Russo Marsh and Rogers TPX

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html endit

see TP express

jan 6 sr citizen grift fancelli

they're baaaaaacccckk

frontline strats? russo

note no names just graphics logo

gt am pac, move am fwd

http://www.bordermovie.com/ coming soon

http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/

https://www.moveamericaforward.org/ support vets o ft line (care pkg?)

http://www.frontlinestrat.com/clients/

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State Tea Party Express

8795 Folsom Boulevard, Suite 103

Sacramento, CA 95826-3720

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no lnx pix

2022

June 22, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express EndorsesMarkwayne Mullin for Senate in Oklahoma

For Immediate Release: June 22, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Representative Markwayne Mullin for election to the United States Senate from the State of Oklahoma.

Tea Party Express Chief Strategist, Sal Russo, Christie Mullin, Representative Markwayne Mullin, and Tea Party Express National Grassroots Director, Kay Rivoli

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “Representative Mullin is a fierce conservative fighter who isn’t intimidated by status-quo liberal politicians whotax and spend our nation into oblivion. With skyrocketing inflation and crushing taxes, we need a fighter like Mullin who will take on Biden and the political establishment in Washington, D.C to restore American prosperity.

Posted on June 21, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses James Lankford for Senate in Oklahoma

For Immediate Release: June 21, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of James Lankford for re-election to the United States Senate from the State of Oklahoma.

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “Senator Lankford is a principled conservative leader with a sound commitment to fighting against a government with burdensome regulations that are destroying small businesses. Throughout his time in the Senate, he hasconsistently foughton behalf of Oklahomans against theliberal elite who are determined to ruin our economy with their destructive anti-business policies. Bad economic policies result in less opportunity for all Oklahomans.

Tea Party Express National Grassroots Director, Kay Rivoli, Oklahoma Senator, James Lankford, and Tea Party Expire Chief Strategist, Sal Russo

Posted on June 20, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Dale Strong for Congress in Alabama

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement ofDale Strong in Alabama’s FifthCongressional District.

Tea Party Express National Grassroots Director Kay Rivoli,

Alabama Congressional Candidate Dale Strong, and

Tea Party Express Chief Strategist, Sal Russo

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “Dale Strong is a battle-tested fiscal conservative with the experience needed to take on the liberal spenders in Washington, D.C. He knows how to do more with less, and as Chairman of the Madison County Commission, he cut spending and installed fiscally-sound polices to enhance economic development, resulting in more than 26,000 jobs being brought to the community.

Posted on June 15, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Endorses Jeremy Hunt for Congress in Georgia

For Immediate Release June 15, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Jeremy Hunt in Georgia’s Second Congressional District.

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “We are thrilled to support Jeremy Hunt for Congress because he is a conservative fighter who isn’t afraid to stand up to the Washington, D.C. political elites who are determined to destroy our country. This district is one of the poorest in the nation, and Jeremy’s goal is to help make things more affordable for the people. Control inflation, stop spending taxpayer money foolishly and encourage more free market solutions are his priorities in order to end economic hardship.

Tea Party Express National Grassroots Director Kay Rivoli, Georgia Congressional Candidate Jeremy Hunt, and Tea Party Express Chief Strategist Sal Russo

Posted on June 13, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Adam Laxalt for Senate in Nevada

For Immediate Release: June 13, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Adam Laxalt for election to the United States Senate from the State of Nevada.

Senate Candidate Adam Laxalt

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “Adam Laxalt knows the fight to keep America safe from threats both foreign and domestic has never been greater. As a fourth generation Nevadan, with experience as a Naval officer in Iraq and a crime fighter as Attorney General, Adam understands how the dangerous policies of Nevada’s incumbent Senator have left Nevadans vulnerable and exposed.

...

Posted on June 13, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses April Becker, Sam Peters & Carolina Serrano for Congress in Nevada

For Immediate Release: June 13, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of April Becker in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, Sam Peters in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, and Carolina Serrano in Nevada’s 1st Congressional District.

April Becker, Sam Peters, and Carolina Serrano

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “We are pleased to support April Becker, Sam Peters, and Carolina Serrano for election to Congress because they are all principled conservatives who will put America first and champion the Tea Party principles of limited government, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility.

Posted on June 10, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Joe O’Dea for Senate in Colorado

For Immediate Release: June 10, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Joe O’Dea for election to the United States Senate from the State of Colorado.

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “As the CEO and owner of a successful Colorado construction company he built from the ground up, Joe O’Dea’s unmatched work ethic and savvy business skills have employed thousands of Coloradans over the past 30 years. Joe knows how to balance a budget and make sound financial decisions – unlike the reckless spendthrifts in Washington D.C. who keep kicking the can down the road and saddling future generations with a monstrous debt they can never repay.

Joe O’Dea, Senate Candidate, Colorado

Posted on June 8, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Mo Brooks for Senate in Alabama

For Immediate Release: June 8, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Mo Brooks for election to the United States Senate from the State of Alabama.

Mo Brooks

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “Mo Brooks has proven himself to be a staunch conservative leader who will always fight for the interests of Alabamians. Throughout his dedicated career as a public servant, Mo Brooks has demonstrated he has the bold leadership experience sorely needed to combat the radical spendthrifts in Washington, D.C. who seek to destroy American prosperity and replace it with a radical leftist utopia.

Posted on June 6, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Mayra Flores in Texas’ 34th Congressional District

For Immediate Release: June 6, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Mayra Flores in Texas’ 34th Congressional District. Flores is a candidate in the Special Election on June 14th to fill out the unexpired term of Democrat Rep. Filemon Vela, and she is also officially the Republican candidate for the full term in the election in November.

Tea Party Express National Grassroots Director, Kay Rivoli, Mayra Flores, Congressional Candidate Texas 34, Tea Party Express Chief Strategist, Sal Russo

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “We are honored to support Mayra Flores for Congress because she is a true American patriot who embodies the family values of God and country near and dear to the hearts of South Texans.

Posted on June 6, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Brian Maryott in California’s 49th Congressional District

For Immediate Release: June 6, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of in California’s 49th Congressional District.

Brian Maryott, Congressional Candidate

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “With an extensive background in financial planning, Brian is exactly the kind of leader we need to push back against the tax-and-spend liberals in Congress, and we are excited to support him. We join with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Organization and the California Republican Party in recognizing the experience Brian will bring to Congress.

Posted on June 2, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District

For Immediate Release: June 2, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Tom Kean in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District.

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “We are pleased to support Tom Kean for Congress because throughout his decades of service in the New Jersey State Legislature, he has consistently fought against increasing the size and scope of big government.

Tom Kean Jr., Congressional Condidate NJ 7

Posted on May 31, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Three Solid Conservatives for Re-Election in California Ken Calvert, Young Kim and Michelle Steel for Congress

For Immediate Release: May 31, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement for re-election of three excellent Members of Congress: Ken Calvert in California’s 41st Congressional District, Young Kim in California’s 40th Congressional District, and Michelle Steel in California’s 45th Congressional District.

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “We are thrilled to support Ken Calvert, Young Kim, and Michelle Steel for re-election to Congress because they are all battle-tested leaders who will champion the Tea Party principles of limited government, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility.

Posted on May 31, 2022

ELECTION ALERT: Tea Party Express Endorses Scott Baugh in California’s 47th Congressional District

For Immediate Release: May 31, 2022

Sacramento, CA: Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Scott Baugh in California’s 47thCongressional District.

Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “We are pleased to support Scott Baugh for Congress as he knows the importance of reining in liberal spendthrifts. As a business law owner who understands how to create jobs and balance a budget, Scott will bring a much-needed voice of fiscal sanity to Washington, D.C.

4 24 teacher hit

Debra J. Saunders

OPINION COLUMNIST

Debra J. Saunders became a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1992. Her column runs three times weekly.

Before joining The Chronicle, she worked as a columnist and editorial writer for the Los Angeles Daily News for five years. Debra's column is syndicated through Creators Syndicate and runs in newspapers throughout the country.

In addition to writing her column, she has written pieces that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal

, Weekly Standard and National Review. She has appeared on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Her book, "The World According to Gore," published by Encounter Books, was released in 2000.

Debra's political experience includes stints working as a writer/researcher and account executive for Russo Watts & Rollins in Sacramento and Todd Domke Associates in Boston. With both organizations, her political work included research, issues strategy and advertising in U.S. Senate and House races. In addition, she also worked for the Republican leader of the California Assembly.

She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Boston with a B.A. in Greek and Latin in 1980.

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blog

Posted on July 14, 2019

ACTION ALERT: Conservatives to Congress: No Two Year Caps Deal!

For Immediate Release: July 14, 2019

As Congress and the White House work together to reach a deal on

spending before the end of the Fiscal Year, conservatives urge them

not to pass a spending bill that would increase spending above the budget caps, and put important pro-life policies at risk.

Posted on April 9, 2018

Conservatives Agree with President Trump: “Never Again” Should Congress Pass an Omnibus Boondoggle, and “Never Again” Should He Sign One.

Congress recently passed, and the President signed, a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that gives Democrats everything they want while violating key conservative principles on both policy and process.

Posted on April 6, 2018

Conservatives Stand with EPA AdministratorScott Pruitt

Conservatives stand behind Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and thank him for the significant actions he has taken to implement President Trump’s deregulatory agenda.

Posted on January 16, 2015

Curt Clawsondelivers Tea Party response

Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest Tea Party political action committee, will host the official Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address directly following the Republican response. This year Congressman Curt Clawson will deliver the Tea Party response at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and will focus on pertinent issues which are affecting all Americans. Read More

Posted on January 6, 2015

The Campaign to Defeat Harry Reid

Two years may seem like a long way off, but in politics it’s just around the corner. After regaining control of the U.S. Senate, we were able to fire Harry Reid from his Senate Majority Leader position and finally rip the gavel right out of his hand. Harry Reid will now be up for reelection in 2016, and after years of Americans suffering under his leadership and mismanagement, the time to organize against him is NOW. Read More

Posted on November 19, 2014

Support Bill Cassidy for U.S. Senate

Due to the fact no one candidate reached the 50% mark of votes in the Louisiana U.S. Senate election, the race now heads to a run-off on December 6th. We have endorsed Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy to defeat Democratic incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu. Read More

Posted on November 6, 2014

Congratulations Conservatives!

Tea Party Express would like to thank all of the patriots across the country who stepped up, voted and helped change our future for the better.

Thank you for all of your support!

Posted on November 2, 2014

Join Tea Party Express on Election Night!

by Donlyn Turnbull

Director of New Media

With so much riding on this year’s elections, we invite you to join Tea Party Express on Tuesday night November 4th to navigate through the maze of races. Tea Party Express is joining forces with Tea Party News Network and WAAR Radio to bring you nonstop commentary and election updates. Read More

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USSO MARSH & ASSOCIATES INC is a business licensed by City of Sacramento, Finance Department, Revenue Division. The account number is #76547. The business address is 8795 Folsom Blvd, Unit 103, Sacramento, CA 95826-3720. The business category is GOVERMENT AFFAIRS POLITICAL.

Business Information

Account Number	76547
Business Name	RUSSO MARSH & ASSOCIATES INC
Owner Name	SALVATORE RUSSO
Location Address	:{8795 Folsom Blvd Unit 103}: Sacramento CA 95826-3720
Mail Address	3105 Fite Cir Unit 108 Sacramento CA 95827-1812
Telephone	9164413734
Business Description	GOVERMENT AFFAIRS POLITICAL
Business Start Date	2017-05-04
Business Close Date	1990-04-23
Current Expire Date	2018-03-31
License Status	License Cancelled

===

tony?

Sal?

Sal Russo, 67, the longtime political consultant who is listed on the 10-year-old charity’s tax returns as chief strategist.

Russo is better known for helping to form the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, also known as the Tea Party Express, one of the largest Tea Party groups in the country. Consultants from his Sacramento-based firm, Russo, Marsh and Associates, also set up two other PACs, the Move America Forward Freedom PAC and the Conservative Campaign Committee, to aid conservative causes and candidates.

oddly showing up more than you'd expect 3/14 for little CA shop

oct 2010 guardian

Tea Party movement has extensive links to white supremacist groups, areport published by the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights today has alleged.

The report lists incidents, individuals and websites it claims demonstrate the links, and also expresses concern that Tea Party meetings are used as recruiting grounds for racist groups. The movement has repeatedly denied it is racist.

In the foreword to the report, Benjamin Todd Jealous, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), said: "We know the majority of Tea Party supporters are sincere, principled people of good will."

But he added that the report "exposes the links between certain Tea Party factions and acknowledged racist hate groups in the United States. These links should give all patriotic Americans pause".

He called on the leadership and members of the Tea Party movement to take more steps "to distance themselves from those Tea Party leaders who espouse racist ideas, advocate violence or are formally affiliated with white supremacist organisations."

The NAACP and other organisations such as La Raza, which represents Latinos in the US, were present for the report's launch.

The document comes after the NAACP national convention, in July, passed a resolution condemning what it said were outspoken racist elements within the Tea Party.

One of the concerns in the report is the portrayal of Barack Obama as non-American. "Consider, for example, the incessant depiction of President Obama as a non-American," it says.

"The permutations go on from there: Islamic terrorist, socialist, African witch doctor, lying African etc. If he is not properly American, then he becomes the 'other' that is not 'us.'"

Prominent Tea Party organisers said the report was a politically-motivated distortion of the truth.

He said the Tea Party had brought millions of people into the political process because of their worries about what was happening economically to the US....guardian.com/world/2010/oct/20/report-links-tea-party-to-white-supremacist-groups Sal Russo, a Sacramento-based Republican political consultant who created the Tea Party Express, described the report "patently ridiculous".

===

California FPPC issues record fine for failure to disclose source of mystery money

By Laurel Rosenhall

lrosenhall@sacbee.com

Published: Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 - 12:00 am

Last Modified: Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 - 6:16 am

Political groups with ties to the conservative Koch brothers acknowledged Thursday they gave about $15 million to block a tax increase and weaken union influence in California last year without properly reporting the source of the money.

In a settlement with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, the groups agreed to pay a $1 million fine, the largest the agency has ever levied for a campaign violation.

The Arizona-based groups, the Center to Protect Patient Rights and Americans for Responsible Leadership, are part of a network of nonprofits operated by billionaire businessmen Charles and David Koch, agency officials said. The brothers have used their groups, which aren’t required to reveal the names of donors, to fund a variety of pro-business and anti-union efforts.

The settlement didn’t require release of the original individual donors to the effort. But a sloppily redacted document released by the FPPC shows that all but six of 132 contributions came from California donors.

The commission also sent letters to two committees demanding they pay the state general fund the improperly reported $15 million they received.

The Arizona groups jumped into California politics for the first time last year to support Proposition 32 – intended to curb the ability of labor unions to raise political cash – and oppose Proposition 30, a tax increase pushed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.

A Koch representative issued a statement denying that the brothers played a role in the California election.

“We had no involvement whatsoever, financial or otherwise, neither directly nor indirectly, on anything to do with Prop 30 or Prop 32,” said an emailed statement from Rob Tappan, who represents the Koch brothers, their foundations and the Koch Industries companies. “In addition, we did not give directly or indirectly to any nonprofit group in support or defeat of these ballot initiatives.”

Representatives for the two Arizona groups said they simply made a reporting mistake.

“It was a good-faith error,” said Barrett Marson of Americans for Responsible Leadership. “There was no intent to skirt or deceive California officials.”

The lawyer representing the Center to Protect Patient Rights said his client got confused by California’s campaign finance laws because they create a “very complicated environment with many, many regulations.”

“This was the first contribution they had ever made in the state of California,” Malcolm Segal said. “They believed they were in compliance.”

Americans for Responsible Leadership gave $11 million to the combined effort just weeks before last November’s election, in the heat of California’s initiative wars. But it didn’t reveal that its money came from the Center to Protect Patient Rights until the FPPC brought the group to court. Americans for Responsible Leadership was a largely unknown group when the contribution came in, while the Center to Protect Patient Rights is more widely associated with the Kochs.

“Secrecy and money don’t mix well in a democracy,” Brown said in a statement. The Democratic governor said the case also shed more light on loopholes that allow some donors with political agendas to conceal their identity.

When donors give directly to a political campaign, their identities become public in campaign finance reports. When donors give to a nonprofit, however, the law does not require their identities be disclosed. Campaigns are allowed to use their money to expressly ask for votes, while the nonprofits are supposed to confine themselves to a broader discussion of issues.

“This is a nationwide issue. These groups exploit loopholes in the law to undermine the clear purpose of the law – to give essential information to the public,” Ann Ravel, the outgoing chair of the FPPC, said at a news conference announcing the settlement. “It’s important for people to know about campaigns, and who is financing them, in advance of elections so they can make thoughtful decisions when they vote.”

Ravel is scheduled to be sworn in Friday as a member of the Federal Elections Commission, which regulates campaign laws at the national level. She said she hopes the Legislature will reconsider a package of bills it rejected this year that would have required more disclosure in similar situations.

The partially redacted list the FPPC provided Thursday shows scores of donors from California.

The donor list includes more than $9 million from people with an address on Maritime Plaza in San Francisco, where the management company of the Fisher family, which owns Gap Inc., has its office. The first names listed match those of the family members. Notably, Gap Inc. also employed Brown’s wife, Anne Gust Brown, from 1991 until she left as chief administrative officer in 2005.

Another $500,000 came from a man named Eli, his last name redacted, whose address is listed as being on the 12th floor of a building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Developer Eli Broad’s foundation is in an office on the 12th floor at 10090 Wilshire.

Foundations run by Broad and the Fisher family have poured millions into efforts to reduce the influence of teachers unions in public education.

The list also shows contributions totaling $400,000 from the California American Council of Engineering Companies, a trade group that has been in conflict with Caltrans engineers. One name that was not redacted was that of Ventura County businessman Gene Haas, who gave $800,000. Haas, who owns Haas Automation in Oxnard, served 16 months in a halfway house in 2008 and 2009 after pleading to conspiracy to commit**tax evasion**.

Neither he, the Fishers or Broad returned calls seeking comment.

Another $2 million appeared to come from financial services titan **:{Charles }::{Schwab}:**:{.}: A San Francisco post office box that is listed as Schwab’s mailing address on several government fillings appears on a list with a donor named Charles who gave $2 million to the effort on Oct. 12, 2012.

Just a day earlier, someone whose name was redacted in an email released by the FPPC sent an email to Charles Koch asking him to give money to oppose Proposition 32.

“I have committed an additional $2 million today, making my total commitment of $7 million,” the sender of the email says. “It would be great if you could support the final effort with several million.”

Evidence the FPPC collected shows that the Koch approach of using nonprofit groups to fund issue campaigns was appealing to California donors who wanted to support Proposition 32 and oppose Proposition 30 without disclosure. Ravel said almost $29 million “was given by donors who chose not to stand up for their political views but instead wanted to influence elections but hide from public view.”

Tony Russo, who was working as a fundraiser for a conservative group called Americans for Job Security, told investigators he began talking about anti-tax efforts in October 2011 with Sean Noble of the Center to Protect Patient Rights.

Russo said he had talked to donors who “liked the Koch model ... the way they have a network of (nonprofit committees) do issue advocacy,” according to a transcript of his interview with the FPPC.

The following year, in the midst of the initiative campaigns, lawyers advised him that millions they had raised could not be spent in California because it was too close to the election and could be seen as seeking to directly influence the vote.

Russo said he needed a place to put the money, and thought the Koch network might be able to help. He called Noble.

“I said, ‘Sean, you know, I have a big hiccup in California. We have money raised ... but I don’t think we can spend it in California. ... Can we support some of your national efforts and, in turn, do you have groups that can help us in California?’ That was pretty much as simple as it was,” according to the transcript.

Ravel said Russo then sent the money “to the Koch network with no strings attached, hoping that because that network has tentacles all over the country, some of the money eventually would find its way back to California campaigns, where the money was originally intended to go.”

Russo told investigators he first asked Noble to spend $4 million on the California initiative effort, then later asked for $11 million more as Election Day approached.

“I think I texted him and asked him if he could get us $11 million for California,” he said. He said he assumed the money wouldn't come from the patient-rights group because that was the committee he had sent his own money to, and he had told Noble it couldn’t be spent in California.

The FPPC on Thursday directed the recipient of that money, the California-based Small Business Action Committee headed by Joel Fox,to turn that money over to the state. It instructed a committee called the California Future Fund to pay the state $4.08 million.

“It’s required under state law,” said Gary Winuk, the FPPC’s chief of enforcement. “Just receiving a contribution where the true source is not disclosed means you have to give it up.”

Actually getting the money, however, will likely be a challenge.

The California Future Fund has closed its fundraising committee. The attorney for the Small Business Action Committee said his group is not required to pay the money, arguing that the California laws governing such payments apply to political candidates – not ballot measures.

Furthermore, attorney Steve Churchwell said, his client was not found guilty of any violations and doesn’t have $11 million anyway.

“Not one dime of this money is sitting in a bank account,” Churchwell said. “It all was spent on Props. 30 and 32.”

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*Call Laurel Rosenhall, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1083. Follow her on Twitter@LaurelRosenhall Jeremy B. White contributed to this report.

By Steve Benen

Conservative military charity faces serious allegations

08/05/14 12:31 PM—UPDATED 08/05/14

Any time a charity is accused of fraud, it’s alarming, but especially during a war, there’s something even more outrageous about dubious charities that claim to be helping veterans and active-duty military personnel.

Last year, for example, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) lieutenant governor, Jennifer Carroll, was forced to abruptly resign over her connections to something called Allied Veterans of the World. The Florida-based non-profit was accused of trying to “defraud the public and governmental agencies by misrepresenting how much of its proceeds were donated to charities affiliated with Veterans Administration.”

This year, a Tea Party affiliated group called Move America Forward, is facing allegations every bit as serious. Kim Barker’s piece in The Daily Beast raises serious questions the charity will have to answer quickly.

Move America Forward calls itself the nation’s “largest grassroots pro-troop organization,” and has recruited a bevy of Republican luminaries, including former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney, to support its efforts.

Yet an examination of its fundraising appeals, tax records and other documents shows that Move America Forward has repeatedly misled donors and inflated its charitable accomplishments, while funneling millions of dollars in revenue to the men behind the group and their political consulting firms.

Barker’s report raises allegations that, if true, may point to illegalities, including the possible use the charity’s funds to subsidize conservative political action committees.

The driving force behind Move America Forward is Sal Russo, 67, the longtime political consultant who is listed on the 10-year-old charity’s tax returns as chief strategist.

Russo is better known for helping to form the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, also known as the Tea Party Express, one of the largest Tea Party groups in the country. Consultants from his Sacramento-based firm, Russo, Marsh and Associates, also set up two other PACs, the Move America Forward Freedom PAC and the Conservative Campaign Committee, to aid conservative causes and candidates.

According to its tax returns, Move America Forward paid out more than $2.3 million – about 30% of the group’s overall expenditures – to Russo or his firm.

Barker talked to a former Tea Party Express consultant who said, “It was just so shady. With PACs, I know it’s dirty money – it’s politics. But this is a charity that’s supposed to be helping the troops.”

It’s not clear who, if anyone, is handling the day-to-day management of this charity. The organization’s former executive director left in 2012 “and does not seem to have been replaced.”

The same report goes on to detail instances in which Move America Forward falsely claimed to deliver care packages to troops, used photos in fundraising and promotional materials that belonged to other organizations, and even boasted to donors about a partnership with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that never existed.

And yet, despite all of this, Dave Weigel notes that Move America Forward benefited from testimonials from Dick Cheney, Rick Perry, Rush Limbaugh and other high-profile Republicans.

Obviously, the charges raised in this investigatory piece remain in the realm of unproven allegations. But given the evidence and seriousness of the potential wrongdoing, it’s easy to imagine law enforcement taking a keen interest in Move America Forward’s records, bank accounts, and activities.

sal:

Owner

Russo Marsh + Associates, Inc.

1977 – Present (37 years)

President

Russo Marsh + Assoc.

1976 – Present (38 years)

Co-Founder and Chief Strategist

Tea Party Express

2009 – 2012 (3 years)

Deputy Chief of Staff

Office of the Governor of California

1983 – 1985 (2 years)==:{

}:==LI fishAnne VolzMarketing and communications professionalKaren SpencerKaren SpencerOwner, Spencer-RobertsJoe WierzbickiJoe WierzbickiExecutive Director at Campaign to Defeat Barack ObamaKier AssociatesKier AssociatesOwner, Kier Associates, Fisheries and Watershed ProfessionalsKeri TippinsKeri TippinsGeneral Counsel at California Student Aid CommissionWendy ReynoldsWendy ReynoldsReady to launch phase 3 of my career path.Delette OlbergDelette OlbergVice President, Government & Public Relations at TenaskaChristophe Hofinger,Christophe Hofinger,En poste (secteur : Production audiovisuelle)Karen FrenchKaren FrenchOf CounselKeith HodgesKeith HodgesAssistant Principal at Santa Cruz City Schools

no date

Partnership for a New American Economy, Americans for Tax Reform, and Tea Party Express Release New Poll Showing Tea Party Voters Want Immigration Reform This Year

WASHINGTON DC – Today, Tea Party Express Co-Founder Sal Russo called on Congress to pass immigration reform this year on a new monthly call series hosted by the Partnership for a New American Economy. Russo was joined by Al Cardenas, Chairman of the American Conservative Union on a teleconference moderated by Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.

“Our economy, our security, and our citizens deserve a system that works,” saidSal Russo, Co-founder of the Tea Party Express. “Tea Party voters want solutions to the real problems facing America and immigration is no exception. We encourage Congress to take action this year and provide conservative, free-market, common sense solutions to the problems in our immigration system.”

“The majority of Americans know that fixing immigration reform is essential to America’s future,”said Al Cardenas, Chairman of the American Conservatives Union.“Congress has a great opportunity to bring conservative ideals to the immigration debate and remake our immigration system into one that respects our laws and our borders, accommodates those that want to come to America to contribute, and recognizes the needs of the U.S. economy.

“Today’s call is just the first of a series to discuss and promote principled conservative reforms to our present broken immigration system that will strengthen the economy, increase American competitiveness and highlight the “surprisingly” strong support for immigration reform from the political Center-Right,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.“Failure to act is hurting our businesses and our citizens. Congress can and should lead on this issue and pass reform this year.”

http://www.renewoureconomy.org/uncategorized/tea-party-express-co-founder-sal-russo-joins-grover-norquist-address-need-immigration-reform/

===

15 may 2014

Tea Party Express Chairman Sal Russo defended his support of comprehensive immigration reform and cited a Michael Bloomberg-funded group to support his position on Laura Ingraham’s radio show on Thursday. Russo also expressed his support for an agricultural guest worker program, while suggesting that the United States had a massive labor shortage that it needed a new influx of immigrants to fill.

Despite this, Russo claims that he is on-board with anti-amnesty Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a claim Ingraham strongly disputed.

“The broken immigration system line, Sal, I mean, when I hear that my ears bleed, OK, because that what Schumer and Pelosi and Jeb Bush and Leahy and Durbin that’s what they always say when they justify the fact that our laws are not enforced,” Ingraham said.

“However you cited the group Partnership for a New American Economy in your op-ed, which is an organization supported by Michael Bloomberg,” she added. “Michael Bloomberg is basically in favor of an unending supply of foreign workers coming into this country to take jobs in this country, and he’s in favor of an all-out amnesty.”

“One would hope that the Tea Party represents America, right?” Ingraham continued. “And yet you’re all in on this, and you can say you’re with Jeff Sessions but I imagine if I call Sessions up now and ask him after reading this op-ed you wrote, ‘Are you [Russo] with Jeff Sessions?’ I think he would say ‘Uh, no.’”

===

kim b propub:

Noble’s prime position in the Koch network took a hit at the end of the 2012 campaign, when he and the Center circumvented California election laws in an attempt to influence two state ballot measures.

Noble first met California political strategist Tony Russo in Las Vegas in October 2011, according to a recorded interview Russo later gave to California investigators. Russo wanted Koch money for an effort to fight unions. Noble agreed to help, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to run focus groups, develop ads and reach out to voters, Russo said.

Russo hoped the Koch network would do even more. Russo later said he and Noble spoke more than 18 times in the run-up to the election, meeting once in Washington.

Meanwhile, Russo and Jeff Miller, another California consultant, raised $29 million from about 150 confidential donors to fight a proposition to raise taxes and to support another one limiting unions’ political power. They transferred the money to a Virginia-based trade association that had agreed to spend it on ads related to the initiatives. But as Election Day drew closer, the association, Americans for Job Security, balked at buying ads, worried that under California law, it would be required to disclose who had donated the funds for them.

Russo said he approached Noble and offered to transfer money from the Virginia group to the Center. In return, he asked Noble to tap separate resources to help in California. Noble thought he had groups that could help, Russo recalled.

“He said, you know, get me your money,” Russo said in his interview.

Americans for Job Security transferred about $4 million to the Center on Sept. 10. On Sept. 13, American Future Fund gave about $4 million to a California affiliate, the California Future Fund for Free Markets, which was spending money on the anti-union proposition.

Americans for Job Security sent another $14 million to the Center on Oct. 11. The Center then gave most of that money to Americans for Responsible Leadership, run by Kirk Adams, a friend and former client of Noble’s. On Oct. 15, Americans for Responsible Leadership sent $11 million to the Small Business Action Committee, a PAC spending on the initiatives.

Within days, a good governance group demanded a state inquiry into the contribution.

Still, Americans for Job Security gave another $6.5 million to the Center on Oct. 22. But no additional money from Koch-funded groups flowed back into the California initiatives fight – at Noble’s direction, Russo said.

California had launched an investigation.

“The explanation was, your regulatory guys are going crazy and I just don’t think we can do it,” Russo said.

California’s Fair Political Practices Commission sued Americans for Responsible Leadership on Oct. 25, 2012, seeking to force the group to reveal its donors. Six days later, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ordered that the group turn over the records to the state for an audit, saying that voters could suffer “irreparable harm” if they didn’t know who was behind the group before the election. Americans for Responsible Leadership appealed. The case made its way to the California Supreme Court, which on Nov. 4 unanimously ordered Americans for Responsible Leadership to turn over its records.

The next day, just before the election, Noble and Adams sent letters to the Small Business Action Committee as part of a settlement with regulators, admitting they had funneled money from Americans for Job Security to the Small Business Action Committee.

The state then accused the groups of money laundering based on their efforts to disguise the original source of the $11 million transferred to the Small Business Action Committee in October.

In his interview with investigators, Russo said he was “shocked” by the admission from Noble, because he believed that the money came from a pool of money unrelated to the funds Americans for Job Security passed to the Center.

Miller said he felt “just completely screwed” by Noble’s admission.

“I’m not sure how their network works, to be perfectly frank,” Miller later told investigators in a recorded interview. “But when he, when he started to get in the shit storm, he panicked and lied to you all about how it was done to protect his organizations. That’s what I think happened. I don’t know that, though. That’s what I think happened.I think that he panicked and to prevent your agency from opening up his books, he made, he lied.”

In total, the Virginia trade association had sent $24.5 million to the Center. Only $15 million ended up going to California for the propositions, which conservatives ended up losing by a large margin.

State regulators eventually slapped Americans for Responsible Leadership and the Center with a record fine, $1 million.

Individual donors to the effort werenever disclosed, although the redaction was so poor, it was possible to determine that they included financier Charles Schwab, California philanthropist Eli Broad and Gap Chairman Bob Fisher, but not the Kochs or their companies.

Initially, it appeared that the California Attorney General’s office might open a criminal investigation into the donations. But the investigation never moved forward; Noble was never interviewed in the case.

As part of an agreement with the state, Adams and Noble were able to write off the $11 million transferred through their organizations to the Small Business Action Committee as a simple mistake. The failure to disclose the original source of the funds “was inadvertent, or at worst negligent,” their stipulation with California’s attorney general and campaign finance regulators said.

Yet Noble and the lawyers he worked with were hardly new to campaign finance. Attorneys at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak, based on the East Coast, were national experts in dark money groups and election law, representing everyone from Crossroads GPS to the American Future Fund.

A lawyer and a paralegal there had helped incorporate two of Noble’s consulting firms and several Koch-connected social-welfare nonprofits, as well as handling the Center’s application for tax-exempt status to the IRS. Another Holtzman Vogel lawyer had even helped incorporate and dissolve the California Future Fund for Free Markets, the nonprofit that spent money on the anti-union measure.

“I would assume, given the high skill level at Holtzman Vogel, that their lawyers were familiar with California’s campaign finance law requirements,” said Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington. “They’re good lawyers.”

***

The California investigation, coupled with poor election results, weakened Noble’s influence on the Koch network and shrank the Center’s role within it.

“There were growing rumors, frustration, through 2010, 2011 and 2012, that Sean was controlling everything, that it was too insular, that it was all about who Sean liked and knew,” a top national conservative operative familiar with the Koch network told ProPublica.

---

Morgan also works with Russo Marsh & Rogers, a public relations firm that specializes in electing Republican candidates; with help from the Pentagon, ran "Truth Tours" to Iraq for right-wingUS media personalities; and receives funding from Iraqi Kurds to run advertisements on American television stations thanking the United States for the war. Morgan is chairwoman of the Russo Marsh & Rogers-run pro-war lobby Move America Forward.

===

davis hit: The cabal includes Kaloogian, who was a right-wing backbencher in the

:{state Assembly, Sal Russo, who handled banker Bill Simon's hapless

2002 gubernatorial campaign, and David Gilliard, a veteran GOP

strategist with a career steeped in scandal.}:

They're:{ joined by formerEnron pollsterand Republican tactician Frank

Luntz, }:who devised a strategy for the recall campaign centering around

negative character attacks and avoidance of policy discussion.

===

In August 2008, as the right wing of the Republican Party grew increasingly disenchanted with the party’s direction, the men from Russo, Marsh and Associates sensed opportunity: They created a political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better, and in time launched the Tea Party Express.

Russo, Marsh—an established California outfit of Republican consultants—was just getting started. The firm formed a second political committee, this one with apro-military agenda. And eventually, seizing on the President’s

Throughout the 2012 election cycle, the committees were relentless.In email after email, they pleaded for small donations to run ads supporting candidates who would defeat President Obama’s “socialist” agenda. And it worked: They collected more than $14 million in donations -- from all over the country, and from donors who gave as little as $10 to elect Ted Cruz as a Republican senator from Texas or to put Mitt Romney in the White House.

Yet an examination of the PACs’ expenditures shows they spent a small percentage of the money they raised on work directly aimed at getting candidates elected -- paid ads, say, or contributions to other political committees. Mainly, they paid consultants. And the biggest chunk of that consultant money went to Russo, Marsh and Associates, and people connected to the firm.

Of the $9.3 million spent by Our Country Deserves Better, more than $3.8 million went to Russo, Marsh and Associates, employees or others connected to the firm. Of the $3.9 million spent by the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, $2.4 million went to the firm and its associates. The pro-military Move America Forward Freedom PAC spent almost $143,000. Of that, $92,000 went to the firm and people connected to it.

Some of that money went for travel, or for ads funneled through the consultants. But most was for consulting, fundraising fees and administrative help.

It’s rare for the people who form PACs to pay and treat themselves quite so generously. In addition to paying Russo, Marsh an assortment of fees, the PACs spent money so its principals could travel well: from almost $1,300 for meals at a fondue restaurant in Ohio on Oct. 18, to more than $50,000 for consultants and staff to occasionally stay at a golf resort on Lake Michigan last fall.

Meanwhile, the people who gave money had no idea that such amounts would go to consultants, not to the nuts and bolts efforts to get preferred candidates elected and their opponents defeated.

“How does Joe Average know this?” asked Linda Knox, 73, who with her husband gave $585 to the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, mainly in $10 and $15 increments, after learning of the PAC’s spending habits. “Of course I want the money to go to elect people who share my values, not to consultants.”

No one from Russo, Marsh and Associates returned calls asking for comment. The two largest PACs didn’t respond to emails and calls. Danny Gonzalez, a spokesman at the pro-military PAC, said: “I was not aware of what the particular numbers are.” He said he would prepare a more detailed response.

Shawn Callahan, who’s worked for Russo, Marsh and now does consulting for the PACs, said Our Country Deserves Better did much more than just contribute to campaigns “in a traditional sense.” He said the PAC focused on coordinating unpaid grassroots activists, and spent much of its money on political organizing. He said the Tea Party Express held more than 400 rallies over the past three years, adding that the group had been credited with making the difference in dozens of House races.

“What looks like overhead is not overhead, but the costs of performing the mission of rallying citizens to get involved in conservative politics,” he wrote in an email. At a later point, he added: “As a political activist and donor myself, I hope that donors are proud of all that we have accomplished together. I know I am.”

While many watchdog organizations track how political committees raise money, few look at how the money is ultimately disbursed. PACs can spend their money as they want -- on legal fees, on big meals, on trips to Dubai. But while PACs often devote some money to fundraising, most spend the bulk of contributions on efforts clearly aimed at electing specific candidates.

This last election, more than 3,000 PACslike the Russo, Marsh ones — independent committees supporting more than one candidate and not officially run by a lobbying group — spent almost half a billion dollars. Two-thirds of those committees spent most of their money directly supporting candidates.

PACs like these are allowed to donate money to a candidate or candidate committee — up to $5,000 per election. They can also donate up to $15,000 to a national political party committee and $5,000 to local parties or other political committees every year. But PACs also often spend money on what are known as independent expenditures, such as TV ads and phone calls supporting or opposing candidates. This spending can be unlimited, but it must be done independent of the candidates, meaning that the candidates often aren't even aware it's happening -- especially with PACs that don't spend much on ads.

Longtime conservative activist Sal Russo, who helped found the consulting firm that became Russo, Marsh and Associates in Sacramento, Calif., in 1976, has a long history with mainstream Republicans. He got his big break as anaide to Ronald Reagan, when he was California’s governor. Russo developed longtime ties with several conservative politicians, including Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. He worked on the campaigns of former presidential candidate Jack Kemp and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Questions about the role of Russo, Marsh and Associates with political committees are not entirely new. The New York Times and Talking Points Memo detailed how one of the committees, Our Country Deserves Better, had paid out a substantial amount of money to the Russo, Marsh firm in 2009 and 2010. Sal Russo told The New York Times his firm did nothing wrong.

One Republican consultant, who would not be identified, said that PACs that raise and spend money like Russo, Marsh in the end hurt the efforts and reputation of conservatives, while often failing to have any truly reliable influence on election night.

After the 2012 elections – and despite critical news stories in several publications – the PACs got back to work. The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama changed its name to the Conservative Campaign Committee just after the election, and emails this week from the group have asked people to send money for ads supporting Larry Grooms, who is running in a Republican primary for a U.S. House seat in South Carolina.

“Any entity that raises money under the banner of a certain cause and then doesn’t spend money on that cause raises serious questions,” said Hogan Gidley, a consultant with Grooms’ campaign, adding that the campaign wasn’t affiliated with the Conservative Campaign Committee and that he wasn’t familiar with the inner workings of the group.

Of the donors who give to such committees, Gidley said, “They should hold the groups’ collective feet to the fire and make sure the money is going to its stated purpose.”

The Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which created the Tea Party Express, “the most aggressive and influential national Tea Party group in the political arena,” according to its website, spent some of the $9.3 million it ran through in this election cycle on bus tours and rallies.

But it spent only 10 percent of its money directly on elections -- $259,500 in contributions to political committees and candidates, and $681,000 on independent expenditures, most of which were funneled through Russo, Marsh and Associates.

The PAC spent almost half its money on fundraising, often using the Russo, Marsh firm or affiliated consultants. That fundraising ratio — spending almost $1 to earn $2 — is very high in the world of political action committees.

And the PAC also let its consultants live rather large: $3,500 for “PAC Election Night Headquarters” at a casino-resort in Las Vegas, $3,200 for meals and a meeting at a Mediterranean restaurant in Boston in February 2011, more than $1,000 for parking at LaGuardia Airport in New York in May 2011.

Barely one-third of the $3.9 million spent by The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama went to truly focused efforts at electing candidates, but its consultants traveled comfortably: More than $4,500 to stay at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in June, more than $8,200 to stay at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in July.

Individual consultants, including current or former Russo, Marsh employees, did very well.

Joe Wierzbicki, who works at Russo, Marsh and Associates, pulled in almost $528,000 from two of the PACs. Most of that came from the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which describes Wierzbicki on its website as “PAC coordinator” but neglects to mention he is a senior account executive at the Russo, Marsh firm.

Ryan Gill, who has also worked for the pro-military PAC and a related charity, was paid almost $592,000 from the two PACs, mostly from the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, for strategic consulting, fundraising commissions, travel reimbursement and on-line ads supporting several candidates.

In July alone, the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama paid Gill about $5,300 on July 2, $2,300 on July 3, $4,100 on July 6, and $12,000 on July 9, calling the payments “fundraising salary.” Then he was paid $5,000 for “PAC strategy consulting” on July 20. He was also paid $7,400 for online advertising to promote certain candidates. And he was reimbursed almost $12,300 for travel.

Until last year, Callahan, the former Russo, Marsh employee, was the executive director of the pro-military charity. Callahan then helped form a business called Frontline Strategies & Media.

Two of the PACs paid Frontline Strategies about $386,000, for fundraising commissions, consulting and website maintenance.

Callahan is also the founding chief executive officer of a company called DonationSafe, which the three PACs paid $450,000 for credit-card processing fees.

In responses to emailed questions, Callahan said he had to pay multiple employees for Frontline who “are dedicated full time to those accounts.” He said the PAC payments help cover his employees’ salaries, “along with all the other costs that come from running a business.”

The PACs linked with Russo, Marsh and Associates frequently attach themselves to popular causes or candidates or topics in the news. In past weeks, for example, they’ve sent emails praising Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, while asking for donations.

This month, the Conservative Campaign Committee — formerly the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama — has sent out emails, asking supporters to pony up $35,000 for a radio ad campaign backing Grooms in South Carolina. One email urged supporters to volunteer for Grooms and to give money to support him — not to Grooms’ actual campaign, but to the PAC. That email also linked to the proposed radio ad and to two TV ads that were actually put out by Grooms’ campaign—a nuance that would likely be lost on many supporters, who would probably think that the PAC was somehow involved in the TV ads.

“So many of you have told us how much you want to see real action taken to stop Barack Obama’s radical agenda,” said another email, sent March 6, with the subject line of “Time Sensitive: Your attention required.” “That’s why it’s so important for Larry Grooms to win this election—we need his voice and his vote in Congress to defeat Obama’s aggressive push for socialism.”

It won’t be clear until July how much the PAC raised. But it’s already reporting some of what it spent. The cost of sending out the two emails was $1,670, and it was paid to Russo, Marsh and Associates.

unpopularity in certain circles, they opened a third, the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama...

http://www.propublica.org/article/inside-game-creating-pacs-and-then-spending-their-money

===

astroturf wars: AFP: phil kerpin sets up teaparty facebook group www the day of santelli rant (admins: MP Leahy, Eric Odom, GWU: Freedomworks, Nat'l Taxpayers Union, Am for Tax Reform, Am for Ltd gov, AFP brendan steinhauser (afp) stop wax-mark [recall that women sleeping w. enemy debunked] 44 min

105.1 FM Talk Tea Party Express Russo marsh rogers stop obama and move am fwd 1776 Louisville (silent maj sign_ commie in white house (red ribbon w/ yellow means no socialism) blow taps (ballad wAVE HANDS AS IN CHURCH)

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tp profiteers; – Tea Party Express: The Tea Party Express bus tour, and affiliated political action committee, has raised funds using tea party messages. The Tea Party Express effort has been a slick public relations gimmick of the Sacramento-based consulting firm Russo, Marsh and Rogers (RMR). RMR has worked on severalstealth campaigns for Republican clients, including the underhanded push to recall Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA). In any case, the Tea Party Express, which RMR staffers operate, has proved to be a cash cow for RMR — in 2009 alone, it plunged at least $1,025,559 of money it raised back into RMR.

Sal big in gray davis hit, w/ Luntz

---

Have you wondered how the Tea Party, portrayed as a "grassroots" movement, could possibly raise enough money in one year to procure a professionally-painted, luxury motor coach and send it on two highly-publicized national tours? Or how the Tea Party so quickly developed the expertise to plan, organize and execute the tours, and consistently draw major media attention to them?

The answer is that the Tea Party Express is not a "grassroots" effort. The Web site Politico.com obtained and posted a proposal (pdf) showing that long-time Republican party operatives are, in fact, directing the "Tea Party Express" portion of the movement. The "group" and its activities are the result of efforts by a Republican-affiliated political consulting and public relations firm, Russo Marsh & Rogers, based in Sacramento, California. PR executive Sal Russo of Russo, Marsh & Rogers is also the chief strategist for the Our Country Deserves Better, political action committee (PAC) formed in 2008 to oppose then-candidate Barack Obama.

---

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Russo_Marsh_%26_Rogers

Russo Marsh & Rogers

From SourceWatch

Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM+R) is a Republican Party-affiliated political public relations firm based in Sacramento, California.

RM+R also appears to trade under the name King Media Group (KMG). The KMG website is nearly identical in appearance to that of RM+R and both operate from the same postal address. RM+ and KMG have separate main telephone numbers but share the same FAX number. Finally, RM+R and KMG share nearly the same management team.

On its website, RM+R is unequivocal about its area of expertise: "When it comes to winning elections, few firms can match the success of Russo Marsh + Rogers, Inc... At RM+R we think outside the box and we don't stop until you win."

"RM+R provides its clients (ranging from County Supervisor to President of the United States) a solid strategic plan combining direct mail, fundraising, research, broadcast advertising, audience targeting, etc.," its website states. [1]

Contents[hide]

Campaigns

Move America Forward

In June 2004, RM+R formed the non-profit, pro-Iraq War organization called Move America Forward. Its stated aim was to "to stand up and support the brave men and women of our Armed Forces" [2]. One of its first high-profiled efforts was a campaign launched against the showing of Fahrenheit 9/11 (movie 2004) in movie theaters.

Move America Forward (MAF) is a conservative organization founded and headed by California Republican activists, talk show hosts and staff members of the public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers, which has strong ties to the Republican Party.

According to its website, MAF "is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization committed to supporting America's efforts to defeat terrorism and supporting the brave men and women of our Armed Forces." [3] MAF identifies their domestic opponents as "self-loathing liberal journalists and 'Blame America First' politicians" (June 29, 2005 email, titled "The War at Home - in America").

Melanie Morgan is chairman (sic) of Move America Forward. She is a columnist for WorldNetDaily, author of the book America Mourning, and is also a conservative radio talk personality at KSFO in San Francisco, California. Melanie Morgan gained national notoriety in the summer of 2006 when she suggested that Bill Keller, an editor of the New York Times, be killed in a "gaschamber" for the crime of "treason" after the Times' reporting on US government spying on Americans. [4]

Melanie Morgan has an email address with the Russo Marsh & Rogers PR firm:

Melanie AT RMRWest.Net

WHOIS Information for "Move America Forward" posted by WhatReallyHappened.com shows the history of website data related to RM+R.

"Similar to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth—the advocacy group that helped derail John Kerry's presidential campaign—Move America Forward has magnified its reach by making small television and radio ad buys and then relying on cable- and local-television news outlets to give the commercials heavy coverage. Move America Forward has no discernible formal ties to the White House or the Republican National Committee, and the group says it operates independently from the Republican Party establishment. Still, the organization provides a clear benefit to the administration by spreading a pro-war message that goes beyond what administration officials can say publicly," Yochi J. Dreazen and John D. McKinnon wrote in the December 28, 2005, Wall Street Journal Online.

Swiftboating Jimmy Carter

The WWW.CENSURECARTER.COM website, the product of Move America Forward, was created for the swiftboating of President Jimmy Carter, John Amato of Crooks and Liars posted May 22, 2006.

"Since leaving office, President Jimmy Carter has repeatedly undermined U.S. foreign policy, criticized the missions of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, as well as embracing known terrorists and terrorist organizations," the website states. [5]See:

John Amato, "The Swift Boating of Jimmy Carter," Crooks and Liars, May 22, 2006.
"The Jimmy Carter attacks continue," Crooks and Liars, May 26, 2006.

"Truth Tour"

In July 2005, O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that "the Kurdistan Regional Government has hired Republican lobby firm Russo Marsh & Rogers to get 'free media' to promote the interests of the Kurds in the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq."

One goal of the Kurdish leaders is "the return of Kirkuk," an oil-rich northern Iraqi city populated by Kurdish and Turkmen people. O'Dwyer's notes that the head of RM+R, Sal Russo, is no stranger to international politics, having "worked on the campaign of Violetta Chamorro in Nicaragua." The Kurdish contract was announced as Move America Forward, a group RM+R helped found and whose "chief strategist" is Russo, is going to Iraq. Move America Forward's "Truth Tour" is bringing conservative talk radio hosts to Iraq, to "report the good news on Operation Iraqi Freedom you're not hearing from the old line news media." [6]

RM+R principal Joe Wierzbicki told journalist Bill Berkowitz that his firm's Kurdish campaign "will thank the American people for supporting the war in Iraq, and encourage Americans to visit and invest in the Kurdish region." Wierzbicki said RM+R is "not advocating an independent Kurdistan," but "the Kurds would like the rest of the country to look at the Kurdish region and see it as a model" for Iraq. The Kurdish campaign will likely be a short-term effort, including television and print ads, that will start in the late summer or early fall of 2005. "It's important to recognize that the Kurds are not hostile to the West," Wierzbicki added. [7]

Defend Reagan Committee

"The 'Defend Reagan Committee' was formed to defend the Reagan Legacy from a smear campaign waged by the creators, producers, writers and actors involved in the CBS miniseries 'The Reagans'," the committee's website (http://www.defendreagan.org/index.php/DefendReagan/AboutUs) states.

The Committee consisted of Move America Forward's Howard Kaloogian, chairman; and RM+R's Sal Russo, as chief political advisor, and Douglas Lorenz, as "Grassroots Coordinator".

The Defend Reagan Committee's address is a post office box in Sacramento, California.

Personnel

Principals

:{Sal :(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:Russo, founder and also a partner in Russo Watts & Rollins
Ron Rogers
Douglas Lorenz
Teri Smith O'Rourke
Joe Wierzbicki

No longer listed (August 17, 2006)

Kelley Afghari
Corey Sparks - Senior Media Buye

Politicians with ties to Russo Marsh and Rogers

As outlined below, in the period between March 2000 and February 2003, Russo Marsh and Copsey, and later Russo Marsh Copsey and Scott, were part of the same company as RM+R. It is therefore legitimate to attribute the 2001-2002 electoral cycle contributions listed here to RM+R. It is unclear what if any association now exists between RM+R and Marsh Copsey and Scott, therefore the 2003-2004 contributions are not given on this page.

2001/2002 cycle

Name of politician, and amount paid to RM+R or variants thereof:

Mark Foley (R-FL): $104,507 (as Russo Marsh and Associates) [8]
Tom Latham (R-IA): $18,074 (as Russo Marsh and Copsey) [9]
Thad McCotter (R-MI): $821,344 (as Russo Marsh Consulting Services) [10]
Denny Rehberg (R-MT): $31,650 (as Russo Marsh and Copsey) [11]
John M. Shimkus (R-IL): $1,499,648 (as Russo Marsh and Copsey) [12]

The total take from Republican politicans for the 2001/2002 cycle is thus $2,475,223. RM+R does not appear to have been paid money by any Democrat politicans in the same cycle.

History

As is typical of public relations companies, the name and ownership of RM+R have changed over the years, as principals have joined and left. An understanding of the rather convoluted history of the company is necessary in order to be able to make statements with confidence about which politicians have retained the services of RM+R over the last few years. The following account is based on the archive of the current RM+R website http://www.rmrweb.com in the Internet Archive [13].

December 1998-January 1999: Russo Marsh and Raper

Between December 1, 1998 [14] and January 28, 1999 [15], the domain rmrweb.com belonged to Russo Marsh and Raper, which had offices in both Washington, DC and Sacramento, CA. The DC office was run by Todd Burns, Lance Copsey, and Tony Marsh. The Sacramento office was run by Gregory Maw, Ron Petrich, Gene Raper, and Sal Russo [16].

March 2000-August 2002: RM+R/RM+C partnership

Between at least March 2, 2000 [17] and May 17, 2001, [18], the homepage of www.rmrweb.com carries the logos of two sister companies: RM+R (based in Sacramento CA) and Russo Marsh and Copsey (RM+C) (based in DC). By July 21, 2001 [19], www.rmrweb.com redirects to www.russomarsh.com. However, an examination of the archived versions of the employees page [20] shows that on August 3, 2001 [21], the partnership between RM+R and RM+C is still in place, as the page carries both their logos with accompanying lists of their employees. Russo, Rogers, and Jeff Flint are now heading up RM+R, and Marsh, Copsey, and Leif Larson are heading up RM+C.

(As of circa November 2000 the RM&R document Campaign Strategy and Communications lists the following individuals at RM&R (besides Sal Russo, Tony Marsh and Gene Raper):^[1] Gregory Maw, a senior consultant; Lance Copsey, a Senior Account Executive; Todd Burns, a Senior Account Executive; Sandra Giarde, a senior consultant; Ronald Petrich, Controller and Systems Manager.)

August 2002-February 2003: RM+R/RMC+S partnership

By August 6, 2002 [22], RM+C has become Russo Marsh Copsey and Scott (RMC+S), and has relocated to Landover, MD. However, both companies are still listed as sister companies on the employees page of russomarsh.com. The last instance of this version of the page is February 15, 2003 [23].

From May 2003 on: RM+R

Then on May 28, 2003, http://www.marshcopsey.com/ appears in the Internet Archive. Tony Marsh and Lance Copsey appear to have parted company with Sal Russo and Ron Rogers, and are now describing their operation as Marsh Copsey and Scott (MCS). The RM+R and RMC+S partnership appears to have split up. This is consistent with the appearance in the archive of the current Russo Marsh and Rogers website on June 5, 2003 [24]. Note that although the name still contains 'Marsh', Marsh is no longer listed as an employee or principal of RM+R. Tony Marsh and Lance Copsey's current firm is Marsh Copsey & Associates.

Contact information

Russo Marsh & Rogers

770 L Street, Suite 1400

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: (916) 441-3734 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (916) 441-3734 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Fax: (916) 441-6057

Website: http://www.rmrweb.com/

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Websites

Articles & Commentary

2006

James Joyner, "America Thanks You Ad (Video)," Outside the Beltway, June 19, 2006.
Bill Berkowitz, "At Russo Marsh & Rogers the 'truth' is always on tour," Media Transparency, July 23, 2006: "Helping Move America Forward report the good news from its 'Truth Tour' in Iraq, and working on PR for the Kurdistan Regional Government, has given the California-based firm an opportunity to shape public opinion one story at a time."
Eric Deggens, "Selling Iraq While Lebanon Burns," The Huffington Post, July 26, 2006.
Aaron Glantz, "Critics Suspicious of Kurdish Representatives on US Tour," Free Speech Radio News, July 28, 2006.
"Russo Marsh & Rogers Flacks for Iraq," PR Watch, July 31, 2006.
Aaron Glantz, Kurdish "Thank You" a Republican Stunt?, Inter Press News Service, July 31, 2006; *Asia Times*, August 1, 2006.
Charlie Smith, "Marketing the wars," Vancouver Free Press/Straight.com, August 10, 2006.
Diane Farsetta, "Moving Foreign Investment Forward: A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan," PR Watch, September 27, 2006.
Alicia A. Caldwell, "Iraq Kurdistan launches tourism campaign," Associated Press, October 20, 2006.

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Russo Watts & Rollins is a Republican political consulting firm based in Sacramento, California.

Contents[hide]

Personnel

Ed Rollins (partner)
Sal Russo (partner). Also a principle in Russo Marsh & Rogers.
Doug Watts (partner)
Bill R. Phillips (1987-88)
Nancy J. Risque was from June 1986 Vice President with Russo, Watts & Rollins, after which she went on to be Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary under president Reagan in February 1987. [1]

Articles and resources

The Campaign Store, LLC

Rogers is chief executive officer of the online TheCampaignStore.com.

Contact Information:

P.O. Box 1863

Sacramento, CA 95812

Phone: 916 233-4050

Fax: 916-233-4051

Profiles

Rogers, according to his RM+R profile, served as California "Chief Deputy State Treasurer from 1995 to 1998. Mr. Rogers oversaw the management of the California State Treasurer’s office for then Treasurer Matt Fong. This included investing a $32 billion portfolio, serving as a Trustee for the CALPers and CALStrs pension funds totaling $160 billion in assets, issuing $10-$20 billion in bonds each year.

"Prior to becoming Chief Deputy State Treasurer Mr. Rogers served as General Manager of Russo Marsh & Associates. There he managed Matt Fong’s successful election as State Treasurer.

"He was Chief of Staff to California Senate Republican Leader Ken Maddy for five years. Mr. Rogers directed the efforts of Senate Republicans in three election cycles. He also served as the staff liaison to the White House and Governor’s office for the State Senate Republicans and on the Senate Fellow Selection Panel and the Emergency Management Team for the State Capitol.

"Mr. Rogers began his career as the assistant to theChairman of the Orange County Republican Party. He served as chief of staff to the Chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors for five years and to a member of the State Assembly for six years. He served on Governor Deukmejian’s State and Local Government Task Force, as Chairman of the Orange County Jail Site Selection Committee and the Tax Allocation and Special Districts Task Force. ...

Rogers "served as Statewide Director of Republican volunteer efforts in California in 1984, 1986 and 1992."

External links

Profiles

Ron Rogers, Russo Marsh & Rogers bio.
Ron Rogers, King Media Group bio.

Articles & Commentary

"Campaign movements - People & Organizations - Brief Article," Campaigns & Elections (FindArticles.com), August 2002: "California gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon (R) continued to beef up his campaign team, adding several GOP consultants to his roster as senior advisors: Ed Rollins, Lyn Nofzigerand Ron Rogers. Rollins managed President Reagan's re-election campaign in 1984, Nofziger served as a political adviser to Reagan and Rogers is a partner in the consulting firm Russo Marsh & Rogers."

Categories:

Joe Wierzbicki is a principal of the Republican Party-associated public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM+R). He is also director of public relations atKing Media Group, RM+R's mirror firm. In emails he describes himself as "Grassroots Coordinator for Move America Forward," a client of RM+R advocating and conducting PR for Bush's policies in Iraq in the name of supporting US troops and winning the global war on terror.

Contents

[hide]

Anti-Obama PAC

Wierzbicki is the coordinator of a political action committee formed to oppose Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, called "Our Country Deserves Better." In addition to Wierzbicki, several PAC officers are or were associated with Move America Forward, including Howard Kaloogian, Russo Marsh & Rogershead Sal Russo, and Marine mom Deborah Johns. ^[1]

In an interview about the PAC, Wierzbicki said Our Country Deserves Better hopes to "raise in excess of $1 million by Election Day," and run ads in "ten states." In regards to the PAC's ad that questions Obama's statements on religion, Wierzbicki asked, "Is Barack Obama's faith the Muslim registration listed by his family when he was a student growing up in Indonesia? Or is it the black liberation theology espoused by Reverend Jeremiah Wright...? Or is it the mainstream Christianity he identified with in the forum hosted by Pastor Rick Warren?" ^[2]

Wierzbicki claimed Our Country Deserves Better isn't "Swiftboating" Obama, because, for example, "We've not used the photographs of Barack Obama in what some call 'Muslim garb' because the photos by themselves are inconclusive." They also decided, "despite the controversy that her words created," not to "useMichelle Obama's comments about this being the first time in her adult life that she was proud to be an American." ^[2]

Co-opting the Tea Party movement

In April, 2010 the web site Politico.com published a proposal written by Wierzbicki to use the Our Country Deserves Better PAC to co-opt the tea party movement by obtaining a luxury coach, painting it in Tea Party-themed images, and sending it on a multi-stop national tour with the aim of raising money by urging the defeat of prominent Democratic candidates like Harry Reid (D-Nevada), Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania) and Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut).^[3][4]

Profiles

Wierzbicki’s RM+R biographical note provides little detail on his work history other than that he previously worked for Fleishman-Hillard and "corporate clients, non-profit organizations as well as political candidates and committees." [1]

"Businesses sometimes experience rough patches that they need help with, and Mr. Wierzbicki’s extensive experience and illustrious background enables him to assist corporations and organizations with damage-control efforts," it states. [2]

In 2005, RM+R helped promote Move America Forward's recent "Truth Tour" of Iraq by right-wing radio hosts there and preparing a campaign for the Kurdish Regional Government. Wierzbicki told journalist Bill Berkowitz that his firm's Kurdish campaign "will thank the American people for supporting the war in Iraq, and encourage Americans to visit and invest in the Kurdish region." Wierzbicki said RM+R is "not advocating an independent Kurdistan," but "the Kurds would like the rest of the country to look at the Kurdish region and see it as a model" for Iraq. The Kurdish campaign will likely be a short-term effort, including television and print ads, that will start in late summer or early fall. "It's important to recognize that the Kurds are not hostile to the West," Wierzbicki added. [3]

Articles and resources

References

↑ "Who we are," Our Country Deserves Better PAC website, accessed September 2008.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Bill Berkowitz, "Pac man: Our Country Deserves Better PAC aims to 'define' Obama's 'weaknesses' and make him 'an unacceptable choice to serve as our nation's next president and Commander in Chief'," MediaTransparency.com, September 26, 2008.
↑ Politico.com, Joe Weirsbicki The "Tea Party Express" Project Proposal Draft,(PDF) undated, accessed April 15, 2010
↑ Kenneth P. Vogel GOP operatives crash the tea party, Politico.com, April 14, 2010

External resources

Joe Wierzbicki, Russo Marsh & Rogers bio.
Joe Wierzbicki, King Media Group bio.

External articles

Bill Berkowitz, "The selling of brand Kurdistan As the 'Truth Tour' fades into the ether, Russo Marsh & Rogers, a California-based public relations firm with close ties to the Republican Party, is now helping the Kurds prepare for the future", WorkingForChange, August 11, 2005.
Bill Berkowitz, "PAC man: Our Country Deserves Better PAC aims to 'define' Obama's 'weaknesses' and make him 'an unacceptable choice to serve as our nation's next president and Commander in Chief'," MediaTransparency.org, September 26, 2008.
Donald Lambro, "Obama health plans revive tea parties," The Washington Times, August 11, 2009.

Categories:

Douglas Lorenz a principal of the Republican Party-associated public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM+R). He is also Advisory Board Director of theRepublican Liberty Caucus, which describes itself on its website as "The conscience of the Republican Party". [1]

Lorenz is also director of media and new technology at King Media Group, a RM+R mirror firm.

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Contents

[hide]

Profiles

According to his RM+R profile, Lorenz "founded the computer-consulting firm, Lorenz Technologies, in 1990. With offices in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, he provided network solutions and computer systems to companies throughout the Bay Area. As the Internet began to grow as a business and communications tool, he returned to college to update his focus.

"Mr. Lorenz became active in politics, and used his computer skills to encourage greater online communication among political efforts. He has been very active in developing volunteer political organizations, having created the first online presence for the California College Republicans during his college years. He continued his activities with volunteer political organizations through the Republican Liberty Caucus, most recently serving as National Chairman."

According to his Republican Liberty Caucus profile, after starting Lorenz Technologies, he "returned to college where he 'created the first online presence for the California College Republicans' as well as completing a Bachelor of Arts degree at California State University Sacramento in Public Relations, with a minor in Economics."

Lorenz joined Russo Marsh & Rogers in 2000, and "developed the company's current information technologies capabilities. Subsequently, during Bill Simon's campaign for Governor of California, Douglas served as the campaign's Director of Information Technologies...," his biographical note states. [2]

Lorenz was also head of the advisory board of the Recall Gray Davis campaign [3].

In February 2001, when a student posted a request to a email list seeking three "credible publications" in a thesis on gun control, Lorenz recommended Gary Kleck's "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America (Social Institutions and Social Change)" and John Lott's "More Guns Equal Less Violent Crime". [4]

External links

Profiles

Douglas Lorenz, King Media Group bio.
Douglas Lorenz, Republican Liberty Caucus bio.

Articles & Commentary

"Recall Gray Davis: Questions and Answers about the Recall effort...", undated, accessed August 2004.
Profile: Douglas Lorenz, RLC National Committee; accessed August 17, 2006.

Categories:

Sal Russo is the founder and a principal in the Republican Party-affiliated public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM+R), a senior advisor to the King Media Group, RM+R's mirror firm, and chief strategist for Move America Forward. [1] He is also a partner in Russo Watts & Rollins.

Contents

[hide]

Anti-Obama PAC

Russo is chief strategist for a political action committee formed to oppose Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, called "Our Country Deserves Better." In addition to Russo, several PAC officers are or were associated with Move America Forward, including Howard Kaloogian, Russo Marsh & Rogersprincipal Joe Wierzbicki, and Marine mom Deborah Johns. ^[1]

Profiles

"Under Mr. Russo's direction, Russo Marsh has successfully managed numerous statewide initiative campaigns and provided strategic communication services to a wide variety of national and international clients," RM+R's website states.

1966: Russo volunteered for Ronald Reagan's California gubernatorial campaign. Appointed as a "special assistant" to elected Governor Reagan.
1969: Administrative assistant to "a member of the California Legislature."
1975: Editor of the Agricultural Labor Relations Reporter
1976: Founded political consulting firm California Capitol Consultants

Russo, according to his Move America Forward profile, "has been at the forefront of some of the most prominent national, state and local campaigns in the nation including the election of Governor George Deukmejian (1982), Senator Alfonse D'Amato, New York (1992), Governor George Pataki, New York (1994), presidential bids by Jack Kemp and Senator Orrin Hatch."

Russo "has been called on several times to provide consulting in other national elections, including the election of Violetta Chamorro in Nicaragua, and in 1991, Mr. Russo conducted the media campaign for the successful referendum on Ukranian independence." [2]

Russo "holds a B.A. in Government from California State University, Sacramento, and a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law. He has recently served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Political Consultants." [3]

Contact information

Email: srusso AT rmrwest.com

Articles and resources

References

↑ "Who we are," Our Country Deserves Better PAC website, accessed September 2008.

External resources

Sal Russo, Russo Marsh & Rogers bio.
Sal Russo, King Media Group bio.
Sal Russo, Move America Forward bio.

External articles

Jake Tapper, "They feed horses, don't they? Bush and Forbes finished one-two in the Iowa straw poll, and why not? They paid for this circus, after all,"Salon, August 16, 1999: "For everyone but Bush, the real question here was whether anyone could emerge to mount a serious challenge to the Texas governor. Only a few weeks ago, for instance, GOP consultant Sal Russo received a phone call from Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch asking what Russo thought about his decision to throw his hat into the ring. ... 'Orrin, didn't you hear?' Russo responded. 'We already coronated George W. Bush!'"
Bill Bradley, "The Fictional Candidate. Bumbling Bill Simon could provoke Democratic sweep," LA Weekly, August 14, 2002: "Dr. Arthur Laffer, successfully sued Simon campaign chief Russo over the collapse of Laffer's proposed statewide flat-tax initiative in 1996. ... (The judgment called for Russo to pay less than $20,000 and return about $200,000 to contributors from the campaign firm he controlled.)"
Bill Bradley, "Taking Down Gray. Talk of recalling unpopular governor leads to Dick Riordan and Bill Simon Jr., and many others," LA Weekly, February 13, 2003.
"Calling the Kettle Black: Ethically Challenged GOP Front Move America Forward Accuses the UN of Corruption," MaxBlumenthal Blogspot, February 23, 2003.
Transcript: "Calif. Gov. Davis Faces Recall Effort," CNN, June 17, 2003.
Carla Marinucci, "Recall Fever. Both Huffingtons, Audie Bock, Condit possible candidates," San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2003: "Audie Bock, the only Green ever elected to the Assembly, is a former client of GOP political consultant Sal Russo, who ran her unsuccessful independent campaign against Assembly Democrat Wilma Chan and her derailed effort to challenge Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland."
Jeff Kearns, "Recall Death Match. Ready 2 Rumble. What happens when two of the most knowledgeable and aggressive politicos in Sacramento square off to debate the issue of the recall? Let’s put it this way: It isn’t pretty," Sacramento News & Review (CA), August 7, 2003.
"Who Pays the Bills for 'MOVEAMERICAFORWARD.ORG'?" WhatReallyHappened.com, undated.
Lakshmi Chaudhry, "Who is Sal Russo?" AlterNet, August 18, 2005: "The man coordinating the conservative offensive against Cindy Sheehan has an extensive resume in dirty politics."
Joe Garofoli, "She reopened debate about war, and, boy, is she hearing about it," San Francisco Chronicle, August 18, 2005. re Cindy Sheehan
Nannette Miranda, "Gov. Schwarzenegger Quick To Start Ad Campaign," ABC7News.com (CA), June 9, 2006.
Aaron Glantz, Kurdish "Thank You" a Republican Stunt?, Inter Press News Service, July 31, 2006.
Diane Farsetta, "Moving Foreign Investment Forward: A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan," PR Watch, September 27, 2006.
Alicia A. Caldwell, "Iraq Kurdistan launches tourism campaign," Associated Press, October 20, 2006.
"Russo Works Anti-Obama Tour," O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 30, 2008.
Sal Russo, op/ed: "Tom Bradley Didn't Lose Because of Race: Voters rejected his liberal policies," Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), October 20, 2008.

Categories:

Russo Marsh and Rogers TPX

Business Information

California FPPC issues record fine for failure to disclose source of mystery money

Conservative military charity faces serious allegations

Russo Marsh & Rogers

From SourceWatch

Campaigns

Move America Forward

Swiftboating Jimmy Carter

Defend Reagan Committee

Personnel

Principals

No longer listed (August 17, 2006)

Politicians with ties to Russo Marsh and Rogers

2001/2002 cycle

History

December 1998-January 1999: Russo Marsh and Raper

March 2000-August 2002: RM+R/RM+C partnership

August 2002-February 2003: RM+R/RMC+S partnership

From May 2003 on: RM+R

Contact information

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Websites

Articles & Commentary

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Personnel

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

The Campaign Store, LLC

Profiles

External links

Profiles

Articles & Commentary

Anti-Obama PAC

Co-opting the Tea Party movement

Profiles

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

External resources

External articles

Profiles

External links

Profiles

Articles & Commentary

Anti-Obama PAC

Profiles

Contact information

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

External resources

External articles

Attachments