Gov't Integrity Fund
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</span></div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">fang: </span>http://www.thenation.com/blog/176372/palin-adviser-used-dark-money-group-fund-mystery-attack-ads</div><div>
</div><div><p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Last year, a “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/josh-mandel-sherrod-brown-ohio-senate-government-integrity-fund_n_1590706.html" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">mysterious non-profit</a>” called the Government Integrity Fund appeared in the midst of the campaign season and began airing campaign commercials in support of Republican Josh Mandel’s bid to unseat Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).</p><p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Although the Government Integrity Fund does not disclose its donors, a recently released tax form shows that a group run by Tim Crawford—a Republican known for his work as a <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-sarah-palin-s-pac-is-losing-money-20130731%22%20href=%22http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-sarah-palin-s-pac-is-losing-money-20130731" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">close adviser</a> to Sarah Palin, who also serves a a spokesman and treasurer of SarahPAC, Palin’s official campaign committee—provided <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/171265614/New-Models-2012" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">$627,000</a> to the pro-Mandel mystery fund.</p><p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(191, 14, 21); font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(191, 14, 21); text-decoration: none;">Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!</a></p><p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Crawford used an entity called “New Models,” itself another undisclosed political fund that raised over <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/171265614/New-Models-2012" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">$4.4 million</a> last year, and dispensed that money to Republican polling operations, Super PACs and undisclosed attack-ad organizations like the Government Integrity Fund. Crawford is the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/171265614/New-Models-2012" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">only board member</a> of New Models, which he used to provide himself with a $265,000 salary. Where did Crawford find the cash for these undisclosed political endeavors? Crawford did not respond to a request for comment, but a tax form from the Business Roundtable, a trade association for large corporations, shows that the group gave Crawford’s New Models <a href="http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/237/237236607/237236607_201112_990O.pdf" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">$600,000</a>the previous year.</p><p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The Business Roundtable <a a="" and="" companies="" exxonmobil="" general="" href="http://businessroundtable.org/about-us/executive-committee/" including="" j.p="" mastercard="" morgan="" represents="" target="blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">This isn’t the first time Crawford has been connected to a mysterious campaign effort. As the Cleveland <em style="padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px;">Plain Dealer</em> </a><a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/10/sarah-palin-201010?printable=true" data-ls-seen="1" style="color: rgb(73, 106, 139); text-decoration: none;">reported</a>, New Models was “behind controversial automated calls to Pennsylvania voters made during the 2008 presidential election. The calls told voters that Barack Obama’s aunt was living in America illegally and that he accepted campaign contributions from his ‘illegal alien aunt.’”</p></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/josh-mandel-sherrod-brown-ohio-senate-government-integrity-fund_n_1590706.html</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></div><div><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;"> mysterious non-profit has spent $238,000 on television ads promoting Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in his race against Sen. Sherrod Brown -- and its lawyer told HuffPost it may never reveal its donors.</p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">The sums the group has spent to boost Mandel are peanuts compared to what other outside groups are dumping into Ohio to unseat Brown, one of the Senate's most progressive Democrats. But they are yet the latest reminder that anonymous forces are increasingly able to shape campaigns in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.</p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">The pro-Mandel advertisements started running on May 14 and only stopped several days ago, according to the Brown campaign. The group behind them, the Government Integrity Fund, is a 501(c)4 non-profit that was created in Ohio in May 2011. The only name connected with its incorporation papers there, or with an affiliated super PAC in Federal Election Commission reports, is that of<b> <a href="http://www.alohiolaw.com/our-people/attorneys/william-todd.asp" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">William Todd</a>, a Columbus-area lawyer who served as the lead litigation counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio in 2004 and the Ohio chair of Lawyers for McCain in 2008.</b></p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">Despite his GOP connections, however, Todd said he's just the group's lawyer. When asked who was funding the group, he responded, "that I can't tell you. That's attorney-client [privilege]."</p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">When HuffPost called him on Monday, Todd said "I'll tell you who, if anyone, other than me is available to talk." By Tuesday, the group's funders or board members -- whoever they are -- were still not available. Todd had no idea if they ever would be. But he said voters shouldn't worry about that.</p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">"The question of anonymity in political advertising is one that is clearly an area protected by the First Amendment and always has been," he said. "So no, I'm not troubled by that."</p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">"It's all about the message. It's not necessarily about who's paying for it," he said. "It's the truth of the message."</p><p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 21px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif;">At least in the case of its first ad buy, which a Brown campaign tracker said cost the group $238,000 to run in the Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton media markets, the message is rather straightforward. Although Mandel refers to "this campaign" in a video clip where he is seen standing in front of a lectern, the ad does not explicitly ask viewers to vote for him or against Brown. Instead, it mostly focuses on Mandel's military service.</p></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></div>blog</span><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><i style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Last year, a “mysterious non-profit” called the Government Integrity Fund appeared in the midst of the campaign season and began airing campaign commercials in support of Republican Josh Mandel’s bid to unseat Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). </i><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><i style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Although the Government Integrity Fund does not disclose its donors, a recently released tax form shows that a group run by Tim Crawford—a Republican known for his work as a close adviser to Sarah Palin, who also serves a a spokesman and treasurer of SarahPAC, Palin’s official campaign committee—provided $627,000 to the pro-Mandel mystery fund. </i><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><i style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Crawford used an entity called “New Models,” itself another undisclosed political fund that raised over $4.4 million last year, and dispensed that money to Republican polling operations, Super PACs and undisclosed attack-ad organizations like the Government Integrity Fund. Crawford is the only board member of New Models, which he used to provide himself with a $265,000 salary. Where did Crawford find the cash for these undisclosed political endeavors? Crawford did not respond to a request for comment, but a tax form from the Business Roundtable, a trade association for large corporations, shows that the group gave Crawford’s New Models $600,000 the previous year. </i><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><i style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">The Business Roundtable represents companies including J.P. Morgan Chase, GE, Wal-Mart, Honeywell, MasterCard Worldwide, AT&T, ExxonMobil and General Electric. </i><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><i style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This isn’t the first time Crawford has been connected to a mysterious campaign effort. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, New Models was “behind controversial automated calls to Pennsylvania voters made during the 2008 presidential election. The calls told voters that Barack Obama’s aunt was living in America illegally and that he accepted campaign contributions from his ‘illegal alien aunt.’” </i><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">So Palin's crappy treasurer has a side job does he?</span><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Can't say I'm surprised that it involves shady monetary dealings and underhanded political attacks. After all what would you expect from somebody associated with Sarah Palin? </span><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">According to SarahPAC's </span><a href="http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00458588/882866/sb/ALL" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(77, 70, 156); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">recent financial report</a><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> Crawford was paid $138,000. Since that was for half of the year it is safe to assume that Timmy rakes in a cool $276,000 annually from the paint chip eaters who still throw their hard earned money at Granny Grifter.</span><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">The fact that he also pays himself a $265.000 dollar salary from this other group means that he is getting over half a million dollars a year.</span><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">And they say crime doesn't pay!</span><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">So it seems safe to assume that, like Palin, this "New Models" group is undoubtedly funded by the Heritage Foundation and Koch brothers. </span><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">As Alice would say "Curiouser and curiouser."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(195, 217, 255);">
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