the White House on May 1 — the target Mr. Trump set for reopening.</div><div>
</div><div><b>The group, which was created this month, has yet to report any financial activity. But its founder, Suzzanne Monk, who is active on Twitter with the handle @Trumpertarian, called the idea for the rally “pushback against these governors who want to stay shut down far beyond their economic capacity to do so.”</b></div><div>
</div><div>Support for the protests features more direct ties to the White House than simply support for Mr. Trump. The administration recently formed an advisory group for reopening the economy that included<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">&nbsp;Stephen Moore, the conservative economics commentator. Mr. Moore had been coordinating with FreedomWorks, the Tea Party Patriots and the American Legislative Exchange Council in a coalition called “Save Our Country,” which was formed to push for a quicker easing of restrictions.</span></div><div>
</div><div>At the same time, Mr. Moore was communicating with a group of local activists in Wisconsin involved in organizing a protest at the State Capitol set for Friday. On a conservative YouTube program that went online the day Mr. Trump named him to the task force, Mr. Moore said he had “one big donor in Wisconsin” who had pledged financial support for the protesters, telling him, “‘Steve, I promise, I will pay the bail and legal fees of anyone who gets arrested.’”</div><div>
</div><div>In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Moore declined to identify the donor, but said, “I do think you’re going to see these start to erupt.”</div><div>
</div><div>He said he would probably turn down an invitation to speak at the protest in Wisconsin, because “it’s important that no one be under the impression that it’s sponsored or directed by national groups in Washington.”</div><div>
</div><div>A legal offensive against the restrictions is also being waged by groups and individuals supportive of Mr. Trump.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Mr. Barr’s comments on Tuesday came a few days after a letter sent by groups including FreedomWorks, Tea Party Patriots and the anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List urging the Justice Department to consider intervening to block restrictions that the officials said were unconstitutional infringements on civil liberties.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Lawyers aligned with socially conservative causes have filed their own lawsuits against governors.</div><div>
</div><div>Many are focused on allowing smaller churches to keep holding services, but the objections cover a range of other activities. In Michigan, a lawsuit is challenging provisions of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order banning travel to vacation homes and gatherings of non-household members.</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A law firm that advises the Trump Organization, Michael Best & Friedrich, is representing members of a new protest group in North Carolina called ReOpenNC. Michael Best’s ranks include the former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus, the former deputy White House counsel Stefan C. Passantino and the current senior counsel at the Trump campaign, Justin Clark.</span></div><div>
</div><div>ReOpenNC had told its members that a “generous donor” had arranged to pay for buses to bring protesters to Raleigh from around the state. But, in a sign of how loath the groups are to be viewed as “astroturf” creations, the group said it had scrapped the plan when a news station, WRAL, asked about it. (Afterward, a former defense contractor and perennial North Carolina political candidate, Tim D’Annunzio, stepped forward on Facebook to say he was the donor and was still hoping to run the buses.)</div><div>
</div><div>On Friday, Anthony J. Biller, a Raleigh-based lawyer with Michael Best, wrote to Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, on behalf of a ReOpenNC co-founder, Kristen Elizabeth, and a member who was arrested at a protest last week, seeking dismissal of the charges. In an interview, Mr. Biller said he hoped the state would agree to allow ReOpenNC to demonstrate safely without fear of arrest, adding, “What is sufficient safety to buy toilet paper at Costco should be sufficient safety to practice one’s fundamental rights, particularly about these issues.”</div><div>
</div><div>He said that he was working pro bono but that there was “no coordination with the Trump administration, as some bozos have implied.”</div><div>
</div><div>One force in conservative politics that has kept its distance from the stay-at-home protests is the network of groups backed by the&nbsp;<b>billionaire Mr. Koch.</b>&nbsp;The largest Koch-backed group, Americans for Prosperity, which played a leading role in facilitating the Tea Party movement, has remained on the sidelines of the coronavirus protests.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><b>GoDaddy records show that a public relations firm tied to the Koch network, In Pursuit Of LLC, registered the domain name “reopenmississippi.com.</b>” An official said the group had planned to use the site to highlight a nuanced approach being developed by the network to reopen the economy while balancing health concerns</span>.</div><div>
</div><div>“The question is — what is the best way to get people back to work?” said Emily Seidel, the chief executive of Americans for Prosperity. “We don’t see protests as the best way to do that,” she said, adding that “the choice between full shutdown and immediately opening everything is a false choice.”</div><div>
</div><div>Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>...<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/10/kochs-super-pac-sets-sights-on-midterms/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">new super PAC</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, [afp aCTION]</span></b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">the Koch network lost many of its big bets in 2018, including those placed on&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2018&id=MTS1" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Matt Rosendale</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;in Montana and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2018&id=WIS1" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Leah Vukmir</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;in Wisconsin.</span></b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><b>Wisconsin also saw the unseating of a Koch-network favorite, Gov. Scott Walker.</b>&nbsp;Americans for Prosperity Action, one of&nbsp;</span><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/koch" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">many</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;Koch-network groups that spend big money to influence elections,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2018/11/13419/kochs-new-super-pac-loses-six-nine-incumbents-key-targeted-house-races" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">aided</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;two incumbents in Iowa races, both of whom lost, and failed to elect prospective Nevada governor Adam Laxalt. (Freedom Partners, another Koch network group,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/10/intro-to-koch-brothers-digital/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">criticized</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;Laxalt’s opponent in a Facebook ad for taking campaign contributions.)</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">AFP Action reportedly spent&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2018/11/13419/kochs-new-super-pac-loses-six-nine-incumbents-key-targeted-house-races" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">at least</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;$75,000, and in some cases spent as much as $300,000, on each race it targeted. At a July summit for donors in Colorado Springs, Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries and the network’s patriarch, pledged to spend something like $400 million on the 2018 election cycle.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also at the conference, Koch promised that the network would be “much stricter” with whom it backs going forward. He criticized President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies, indicated the network might be open to working with Democrats, and presented a series of network priorities that break somewhat from the current Republican playbook and past Koch-precedent. These included education, criminal justice reform and “uniting people who have been previously divided.”</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Trump’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1024236805477097472?lang=en" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">tweet</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;about how the “globalist Koch brothers” had “bad ideas” and were “no longer relevant” came soon after.</span></b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Though the Koch network did manage to help beat&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00027694&cycle=CAREER" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Sen. Claire McCaskill</a></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;in Missouri and Phil Bredesen in Tennessee, 2018 was a far cry from the 2010 Tea Party wave when the network was at the crest of its power and influence.&nbsp;</span>The group has made&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=WQN6FY0Q33I" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">overtures</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;to Democrats and progressive causes in the past, but the aftermath of the 2018 election could mark the moment where the network changes its approach in a big way.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Koch surrogates have been alluding to a coming shift. Gabrielle Broad, the host of&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNuACMPd6o&t=58s" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Torch Talk</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(a sort of internet chat-series produced by&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000024046" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Americans for Prosperity</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">), tweeted a link to a Bloomberg article entitled “Koch Network Looks to a More Bipartisan Tone Following Midterms.”</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We see an opportunity to engage the American people to address some of the toughest problems facing our country,” said Broad’s tweet. “Exciting work ahead!”</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><b>James Davis, a network spokesman,</b>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-12/koch-network-looks-to-a-more-bipartisan-tone-following-midterms?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics&utm_content=politics&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">told&nbsp;</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Bloomberg “a majority of Americans are rightly frustrated with the seeming inability to come together to solve major societal problems.”</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">According to&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/imjamesdavis/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Davis’s LinkedIn</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, he is both executive vice president of&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/nonprof_contrib.php?id=453732750" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Freedom Partners</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, a Koch network group, and president of&nbsp;</span><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/organizations/in-pursuit-of-llc" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><b>In Pursuit Of</b></a></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>, a communications and marketing agency with strong ties to the white house</b>.&nbsp;In Pursuit Of has seen an editorial director and a deputy director of writing go to work in the Trump administration as “special assistant(s) to the president” according to ProPublica. Davis also has a recommendation on his LinkedIn from former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Though the Koch network has stopped short of financially backing Democratic candidates, the network drew the ire of the Republican National Committee thanks to its unwillingness to back Kevin Cramer when he ran against&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00033782" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Sen. Heidi Heitkamp</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(D-N.D.). They also famously sat out the general election between President Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016. The network&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/card/daca-criminal-justice-are-top-priorities-koch-network-lame-duck-n935021" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">breaks&nbsp;</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">from Republicans, especially those aligned with President Trump, in its assertion that any funding for a border wall should be bound to action protecting immigrants who benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">The&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">network aligned itself with the American Civil Liberties Union and other liberal groups in support of the&nbsp;</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/665031366/over-a-million-florida-ex-felons-win-right-to-vote-with-amendment-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Florida ballot initiative</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;that restored voting rights to Americans with felony convictions, (with some exceptions for those convicted of violent crimes) and it pushed for the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5682/text" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">First Step Act</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;to become law.</span></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Co-sponsored in the House by&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00033640" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Hakeem Jeffries</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(D-N.Y.) and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00033518" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Doug Collins</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(R-Ga.), The First Step Act aims to reduce recidivism by introducing programs for inmates such as vocational training and improved drug rehabilitation. President Trump recently&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-calls-congress-pass-first-step-act/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">indicated</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;he supports the act, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have supported the legislation for some time.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Under the First Step Act, the Bureau of Prisons would be compelled to create an “earned time credit” program, allowing inmates to shave days off their sentences by participating in jobs training and other programming. The act also mellows mandatory minimum sentencing requirements. The First Step Act would also expand the use of “algorithms that try to predict future behavior”&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/05/22/is-the-first-step-act-real-reform" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">according to</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;the Marshall Project. Some worry reliance on algorithms could worsen existing racial or class disparities in the prison system.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Sen.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00035267" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Cory Booker</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(D-N.J.), Sen.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00036915" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Kamala Harris</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(D-Calif.) and Rep.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00002577" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">John Lewis</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(D-Ga.) oppose the bill, saying that it is too narrow and does not deliver comprehensive reform.</span></b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">The network also funds the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/07/28/koch-network-project-gears-up-to-help-inmates-reenter-society-after-prison/?utm_term=.40d96723caca" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Safe Streets and Second Chances</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;program which is beta-testing a prisoner reentry model that would prioritize convicted people serving out more of their sentences at home. When the program was introduced in Texas, it was “</span><a href="https://www.dallascounty.org/Assets/uploads/docs/cjab/meetings/2018/CJAB_Minutes_061118.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">headquartered</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">” at&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.unlockingdoors.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Unlocking DOORS</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">. Unlocking DOORS&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.unlockingdoors.org/partners-providers.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">lists</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;Geo Reentry Services, a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00382150" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Geo Group</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;company, as a partner.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">In part, the network appears to view mass incarceration as a matter of government waste.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://news.kochind.com/News/2018/How-Koch-is-tackling-criminal-justice-reform-in-D" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">According</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">to the Koch Industries’ website, around three times as much is spent on incarceration than is spent on K-12 education.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">The Kochs have&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.unkochmycampus.org/los-ch4-part-5-the-construction-and-expansion-of-the-prison-industrial-complex" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">not always</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;embraced this more progressive approach to criminal justice. Back in 1994, the Kochs co-sponsored a conference for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) with the Corrections Corporation of America. The conference promoted the sort of “tough on crime” rhetoric that the First Step Act pushes back against. Both Charles and David Koch received an “Adam Smith Award” at the event. An ALEC task force was also instrumental in developing “three strikes you’re out” laws and mandatory minimum sentencing laws.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">More recently, the Koch network has helped pay for&nbsp;</span><a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/11/03/soft-on-crime-ads/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">political ads</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;supporting “tough on crime” politicians.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://vimeo.com/144396556" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">One ad</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, which calls out a Louisiana Democrat for supporting then-President Obama in his efforts to reduce sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, actually attacks policies for which Charles Koch has expressed support. That did not stop Koch Industries from donating to the candidate who sponsored the ad, David Vitter, who&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Vitter" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">identified&nbsp;</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">as a member of the Tea Party movement and was one of the only two Senators to vote against Hillary Clinton’s confirmation as secretary of state. A Koch network super PAC also backed Vitter’s campaign.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.unkochmycampus.org/los-ch4-part-6-expansion-of-the-prison-industrial-complex-now-right-on-crime" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">According to</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;UnKoch My Campus, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a State Policy Network&nbsp;</span><a href="https://spn.org/directory/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">affiliate</a></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, was instrumental in establishing the&nbsp;<b>“Right On Crime” philosophy which advocates increased reliance on private prison systems, privatized parole and increased electronic monitoring</b></span><b>.</b>&nbsp;The State Policy Network is a Koch-affiliated group. An accidentally released 2010&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/wp-content/legacy/media/k2/attachments/TPPF%202010%20I-990_donorlistsearchable-1.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">tax document</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;from the Texas Public Policy Foundation showed they received funding from Koch Industries as well as Geo Prison Group, another GEO Group company, whose website touts the company as a “complete electronic monitoring solutions provider.”</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">With more&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/industries-shift-contribs-from-republicans-to-democrats/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">big money</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;backing Democrats anyway, it is hard to predict if the left will embrace the new Koch network. President Obama incited&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.naacp.org/latest/remarks-by-the-president-at-the-naacp-annual-convention/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">laughter</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;at an NAACP event when he applauded the Kochs for their positions on criminal justice reform, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren has&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATNt6ptad0M" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">called Charles Koch out</a>&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">for funding climate change denial research on the Senate floor. Koch Industries is also one of the most prolific contributors of greenhouse gases in the United States, and they’ve given tens of millions to groups who deny climate change. It is hard to imagine them selling the increasingly&nbsp;</span><a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/11/13/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-sunrise-activists-nancy-pelosi/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">climate-hawkish</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;democrats on many of their policies.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still, the Koch network is nothing if not adaptable. Their dozens of interlocking nonprofits, PACs and think tanks continue to reorganize and adapt to the shifting political landscape, and in spite of the recent departure of David Koch from the family’s political and business operations (making the iconic “Koch brothers” moniker archaic), Charles Koch is confident.</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’ve more progress in the last five years than I did in the previous 50,” Koch said at the Colorado Springs conference. “All we have to do to capture (these opportunities) is to do the very thing that made Frederick Douglass such an amazing, principled social change entrepreneur: stand by our principals at whatever the cost. Resist all temptations in short-term gain.”</font></span></p><div class="related-box" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; width: 760px; padding: 8px 0px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span class="txt" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; float: left; line-height: 28px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: -0.03em; margin-right: 15px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RELATED TOPICS</font></span><ul class="related-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px -5px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 5px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; float: left;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/tag/aclu/" rel="tag" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(236, 238, 242); display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">aclu</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; 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outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(236, 238, 242); display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Texas Public Policy Foundation</font></a></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 5px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: inside; float: left;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/tag/will-lennon/" rel="tag" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(236, 238, 242); display: block; padding: 5px 11px; border-radius: 3px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Will Lennon</font></a></li></ul></div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</font><div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Although the Koch brothers’ political network is still active and influential, interest in the group has waned in the Trump-era.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=koch%20brothers" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Google searches</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;for the wealthy mega-donors are less than a quarter as frequent they were at their peak in February 2011. President Trump himself has said the Kochs are&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1024236805477097472?lang=en" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">no longer relevant</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">But&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/31/trump-koch-brothers-republicans-donors-753337" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">according to Politico</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, the network is “big enough and wealthy enough to rival the Republican Party itself.” They recently announced their intent to embark on a $400 million political spending spree in advance of the 2018 midterms and launched a gargantuan new super PAC,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00687103&cycle=2018" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Americans for Prosperity Action</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Kochs’ flagship group, Americans For Prosperity, shares its name.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Americans for Prosperity is technically a nonprofit, which limits its ability to be explicitly political and restrains it from endorsing candidates. As a super PAC, AFP Action faces no such restrictions as long as it does not directly collaborate with campaigns.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Although AFP Action is just over&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/koch-network-announces-new-super-pac-ahead-of-midterms/2018/09/10/61f56042-b4fd-11e8-a7b5-adaaa5b2a57f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bf2325b69291" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">a month old</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, it already appears to be fully operational and testing its firepower.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">So far, AFP Action has shown interest in a handful of races. These include&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary/tammy-baldwin?cid=N00004367" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Tammy Baldwin&nbsp;</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">(D-Wis.) and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/races/candidates?cycle=2018&id=WIS1&spec=N" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Leah Vukmir’s</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(R-Wis.) race for a Wisconsin Senate seat,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00027694&cycle=CAREER" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Claire McCaskill’s</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(D-Mo.) and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00027605&cycle=2018" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Jon Tester’s</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">(D-Mont.) efforts to retain their seats in the Senate, and conservative Tennessee congresswoman&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00003105" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Marsha Blackburn’s</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(R-Tenn.) bid to advance to the upper chamber of Congress.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">The independent expenditures AFP Action has reported to the Federal Elections Commission are mostly for election essentials like canvassing, advertisements, handouts and mailers. They owe $9,666 to&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.campaign-headquarters.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Campaign Headquarters</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;for phone banking on&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00029391" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Erik Paulsen</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;(R-Minn.) and are $14,832 in debt to Arena Communications, a Salt Lake City-based company, for handouts, mailers and door hangers for Paulsen and against Jon Tester.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">AFP Action also recruited the services of&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.talentwave.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Talentwave Inc</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">. to canvass for Leah Vukmir and Marsha Blackburn and against Tammy Baldwin, Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester.<b> They paid $1.4 million to&nbsp;</b></span><b><a href="https://inpursuitof.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">In Pursuit Of LLC</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;for ad production and placement and mailer design.</span></b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">In Pursuit Of’s website says they “develop multimedia campaigns to drive the conversation,” and identifies the LLC as a “full service communication and marketing agency that drives ideas and shapes debates in pursuit of a free and open society.” According to ProPublica, several employees of In Pursuit Of have gone on to work in the federal government.<b>&nbsp;</b></span><b><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/brittany-baldwin" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Brittany Baldwin</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;worked as Deputy Director of Writing for In Pursuit Of and currently works as a speechwriter and special assistant to the president at the White House.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/stephen-j-ford" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Stephen J. Ford</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, formerly an editorial director for the LLC, went on to become director of speechwriting in Mike Pence’s office. He has also worked as director of writing for&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/political-nonprofits/summary?id=453732750" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, another Koch network group.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/gary-michael-lawkowski" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Gary Michael Lawkowski</a></b><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><b>&nbsp;has also cashed checks from both In Pursuit Of and Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce. </b>He is currently senior counselor to the deputy secretary at the Department of the Interior.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFP Action paid Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce $250,000 for “administrative services.” They also sent $278,787 to the flagship Freedom Partners group to pay for canvassing expenses.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Although you can count AFP Action’s&nbsp;</span><a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00687103/1270769/sa/ALL" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">major donors</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;on two hands, most are big-spenders who have given to conservative causes before.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/tag/ronald-cameron/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Ronald Cameron</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, chairman of the Mountaire Corporation, gave AFP Action $1 million.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/08/huckabee-super-donors-jesus-fund-keeps-recipients-of-26-million-secret/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Cameron</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;has a history of passing money to charities through a nonprofit called&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/10/prayer-and-poultry-foundation-picked-up-tab-for-lawmakers-travel-with-support-from-chicken-producer/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">The Jesus Fund</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">. Some tax forms submitted by the Jesus Fund failed to list the names and addresses of organizations they had donated to, reporting donations in a lump sum designated “various public charities.” Between 2006 and 2013, Cameron&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/08/huckabee-super-donors-jesus-fund-keeps-recipients-of-26-million-secret/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">distributed</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;more than $26 million to political causes this way.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tax documents associated with The Jesus Fund and Mountaire Corporation share the same address in Little Rock, Arkansas. Religious organizations called “Anglican Associates Inc.” and “Downline Little Rock” also share this address.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">In 2016, Cameron&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/05/environment-power-of-1/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">contributed</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;$14 million to political causes,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/05/the-politics-of-place-some-counties-way-more-equal-than-others-when-it-comes-to-donations/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">including</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;$3 million to Pursuing America’s Greatness, a pro-Mike Huckabee super PAC.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mountaire Corporation was involved in a 2012 lawsuit in which an employee alleged racial discrimination and inadequate safety procedures.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2018&id=a0001197505&type=I&super=N&name=Roj%2C+William+H" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">William Roj</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, CEO and Chairman of ERICO International, gave $100,000 to Freedom Partners Action Fund less than two weeks before making a $50,000 contribution to AFP Action.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Roj is also the director of DNX Corporation, which “conducts research, develops therapeutic products and provides biological testing services on transgenic animals” according to&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=8007291&privcapId=4741620" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Bloomberg</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Another $100,000 of AFP Action’s funding came from&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php?cycle=2016&view=hi" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Dennis Troesh</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, who&nbsp;</span><a href="https://atoday.org/bloomberg-values-adventist-investor-at-2-2-billion/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">sold his concrete company</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">to Mitsubishi for more than $2 billion in 2012. In 2016, Troesh&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave2.php?cmte=C00564765&cycle=2016" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">gave&nbsp;</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">$100,000 to Freedom Partners Action Fund. In July 2018, Dennis and Carol Troesh provided support for the creation of “Dennis and Carol Troesh Engineering Building” at the California Baptist University, whose website boasts a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://calbaptist.edu/about/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">“100% Christian faculty and staff.”</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">“God is going to use this building to touch lives practically and spiritually,”&nbsp;</span><a href="https://calbaptist.edu/news/cbu_dedicates_new_building_for_college_of_engineering" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">said</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;the school’s president, Dr. Ronald L. Ellis of the facility.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">In 2011, Troesh’s company,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000037169id=D000037169id=D000037169id=D000037169" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Robertson’s Ready Mix</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, found itself a defendant in a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (or “CERCLA”) legal action concerning plans to expand the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://wastebits.com/locator/location/mid-valley-landfill" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">mid-valley landfill</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;in Rialto, California.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Roger W. Stone — not to be confused with&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-roger-stone-why-is-fbi-investigating-him-2017-3" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Roger Stone</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;— contributed $500,000 to AFP Action. Stone&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150813/NEWS05/150819903/kapstone-ceo-mcdonald-s-director-roger-stone-stepping-down-for-health-reasons" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">was</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;CEO and Chairman of KapStone Paper and Packaging before stepping down in 2015. Stone and Kapstone Paper and Packaging are defendants in a civil action filed in 2018 for a Securities and Exchange Act violation. The action concerns a proposed merger between Kapstone and a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.westrock.com/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">WestRock</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">, another packaging company. The action alleges that a document intended to inform shareholders about the details of the merger “omits certain critical information, rendering portions of the Proxy materially incomplete and/or misleading.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Finally,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2014&id=U0000003519&type=I&super=N&name=Laufer%2C+Wayne+L." style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Wayne Laufer</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;gave $500,000. Laufer&nbsp;</span><a href="http://lauferenergy.mst.edu/waynelaufer/" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">worked</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;for Shell and co-founded two oil and gas companies, S.A. Holditch & Associates and Bois d’Arc Energy Corporation. He is also a member of the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://giving.mst.edu/s/1322/38-giving/interior-form.aspx?sid=1322&gid=38&pgid=1638" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Order of the Golden Shillelagh</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">. A&nbsp;</span><a href="http://fightland.vice.com/blog/real-irish-fighting-a-history-of-shillelagh-law-and-hob-nailed-boot-stomping" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">shillelagh</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;is an Irish fighting cane usually made of oak or blackthorne. Laufter gave $600,000 to Freedom Partners Action Fund in 2014.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">Americans For Prosperity Action is already taking its place alongside more established&nbsp;</span><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/koch" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Koch network groups</a><span style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;">&nbsp;to play a major role in the 2018 midterms and the elections beyond. The heft of the contributions and expenditures it has already cycled through are proof positive that the network’s twilight years are still a ways off.</span></font></p><div class="related-box" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; width: 760px; padding: 8px 0px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 12px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" apple-system="apple-system" blinkmacsystemfont="BlinkMacSystemFont" segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" oxygen="Oxygen" ubuntu="Ubuntu" cantarell="Cantarell" fira="Fira" droid="Droid" arial="Arial" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span class="txt" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; float: left; line-height: 28px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: -0.03em; margin-right: 15px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RELATED TOPICS</font></span><ul class="related-list" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px -5px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; 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