Citizens for a Strong America

<h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></h2><div><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America</a></div><div>
</div><div><div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">Citizens for a Strong America is a non-profit group that says it is "a diverse coalition of concerned citizens, businesses, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[1]</a>The Center for Media and Democracy, which publishes SourceWatch, discovered that this group was created in August 2010 and operates out of a UPS mail drop box, but spent $836,000 on ads in the 2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, and additional undisclosed amounts on state Senate recall races that year.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[2]</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wisconsin_Club_for_Growth" title="Wisconsin Club for Growth" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Wisconsin Club for Growth</a> provided CSA's entire $4.62 million operating budget in 2011; CSA's Treasurer is Valerie Johnson, wife of Wisconsin Club for Growth's RJ Johnson.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-Kohler-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a> CSA also funneled money to other groups active in the recall elections, as well as the controversial "United Sportsmen" group that was the beneficiary of a $500,000 taxpayer-funded "sweetheart deal" cut by the outgoing Assembly Majority Speaker.The President of CSA is John W Connors, the "Director of Special Operations" at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Franklin_Center_for_Government_and_Public_Integrity" title="Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity</a>, which operates Watchdog.org and Wisconsin Reporter. Connors is elsewhere listed as an employee of David Koch's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Americans for Prosperity</a>, and his consulting firm is at the same street address and building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as AFP-Wisconsin. Connors registered CSA's web domain.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[4]</a><table id="toc" class="toc" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); font-size: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 5px;"><tbody><tr><td><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; width: auto; font-size: 12px; display: inline;">Contents</h2>  [<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Support_for_2011_Prosser_Supreme_Court_Campaign" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1 Support for 2011 Prosser Supreme Court Campaign</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Support_for_2011_Senate_Recall_Campaigns" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2 Support for 2011 Senate Recall Campaigns</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Funders" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3 Funders</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Funding_Recipients" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">4 Funding Recipients</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Operates_Out_of_UPS_Mailbox_in_Beaver_Dam.2C_Phone_Located_Hours_Away" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5 Operates Out of UPS Mailbox in Beaver Dam, Phone Located Hours Away</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Successor_to.22Coalition_for_America.27s_Families.22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">6 Successor to "Coalition for America's Families"</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Board_Members" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">7 Board Members</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Sourcewatch_resources" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">8 Sourcewatch resources</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#External_resources" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">9 External resources</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#Contact" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">10 Contact</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">11 References</a></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Support for 2011 Prosser Supreme Court Campaign</h2><div class="thumb tleft" style="background-color: transparent; float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); font-size: 12px; text-align: center; overflow: hidden; padding: 3px !important; width: 210px;"><div class="thumbcaption" style="text-align: left; border: none; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 11px; padding: 3px !important;"><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px !important;">Citizens for a Strong America - Refused</div></div></div></div>According to the Brennan Center for Justice, CSA spent over $836,000 on "issue ads" supporting Justice David Prosser's 2011 reelection campaign.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[5]</a> The ads, which were not disclosed to election authorities because they did not explicitly tell viewers how to vote, were in essence attacks against Prosser's opponent, Department of Justice Attorney JoAnne Kloppenburg.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[6]</a> Attacks against Kloppenburg included accusations that she refused to take down ads claiming she supported sexual abuse victims and that she <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/Buying%20Time%202011/STSUPCT_WI_C4STRONGAMER_COURTROOM_EXPERIENCE.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">lacked courtroom experience</a>. Another ad accused Kloppenburg of sending an 80 year old farmer to prison for refusing to plant native vegetation, which Politifact rated "pants on fire." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[7]</a>In 2013, the blog Cognitive Dissonance revealed an email from a Wisconsin resident Paul Behling to Scott Matejov, Assistant to the Governor and Deputy Chief of Staff for External Operations in the Walker administration. The email stated that Behling "needed to get very creative with diverse State and National organizations to help [Prosser's] campaign due to being financially capped at $300,000 and it was a non-partisan race without the benefit of normal political party help…" This revealed the underhanded methods by which dark money organizations donated to the Prosser campaign.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[8]</a><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Support for 2011 Senate Recall Campaigns</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); font-size: 12px; text-align: center; overflow: hidden; padding: 3px !important; width: 210px;"><div class="thumbcaption" style="text-align: left; border: none; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 11px; padding: 3px !important;"><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px !important;">Citizens for a Strong America Moore Ad</div></div></div></div>The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign estimates that CSA spent $1,700,000 during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[9]</a> This included attack ads against Democrats such as Shelly Moore, who was running in the 10th district against State Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls).<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-PR1-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[10]</a> WDC also reports that CSA sponsored a television ad in support of incumbent Republican Senator Alberta Darling of River Hills during her recall election.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[11]</a>In addition to television ads, CSA sponsored radio ads against two Assembly Democratic candidates. One ad was against candidate Maureen May-Grimm who ran against incumbent Howard Marklein in the 51st Assembly District. The ad accused her of supporting tax increases as a Mineral Point School Board member. The other ad criticized the Democratic Assembly candidate int he 49th District, Carol Beals who ran against incumbent Republican Travis Tranel. These ads ran about about a month before the fall 2012 elections.CSA also sponsored mailings attacking incumbent Democratic Senator Dave Hansen of Green Bay who ran against Republican challenger John Macco in the 30th Senate District, and Democratic Assembly candidate Justin Pluess who challenged incumbent Republican Scott Krug for his 72nd District seat.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[12]</a><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Funders</h2>Although Citizens for a Strong America does not reveal funders on its website, through tax filings it can be ascertained that CSA was entirely funded by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wisconsin_Club_for_Growth" title="Wisconsin Club for Growth" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Wisconsin Club for Growth</a>, which gave CSA $4,620,000 in 2011. This amounted to CSA's entire budget for 2011, the same year that it spent significant sums on the Supreme Court and Senate elections.The treasurer for Citizens for a Strong America is Valerie Johnson, wife of RJ Johnson, a top "advisor" to Wisconsin Club for Growth.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-Kohler-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a>CSA, in turn, provided the majority of funding for a third nonprofit that was active in the recall elections, and also shuffled money to two other groups.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Funding Recipients</h2>CSA transferred $235,000 to United Sportsmen of Wisconsin in 2011 (the first year the group was in existence). United Sportsmen became embroiled in scandal in 2013 after outgoing Assembly Majority leader Scott Suder cut a $500,000 taxpayer-funded "sweetheart deal" for the group, which Governor Walker rescinded after public outcry. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[13]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-Kohler-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[14]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-Franklin_Center_attacks_John_Doe-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[15]</a>United Sportsmen also "worked with Wisconsin Family Action and Americans for Prosperity on an operation during the 2011 recall races in which absentee ballot applications were sent with the incorrect date for elections." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-Franklin_Center_attacks_John_Doe-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[15]</a>Another group CSA supported was <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wisconsin_Family_Action&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wisconsin Family Action (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Wisconsin Family Action</a>, to which it gave $916,045 in 2011. CSA's funding was was over 90% of the $1,009,616 in grants that the anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage group received that year. In addition to its anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage campaigns, Wisconsin Family Action spent an estimated $850,000 on the Senate recall campaigns in 2011, and an additional undisclosed amount on the Prosser-Kloppenburg race.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-PR1-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[10]</a>CSA also gave $347,582 to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wisconsin_Right_to_Life&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wisconsin Right to Life (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none;">Wisconsin Right to Life</a> in 2011, a group that was the plaintiff in a high-profile 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down regulations on the so-called "issue ads" that many groups in this dark money network have engaged in.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-PR1-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[10]</a><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Operates Out of UPS Mailbox in Beaver Dam, Phone Located Hours Away</h2>The group's website has a street address, but in 2011 the Center for Media and Democracy discovered that the organization's listed address is a UPS box in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. PRWatch also contacted the phone number on the website and the voicemail was full, and contacted the phone number on the domain registration and reached Connors' home. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[16]</a> A local television news station, WFRV, found that the phone number on the website goes to a phone number located a couple of hours from Beaver Dam, but near the Wisconsin capitol in Middleton, Wisconsin.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[17]</a><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Successor to "Coalition for America's Families"</h2>CSA appears to be the successor to an earlier dark money group named the Coalition for America's Families, which had many of the same directors, including CSA Treasurer Valerie Johnson and was also supported by the Wisconsin Club for Growth.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-PR1-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[10]</a><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Board Members</h2>As of 2011:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[18]</a><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: square; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANCAMAAABW4lS6AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAAZQTFRFAFKM////QIUK9QAAAAJ0Uk5T/wDltzBKAAAAGklEQVR42mJgBAEGokgGBjBGBxBxsBqAAAMACHwALd5r8ygAAAAASUVORK5CYII=);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Jessika Stauffacher: Director</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Virginia Marchmann: Director</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">John Connors: President</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Valerie Johnson: Treasurer</li></ul><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Sourcewatch resources</h2><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: square; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANCAMAAABW4lS6AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAAZQTFRFAFKM////QIUK9QAAAAJ0Uk5T/wDltzBKAAAAGklEQVR42mJgBAEGokgGBjBGBxBxsBqAAAMACHwALd5r8ygAAAAASUVORK5CYII=);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Front_groups" title="Front groups" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Front groups</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Americans for Prosperity</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Koch" title="David Koch" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">David Koch</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tax_Day_Tea_Party" title="Tax Day Tea Party" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Tea Party Movement</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_T.Prosser,Jr." title="David T. Prosser, Jr." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">David T. Prosser, Jr.</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wisconsin_Club_for_Growth" title="Wisconsin Club for Growth" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Wisconsin Club for Growth</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=United_Sportsmen_of_Wisconsin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="United Sportsmen of Wisconsin (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United Sportsmen of Wisconsin</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Franklin_Center_for_Government_and_Public_Integrity" title="Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity</a></li></ul><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">External resources</h2><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">Contact</h2>Citizens for a Strong America
834 Park Avenue #306
Beaver Dam, WI 53916-2206

Phone: (608) 831-2974

Email: citizensforastrongamerica@gmail.com<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[19]</a><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px;">References</h2><ol class="references" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li id="cite_note-0" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Citizens for a Strong America <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://citizensforamerica.net/?page_id=4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">About</a>, organizational web page, accessed April 3, 2011.</li><li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Lisa Graves, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10534/group-called-citizens-strong-america-operates-out-ups-mail-drop-runs-expensive-ad" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Group Called "Citizens for a Strong America" Operates out of a UPS Mail Drop but Runs Expensive Ads in Supreme Court Race?</a>. PRWatch.org, April 2, 2011.</li><li id="cite_note-Kohler-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-Kohler_2-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-Kohler_2-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-Kohler_2-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3.2</a> Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12293/kohler-heir-walker-supporter-plunges-dark-money-depths" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Kohler Heir and Walker Backer Plumbs Dark Money Depths</a>, prwatch.org, Nov 5, 2013</li><li id="cite_note-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Madison Who's Who <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.madisonwhoswho.com/member_profile.php?id=73304&s=vip" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">VIP Member Biography, John W. Connors</a>, business listing, accessed April 4, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/judicial-public-financing-wisconsin-%E2%80%94-2011" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Buying Time 2011: Judicial Public Financing in Wisconsin</a>, Brennan Center for Justice, April 5, 2011.</li><li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Bill Leuders <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=32974" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">David Prosser waffles on vow to denounce dishonest ads in Wisconsin Supreme Court race</a>, The Isthmus, April 1, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/apr/01/citizens-strong-america/ad-says-joanne-kloppenburg-jailed-80-year-old-farm/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Ad says JoAnne Kloppenburg jailed an 80-year-old farmer for refusing to plant native vegetation on his farm</a>, Politifact.com, Mar 31, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Capper, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2013/11/son-of-doe-gunsmoke.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Son of Doe: Gunsmoke</a>, Cognitive Dissonance, Nov. 22, 2013</li><li id="cite_note-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Recall Race for Governor Cost $81 Million</a>, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Report, Jan 31, 2013</li><li id="cite_note-PR1-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-PR1_9-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">10.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-PR1_9-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">10.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-PR1_9-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">10.2</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-PR1_9-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">10.3</a> Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">WI Club for Growth, Target of Walker Recall Probe, at Center of Dark Money Web</a>, prwatch.org, Nov 18, 2013</li><li id="cite_note-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisdc.org/csa11.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Hijacking Special Elections and Recall 2011: Citizens For A Strong America</a>, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Report, Aug 5, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wisdc.org/index.php?module=cms&page=3554" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Hijacking Campaign 2012: Citizens for a Strong America</a>, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Report, Oct 22, 2012</li><li id="cite_note-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12224/wisconsin-prepares-hand-half-million-taxpayer-funds-koch-tied-gop-lobby-shop" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Wisconsin Prepares to Hand Half-Million in Taxpayer Funds to Koch-Tied GOP Lobby Shop</a>, PRwatch.org, Aug. 27, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Patrick Marley and Jason Stein, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/headlines/fishing-trip-underscores-close-ties-between-suder-united-sportsmen-b99108668z1-225745101.html#ixzz2nxozVwyO" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Fishing trip underscores close ties between Suder, United Sportsmen"</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 30, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-Franklin_Center_attacks_John_Doe-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-Franklin_Center_attacks_John_Doe_14-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">15.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-Franklin_Center_attacks_John_Doe_14-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">15.1</a> Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/12/12344/why-franklin-center-wisconsin-reporter-attacking-john-doe" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Why Is the Franklin Center's "Wisconsin Reporter" and "Watchdog.org" Attacking the John Doe?</a>, PRwatch.org, Dec. 19, 2013.</li><li id="cite_note-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Lisa Graves, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10534/group-called-citizens-strong-america-operates-out-ups-mail-drop-runs-expensive-ad" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Group Called "Citizens for a Strong America" Operates out of a UPS Mail Drop but Runs Expensive Ads in Supreme Court Race?</a> PRWatch.org, April 2, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> WFRV News (Channel 5) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/Ad-Wars-in-state-Supreme-Court-Race-119114464.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Ad Wars in state Supreme Court Race</a>, WFRV television news, April 2, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAE5JREFUeF5lykEKgDAMBdF/+17Es/QkiosiCBURXIzJooZohmweX6gwmkCeI+Oqc2C1FnvnF2ejlQYU0tLK2NjY6f/l8V12Ti7uhFFgDj19b58EwXuqkAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Form 990</a>, IRS Filing, 2011</li><li id="cite_note-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Strong_America#cite_ref-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">↑</a> Citizens for a Strong America <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://citizensforamerica.net/?page_id=4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Contact</a>, organizational web page, accessed April 3, 2011</li></ol></div><div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); padding: 5px; margin-top: 1em; clear: both; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Categories</a>: <ul style="line-height: 1.5em; 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line-height: 1.25; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="print-content" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div id="node-938785" class="node node-story view-mode-print clearfix" about="/tea-party-and-right/right-wing-front-group-poses-journalists-stop-campaign-finance-investigation" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" style="position: relative;"><div class="byline story">Center for Media and Democracy / By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/brendan-fischer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Brendan Fischer</a> [1]</div></div></div></h2><h1 property="dc:title" datatype="" class="node-title">Right-Wing Front Group Poses as Journalists to Attack Investigation Into Political Money Laundering</h1><h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.25; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="print-content" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><div class="node node-story view-mode-print clearfix" about="/tea-party-and-right/right-wing-front-group-poses-journalists-stop-campaign-finance-investigation" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" style="position: relative;"><div class="headline"><div class="the_body body_story clearfix"><div class="big_story_tools_bottom_container"><div class="authors_signup"><div class="story_tools_bottom"><div class="text-size"><div class="story_tools_email"><div class="story_tools_print"><div class="clear"> </div><div class="story-date">December 19, 2013  |  </div>The Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity (through its Wisconsin Reporter and <a href="http://watchdog.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Watchdog.org</a> [2] websites) has aggressively attacked the government’s "John Doe" probe into possible campaign finance violations during Wisconsin's 2011 and 2012 recall elections. Its media outlets have also published new information about the apparent targets of the investigation, but they have omitted an important detail: Franklin Center has close ties to individuals and groups that may be caught up in the John Doe probe.The only name associated with the investigation led by the Milwaukee County's District Attorney's office, Eric O'Keefe, helped launch the Franklin Center's operations in 2009, and his Sam Adams Alliance group <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/127152603.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">provided the majority</a> [3] of its startup budget. O'Keefe has <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304799404579155953286552832" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">spoken publicly</a> [4] about being subpoenaed in his capacity as director of Wisconsin Club for Growth. Franklin Center's <a href="http://franklincenterhq.org/about/staff/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Director of Special Projects</a> [5] John Connors, and the <a href="http://franklincenterhq.org/about/staff/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Executive Assistant to the President</a> [5] Claire Milbrandt, also have close ties to a group reportedly involved in the probe. Its former Director of Operations and General Counsel, James Skyles, worked with another group active in the Wisconsin recalls.Franklin Center's Wisconsin Reporter has written 16 stories so far that are highly critical of the anti-corruption probe and prosecutors (calling its series <a href="http://watchdog.org/series/wisconsins-secret-war/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"Wisconsin's Secret War"</a> [6]), but these latest revelations raise questions about whether the outfit has a conflict of interest in its coverage."It does sound like a conflict-of-interest situation that minimally ought to be disclosed, whenever stories are written," said Robert Drechsel, Director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism and Mass Communications. "Particularly if the reporting in question is being done by an entity that holds itself out as nonpartisan and as doing the same kind of journalistic work being done by any traditional journalism institution."Franklin Center Attacks John Doe, Citing Unnamed SourcesAfter Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/secret-probe-spreads-to-five-wisconsin-counties-b99124190z1-228569231.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">first reported on</a> [7] the new "John Doe" investigation -- a secret inquiry unique to Wisconsin that is "<a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/what-even-is-a-wisconsin-john-doe-investigation" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">just like a grand jury except no jury</a> [8]," led by special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, a former federal counterterrorism prosecutor with <a href="http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=54611" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Republican credentials</a> [9] -- interest was high, but thanks to the John Doe's strict secrecy rules, details were hard to come by.The Franklin Center/Wisconsin Reporter quickly filled the void.Wisconsin Reporter launched its "Wisconsin's Secret War" series in October, citing unnamed sources to <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jack_craver/wisconsin-reporter-says-new-john-doe-investigation-focused-on-conservative/article_b3c94a06-40b2-11e3-bda1-001a4bcf887a.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">reveal</a> [10] that Wisconsin Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity, and Republican Governors Association <a href="http://watchdog.org/113017/conservatives-wisconsin/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">had received subpoenas</a> [11], and describing details about "after-hours visits to homes and offices" and prosecutors' "demands for phone, email and other records." Thanks to those unnamed sources, Wisconsin Reporter had a new platform, and used it to recast the John Doe investigation as "an abuse of prosecutorial powers" with "the apparent goal of bringing down Gov. Scott Walker." The Walker campaign and 28 other groups also reportedly received subpoenas."This is a taxpayer-funded, opposition-research campaign," an anonymous source told the Wisconsin Reporter.Wisconsin Club for Growth soon became the most prominent name associated with the John Doe after its director, Eric O'Keefe, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304799404579155953286552832" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">told the Wall Street Journaleditorial board</a> [4] that he had been subpoenaed, with the investigation allegedly looking into what the Wall Street Journal called "illegal campaign coordination" between campaigns and independent groups. The group is also led by RJ Johnson, a top Walker advisor. CMD <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">uncovered</a> [12] how in 2011, O'Keefe's Wisconsin Club for Growth <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C90009945&cycle=2012" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">took in $12 million</a> [13], some of it from dark money conduits like the Koch-connected <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Center to Protect Patient Rights</a> [14] (CPPR) and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wellspring_Committee" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Wellspring Committee</a> [15], and in turn <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">shuffled millions</a> [12] to other organizations that spent money on ads during Wisconsin's Supreme Court race and recall elections. (CPPR, which is connected to the billionaire Koch brothers, was <a href="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/a-money-shuffle-to-avoid-donor-disclosure/552/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">recently fined $1 million</a> [16] by California's elections board for its role in what the Washington Post called "<a href="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/a-money-shuffle-to-avoid-donor-disclosure/552/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">a series of money swaps and transfers through a network of politically active nonprofit groups</a> [16]" to avoid donor disclosure. California prosecutors called it "campaign money laundering").All of the groups involved in Wisconsin Club for Growth's monetary transfers are "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_money" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">dark money</a> [17]" groups, a phrase which refers to election spending by nonprofits that exploit loopholes in campaign finance disclosure laws, and keep their donors secret by running "issue ads" designed to influence elections.Franklin Center's John Connors Directly Connected to Dark Money WebA central character in the Wisconsin Club for Growth dark money web is John Connors, the Franklin Center's "Director of Special Projects," who has close ties to many of the groups receiving funding from O'Keefe's Wisconsin Club for Growth. Some of those groups have reportedly been subpoenaed.In the wake of the Center for Media and Democracy's <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">reporting</a> [12] on money changing hands between O'Keefe's Wisconsin Club for Growth and groups tied to Connors, Franklin Center's <a href="http://watchdog.org/about/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Wisconsin Reporter</a> [18] quickly went on the offensive in a <a href="http://watchdog.org/117604/liberal-money-conservative/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">series</a> [19] of <a href="http://watchdog.org/118311/shouting-echo-chamber/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">articles</a> [20], making up <a href="http://watchdog.org/118639/dark-money-wisconsin/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">its own definition of "dark money"</a> [21] for an unfounded attack on CMD's credibility, and falsely claiming that CMD's reporting constituted the launch of a "national campaign" to "unseat the governor."None of the articles note Connors' ties to the Franklin Center/Wisconsin Reporter, <a href="http://watchdog.org/117604/liberal-money-conservative/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">even when attacking</a> [19] CMD's stories that address him by name.Here are some examples of those ties:<ul><li>Connors is president of Citizens for a Strong America, whose entire <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">$4.62 million budget</a> [22] in 2011 <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">came from Wisconsin Club for Growth</a> [22], and which spent <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/judicial-public-financing-wisconsin-%E2%80%94-2011" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">$836,000</a> [23] on ads (some of which included <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/apr/01/citizens-strong-america/ad-says-joanne-kloppenburg-jailed-80-year-old-farm/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">misleading</a> [24] claims) in support of Justice David Prosser during his 2011 Supreme Court race, and <a href="http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=127118328" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">additional undisclosed amounts</a> [25] on Senate recall races that year. The Treasurer of Citizens for a Strong America is Valerie Johnson, wife of R.J. Johnson, who is a top advisor to both Wisconsin Club for Growth and Governor Walker.</li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">90 percent</a> [12] of the <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_08_EO/83-0448717_990O_201112.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">grants received by</a> [26] Wisconsin Family Action in 2011 <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">came from Connors'</a><a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf"> Citizens for a Strong America</a> [22], which was entirely funded by Wisconsin Club for Growth. Wisconsin Family Action spent <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">an estimated $850,000</a> [27] on the Senate recall campaigns in 2011. Connors <a href="http://media.jsonline.com/documents/Martens+Letter_120511.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">acted as a consultant</a> [28] to Wisconsin Family Action during the election year and helped plan a scheme that resulted in a different <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/groups-accused-of-voter-bribery-cleared-by-das-investigation-953bdus-135147838.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">John Doe investigation</a> [29] into possible election bribery, which resulted in no charges. The <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304799404579155953286552832" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Wall Street Journal</a> [4] reports that Wisconsin Family Action has received a subpoena in the latest John Doe probe.</li></ul><ul><li>Connors <a href="http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2011/04/koch-brothers-heavy-hand-behind-anti.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">registered</a> [30] the web domain for United Sportsmen of Wisconsin, a group that <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12224/wisconsin-prepares-hand-half-million-taxpayer-funds-koch-tied-gop-lobby-shop" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">worked with</a> [31] Wisconsin Family Action and Americans for Prosperity on an operation during the 2011 recall races in which absentee ballot applications were sent with the incorrect date for elections. Connors' Citizens for a Strong America <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">transferred $236,000</a> [22] to United Sportsmen in 2011. The United Sportsmen group was <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/221667081.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">embroiled in scandal</a> [32] earlier this year after outgoing Assembly Majority leader Scott Suder <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12224/wisconsin-prepares-hand-half-million-taxpayer-funds-koch-tied-gop-lobby-shop" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">cut a $500,000</a> [31] taxpayer-funded "sweetheart deal" for the group, which Governor Walker <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/fishing-trip-underscores-close-ties-between-suder-united-sportsmen-b99108668z1-225745101.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">rescinded</a> [33] after public outcry.</li></ul>A review of Franklin Center's tax filings shows that it has paid $235,157 to Connors' Milwaukee-based consulting firm, J Connors & Co, over the past two years ($114,930 <a href="http://franklincenterhq.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/990-2012-Franklin-Center.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">in 2012</a>[34] and $119,227 <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/26-4066298_990_201112.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">in 2011</a> [35]). A close Connors associate, Claire Milbrant, who has worked at J Connors & Co since its founding in 2009, was also hired by the Franklin Center last month as its Executive Assistant to the President.In addition to being the Franklin Center's "Director of Special Projects" -- part of its "leadership team," <a href="http://franklincenterhq.org/about/staff/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">according to the organization's website</a> [5] – Connors <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10534/group-called-citizens-strong-america-operates-out-ups-mail-drop-runs-expensive-ad" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">registered</a> [36] Wisconsin Reporter's "<a href="http://watchdog.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Watchdog.org</a> [2]" web domain.Franklin Center/Wisconsin Reporter has <a href="http://watchdog.org/117604/liberal-money-conservative/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">attacked CMD's reporting</a> [19] about Connors' groups but has failed to mention that one of its directors is directly tied to those organizations.CMD's calls to John Connors for comment have not been returned.Club for Growth's Eric O'Keefe Helped Launch and Fund Franklin CenterMike McCabe, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, cautioned that the public still doesn't actually know what the John Doe investigation is about: we only know what Franklin Center has reported, and what Eric O'Keefe, the Wisconsin Club for Growth chair, told the Wall Street Journal editorial board."Its no accident that he went to Murdoch's newspaper, and no accident that it ran as an editorial [in the Wall Street Journal] rather than a news story," said McCabe, whose nonpartisan, nonprofit group tracks election spending in Wisconsin.On Wisconsin Club for Growth's last published IRS Form 990, O'Keefe was listed as one of just three board members who spend hundreds of hours a year leading and guiding that group, whose budget increased twelve-fold in 2011 while Scott Walker was facing a potential recall election and also grew in the 2012 election year.O'Keefe ties to the Franklin Center run deep. He was the CEO and chairman of the Sam Adams Alliance, which in 2009 launched and funded the Franklin Center. According to an O'Keefe <a href="http://www.libertyguide.com/resources/9-how-understanding-politics-helps-in-policy/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">bio from last year:</a> [37] "Under his leadership, the Sam Adams Alliance (SAM) has established some of the most active and respected organizations in the freedom movement, including American Majority and the Franklin Center." Whether he continues to fund or direct funds to Franklin Center is unknown.O'Keefe's Sam Adams Alliance, whose president was the former executive director of the Illinois State Republican party, <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/the-group-em-behind-em-the-group-behind-that-sketchy-wisconsin-poll?ref=fpa" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">acted as</a> [38] the Franklin Center's "sponsoring organization" until the group obtained its 501(c)(3) status, <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/the-group-em-behind-em-the-group-behind-that-sketchy-wisconsin-poll?ref=fpa" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">according to its communications director</a> [38]. According to the <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/127152603.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> [3], much of the $2.9 million Franklin Center raised in its first year came from the Sam Adams Alliance. (The other group that O'Keefe boasts of creating in his bio, American Majority, was established to recruit and train Tea Party political candidates, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/192810837409217/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">held a rally</a> [39] in support of Governor Walker during the height of the 2011 protests featuring Andrew Breitbart and others.)Franklin's President, Jason Stverak, previously worked as Regional Field Director for O'Keefe's Sam Adams Alliance, after leading the South Dakota Republican Party for six years. Their allies speak of O'Keefe and Stverak in the same breath. For example, in the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=XpB5w-rpUq4C&pg=PT251&lpg=PT251&dq=Jason+Stverak+and+Eric+o'keefe&source=bl&ots=amTAoCkq9l&sig=tYkGFrMHYYP_k8REbk82x7tCV9k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3QGpUtvFJ8XuyQGc9IGQBA&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Jason%20Stverak%20and%20Eric%20o'keefe&f=false" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">acknowledgement section</a> [40] of James O'Keefe's book, the undercover videographer whose heavily-edited videos helped bring down ACORN (and who is not related to Eric O'Keefe) thanks "Eric O'Keefe and Jason Stverak for their role in the citizen journalism movement."In only <a href="http://watchdog.org/116566/conservative-john-doe-democrats/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">one</a> [41] of the sixteen articles Franklin Center/Wisconsin Reporter has written on the John Doe have they touched on O'Keefe's ties to Franklin Center.  "The public has to be very wary of taking for granted what is being reported by the Wall Street Journal and Wisconsin Reporter," McCabe said. "O'Keefe and others have decided that is who they want reporting on John Doe, they've decided what to leak, and how they want it framed, and what they want the public to believe what the investigation is about," he said, while prosecutors and judges are gagged by the John Doe's secrecy order.Ties to the "Coalition for American Values"Franklin Center also has connections to another mysterious organization active during the Wisconsin recalls called "Coalition for American Values." That group dropped <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">$400,080</a>[27] on a flood of ads in the final weeks before Governor Walker's recall election, and attracted significant attention by making a unique appeal: instead of promoting Walker or attacking his opponent, the ads attacked the premise of the recall itself. The ads depicted individuals who claimed they would vote for Walker not necessarily because they support his policies, but because they opposed the use of recall under these circumstances.These ads, coupled with similar messaging from Governor Walker, proved effective. Exit polls on June 5, 2012 showed that sixty percent of voters thought recalls were only appropriate for cases of official misconduct -- a complete reversal from polls conducted in November 2011, just as the recall was launched.The address Coalition for American Values lists on its <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/cfav_gab_registration.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">filings with Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board</a> [42], and on its associated PAC's filings with the <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/581/13964021581/13964021581.pdf#navpanes=0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Federal Election Commission</a> [43], is 119 S Emerson St #231 in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. This is also the address given for Coalition for American Values' lawyer, James Skyles, who was <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/skyles_linkedin.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">General Counsel and the Director of Operations for the Franklin Center</a> [44] until March 2011.The "treasurer" listed on Coalition for American Values' FEC filings and the contact on its filings with Wisconsin's election board is Brent Downs. In 2008, when Connors chaired the Marquette College Republicans, <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/connorsdowns.doc" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Downs was his treasurer</a> [45]. Both were both students at Marquette University at the same time, and Downs, like Connors, also <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/downs_website.png" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">chaired the Students for Prosperity</a> [46] chapter of David Koch's Americans for Prosperity at Marquette University.In its FEC filings, the Coalition for American Values <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/581/13964021581/13964021581.pdf#navpanes=0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">reports</a> [43] <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/452/12954430452/12954430452.pdf#navpanes=0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">tens of thousands</a> [47] of <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/138/12961466138/12961466138.pdf#navpanes=0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">dollars</a> [48] of <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/824/12951655824/12951655824.pdf#navpanes=0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">payments</a> [49] <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/614/13940509614/13940509614.pdf#navpanes=0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">to</a> [50] Connors' Campaign Now! consulting and direct mail firm (which he has run out of the same office as J Connors & Co, along with Claire Milbrant).The Coalition for American Values explicitly called for the reelection of Governor Walker, so the group reported its spending, but it did not report the true origin of its funds. Wisconsin law requires that nonprofits or corporations disclose the source of all contributions "made for" the purpose of funding their ads -- but Coalition for American Values sidestepped those rules by claiming that the $400,080 was not specifically provided to the group for the ads, despite there being few other reasons that a donor would have given the group hundreds of thousands of dollars.Franklin Center Takes Bull by HornsThe Franklin Center/Wisconsin Reporter has led the charge against the John Doe investigation, the prosecutors involved, and even reporters covering the topic. Professor <a href="https://comm.stanford.edu/faculty-glasser/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Theodore L. Glasser</a> [51], a Professor of Communications at Stanford University, told CMD that at a minimum, a news outfit should disclose their connections to the subjects they are reporting on. "For the reader, without that transparency, it is hard to make a judgment about the independence of that reporting," he said.  "Not to say that the conflict [of interest] would go away with transparency, but it would at least allow readers to judge for themselves." </div><div class="tags">See more stories tagged with:<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/wisconsin-recall-elections" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Wisconsin recall elections</a> [52],</div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/wisconsin-dark-money-groups" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">wisconsin dark money groups</a> [53],</div><div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/wisconsin-john-doe-investigation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">wisconsin john doe investigation</a> [54],</div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/franklin-center" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">franklin center</a> [55],</div><div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/center-media-and-democracy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Center for Media and Democracy</a> [56]</div></div></div></div><div class="comment_button"><div class="print-footer" style="text-align: center; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><hr class="print-hr" style="border: 0px; height: 1px; width: 1238px; color: rgb(158, 158, 158); background-color: rgb(158, 158, 158); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" /><div class="print-source_url" style="font-size: small; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Source URL: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/right-wing-front-group-poses-journalists-stop-campaign-finance-investigation" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/right-wing-front-group-poses-journalists-stop-campaign-finance-investigation</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></h2><h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.25; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">==</h2><h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.25; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wisconsin Donors Also Operate in Dark Money Realm</h2>

For example, in 2011, the most recent year tax filings are available, Wisconsin Club for Growth received<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/697107-wmc-issues-mobilization-2011.html" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;"> $988,000</a> from the “action” wing of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state chapter of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/nonprof_contrib.php?id=262046485" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars</a> from Wellspring Committee in recent years. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce was a major Walker supporter that directly spent<a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">$4.7 million </a>on the Wisconsin recalls.

Like Wisconsin Club for Growth, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has been named as part of the John Doe probe, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Other known donors to Wisconsin Club for Growth include <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/816354-wisconsin-homeowners-alliance-990-2011.html#document/p21/a130768" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$1.06 million</a> from the Wisconsin Homeowners Alliance,<a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2013_08_EO/39-0714210_990O_201212.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$227,500</a> from the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance, a trade association for the insurance industry, and <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_10_EO/04-3699820_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$140,000</a> from the builder’s association the Building Industries Council. These known donations still only amount to a fraction of the <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/11-3723921_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$12.5 million</a> Wisconsin Club for Growth raised in 2011.

<h2 style=" border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.25; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Club for Growth Bankrolls Citizens for a Strong America</h2>

In 2011, Wisconsin Club for Growth effectively provided the entire operating budget for “Citizens for a Strong America,” a mysterious group that was also active in Wisconsin’s 2011 and 2012 elections. Club for Growth gave an astounding<a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/11-3723921_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$4,620,000 </a>to the group in 2011.

Citizens for a Strong America <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">spent millions on ads</a> influencing Wisconsin elections and also funnelled money to other groups, which in turn spent the money on political activity in the state.

The treasurer for Citizens for a Strong America is Valerie Johnson, R.J. Johnson’s wife. As CMD recently <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12293/kohler-heir-walker-supporter-plunges-dark-money-depths" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">uncovered</a>, Citizens for a Strong America appears to be the successor to an earlier dark money group named the Coalition for America’s Families, with some of the same directors (including Valerie Johnson), and which also was bankrolled by Wisconsin Club for Growth contributions. Wisconsin industrialist Terry Kohler, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.php?capcode=wxysh&name=kohler,%20terry&state=WI&zip=&employ=&cand=" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">a top donor</a> to Republicans in the state and nationally, was once referenced as a "<a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/31982744.html" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">driving force</a>" behind Coalition for America's Families, and has also funded Wisconsin Club for Growth.

Citizens for a Strong America seemed to appear out of nowhere in early 2011, when it <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/judicial-public-financing-wisconsin-%E2%80%94-2011" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">became one of the top spenders</a> on the high-profile <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/politics/campaign-ad-2012-sponsored-by-citizens-for-a-strong-america/2012/02/24/gIQAAUyOYR_video.html" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">2011 Supreme Court race</a>, attracting national attention from the likes of <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42478740/ns/msnbc-rachel_maddow_show/t/rachel-maddow-show-wednesday-april-th/" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">Rachel Maddow</a> and others. (CMD uncovered that the group’s director was John Connors, an Americans for Prosperity staffer, who registered the group’s web domain as an address in the same building as Americans for Prosperity.) The group went on to spend money<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tOkEaIuGjE" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">supporting Republican Senators</a> facing recall, in some cases <a href="http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=127118328" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">in tandem</a> with Club for Growth.

<h2 style=" border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.25; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Citizens for a Strong America Bankrolled Wisconsin Family Action</h2>

<p style=" border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Citizens for a Strong America, which was bankrolled almost entirely by Wisconsin Club for Growth cash, in turn<a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;"> funnelled $916,045</a> to Wisconsin Family Action in 2011, which was over 90 percent of the <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_08_EO/83-0448717_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$1,009,616 in grants</a> that the anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage group received that year.

The group spent <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">an estimated $850,000</a> on the Senate recall campaigns that year, and an additional undisclosed amount on the Prosser-Kloppenburg race.

Wisconsin Family Action has also been named in the John Doe probe by the Wall Street Journal.

<h2 style=" border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.25; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Citizens for a Strong America Also Funded United Sportsmen</h2>

<p style=" border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(74, 74, 74); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The dark money daisy chain doesn’t end there. Citizens for a Strong America -- using the funds provided by Wisconsin Club for Growth --<a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/27-1204594_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;"> transferred $235,000</a> to the group “United Sportsmen of Wisconsin” in 2011, the first year that United Sportsmen was in existence.

United Sportsmen was the subject of controversy earlier this year, when it was revealed that outgoing Assembly Majority leader Scott Suder (a former ALEC State Chair) <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/08/12224/wisconsin-prepares-hand-half-million-taxpayer-funds-koch-tied-gop-lobby-shop" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">slipped a half-million dollar, renewable grant</a> into the Wisconsin budget that was later called a “sweetheart deal” for the group. Kohler, the Republican donor, <a href="http://media.jrn.com/documents/Kohler+letter.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">personally reached</a> out to lawmakers on the budget committee and urged their support for the grant.

The organization had no record conducting the outdoors training that the grant was purportedly intended to promote, but it did have close ties to Suder and other Republican leaders; its board included Luke Hilgemann, Suder's former Chief of Staff, who is now #2 at the national office of David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity. As details of the “sweetheart deal” emerged, the Walker administration was finalizing its hiring of Suder for a political appointment that would have nearly doubled his pay. But as the grant grew increasingly controversial -- and with his sights set on higher office -- Walker<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/09/12235/scott-walker-backs-down-rescinds-500000-grant" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">intervened at the last minute and killed the grant</a>, and Suder declined the position and took a job as a lobbyist.

Citizens for a Strong America also gave $347,582 to Wisconsin Right to Life in 2011, a group that was the plaintiff in a high-profile 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down regulations on the so-called “issue ads” that many groups in this dark money network have engaged in.

Club for Growth Wisconsin gave a group called the “Jobs First Coalition” <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_12_EO/11-3723921_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$425,000</a>  in 2011, which amounted to nearly half of the <a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_07_EO/27-0755923_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$927,860</a> that the Coalition raised that year. (The Jobs First Coalition also gave Club for Growth Wisconsin $75,000, which would appear to be a reimbursement).

The Jobs First Coalition formed in 2009 and has close ties to disgraced former Assembly Majority Leader Scott Jensen, who was the ALEC state chair as a legislator. Jensen is now the top lobbyist at the school privatization group American Federation for Children, a group <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/162613/right-wing-billionaires-invest-wisconsins-recall-elections-save-school-privatization-age" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">organized and funded</a> by Amway heirs Dick and Betsy DeVos (who also gave Walker $250,000 during his recall election). Jensen <a href="http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2009/10/26/new-model-legislation-available-policymakers" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">represents the organization</a> on the ALEC Education Task Force and has<a href="http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7BFB3C17E2-CDD1-4DF6-92BE-BD4429893665%7D/education_35daymailing_stfs11_updated%20Ohio.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">brought AFC bills to ALEC</a> for adoption as "model" legislation.

Here is where the web gets even more tangled.

After receiving $425,000 from Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2011, the Jobs First Coalition<a href="https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_07_EO/27-0755923_990O_201112.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;"> transferred $245,000</a> that same year to Jensen’s other group, the American Federation for Children.

In the 2012 gubernatorial recall race, American Federation for Children was one of Governor Scott Walker's top PAC supporters, reporting <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr072512.php" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">$1.1 million</a> in expenditures on his behalf. They also reported spending $1.3 million helping GOP Senators facing recall in 2011. It is not known whether additional spending was not disclosed.

Earlier this year, AFC<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12101/issue-ad-charade-american-federation-children-uncovered-wisconsin" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;"> came under fire </a>for inadvertently exposing its “issue ad” dark money charade. AFC told Wisconsin's elections board it spent only $345,000 on state legislative races in 2012, claiming that most of its spending was “issue advocacy” rather than “electioneering” and need not be disclosed. But in a <a href="http://media.jsonline.com/documents/ASC1290_FINAL_3.25.13UPDATED.pdf" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 119, 187) !important; text-decoration: none;">document</a> titled "2012 Election Impact Report" AFC boasted to its funders that it spent $2.4 million in Wisconsin helping elect nine pro-privatization legislators to office -- exposing the issue ad charade for the ruse that it really is.

Citizens for a Strong America

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