clf congressional leadership fund
=<div><b>disambig/ bak see main</b></div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>2018 fuckery:</div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Conservative PAC releases document on Spanberger teaching at Saudi-funded school</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Patrick Wilson Aug 28, 2018 </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A conservative super PAC provided news media with a document Tuesday showing that Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee in the 7th U.S. Congressional District, years ago taught at a Saudi-funded school in Northern Virginia that later had to defend itself after a former valedictorian was charged with joining al-Qaida.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Spanberger, a former CIA officer, successfully completed the agency’s background check after she had taught at the school in late 2002 and 2003.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Spanberger campaign said it believes the Congressional Leadership Fund PAC obtained an unredacted national security questionnaire illegally. A consultant for the PAC, which is linked to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the records were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“I am not aware of any legal way that CLF could have this document,” Spanberger, a former CIA officer challenging Rep. Dave Brat, R-7th, wrote in a letter to the PAC on Tuesday. She demanded that the PAC destroy the unredacted records and agree not to share them.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The PAC issued a news release attacking Spanberger for working at a school, the Islamic Saudi Academy, that later fended off controversy. The news release noted that in 2005, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a release calling for a probe of the school.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“It should surprise no one that Ms. Spanberger would want to hide from voters that she worked at a school that produced some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists,”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> CLF spokeswoman Courtney Alexander s</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">aid in the PAC’s news release Tuesday.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Spanberger said she was a substitute teacher at the prep school between the time that she earned a master’s in business administration and took her job as a federal postal inspector. She said she filled in for a teacher who was out on maternity leave, and noted that she also worked at a restaurant while waiting for a federal job.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“It is just disappointing that a political party is so desperate to win a seat that they will try to create controversy when there is none,” she said.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Congressional Leadership Fund sent reporters a letter dated July 9 from</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> America Rising Corporation</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, a Republican research firm, to the National Personnel Records Center making a FOIA request for Spanberger’s official civilian personnel file.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to CLF, the National Personnel Records Center forwarded the request to the U.S. Postal Service, which responded by providing the personnel file on July 30.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Alexander, the PAC spokeswoman, and Brian Walsh, a consultant working with Congressional Leadership Fund, </b>did not immediately provide further records when asked for any further documentation related to the FOIA request, but Walsh made note of a postal service tracking number.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The 7th District race is a key contest in a national effort by Democrats to try to flip the House to Democratic control.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Brat is seeking a third term and is facing an energetic challenge from the Spanberger team, which dispatched a well-funded Democratic primary rival in June. Spanberger’s campaign hopes a strong showing in the increasingly Democratic suburbs of Henrico and Chesterfield counties — fueled further by the unpopularity of President Donald Trump in Virginia — will help lead to a win in a district Republicans have held since 1971.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A conservative super PAC provided news media with a document Tuesday showing that Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee in the 7th U.S. Congressional District, years ago taught at a Saudi-funded school in Northern Virginia that later had to defend itself after a former valedictorian was charged with joining al-Qaida.</font></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Dave Brat Abigail Spanberger Saudi Arabia Attack Islamic Saudi Academy Spanberger Politics Institutes Pac</div><div>
</div><div>PatrickWilson</div><div>Patrick Wilson</div><div>pwilson@timesdispatch.com; (804) 649-6061; Twitter: @patrickmwilson</div><div>
</div><div>Related to this story</div><div>U.S. Postal Service looking into how Spanberger's records were released</div><div>
</div><div>A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service said the agency is looking into how an unredacted security questionnaire filled out years ago by congr…</div><div>
</div><div>Postal Service says 'human error' to blame for inappropriate release of Spanberger records</div><div>
</div><div>The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that accidental “human error” led to the inappropriate release of federal records on Abigail Spanberger,…</div><div>
</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div>
</div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 7 22</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Republican candidates and lawmakers are <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/07/20/republican-democrats-fundraising-midterms-campaigns" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">facing great challenges</a> in the areas of campaign fundraising. A new analysis is explaining how they are being out-fundraised by their Democratic counterparts. According to Axios' Lachlan Markay, the biggest financial difference centers on grassroots contributions.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lachlan explained the bigger picture writing, "Inflation, Trump-induced donor fatigue, and other factors are impacting the GOP grassroots<b>, prompting Republican candidates to rely more heavily on high-dollar donors."</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, while the average Republican candidate is facing challenges securing small-dollar donations, Lachlan noted the one Republican who isn't having that problem. He noted that former President Donald Trump is "seeing huge small-dollar fundraising success" and "has hoovered up more than $60 million from under-$200 donors this cycle."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/arizona-gop-candidates/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Far-right Arizona GOP candidates are bringing in big bucks ahead of the primary election</a></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But, unfortunately for the Republican Party, Trump's massive haul isn't much of a benefit for the political party, collectively. Adding to that, he still isn't an official political candidate for any upcoming election. According to the report, only one Republican lawmaker is having substantial success with small-dollar donations: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.)</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">So what's holding the Republican Party's campaign fundraising together? "High-dollar donors,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" according to Lachlan, are still their driving force.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The GOP's high-dollar donors are keeping the money race competitive," he wrote. "And Republicans' national party committees are <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3561623-gop-senate-campaign-arm-announces-record-173-million-raised-so-far-this-cycle/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">breaking fundraising records</a>."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He noted, "Super PACs backing candidates such as Ohio's J.D. Vance and Arizona's Blake Masters are making up for some fundraising shortfalls. Others, such as Pennsylvania's Mehmet Oz, are pouring millions into their own campaigns."</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/billionaires-gop-congress/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Just 27 billionaires have spent $90 million to buy GOP congress: report</a></font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><b>top Republican super PACs are "the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund" </b>as they are "both out-raising their Democratic counterparts by substantial margins."</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lachlan concluded, "The GOP's fundraising problems — in addition to the elevation of flawed or extreme candidates — are contributing to fears of a Senate debacle in what should be a favorable political environment for Republicans."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/peter-thiel-2656675170/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Report: this billionaire MAGA donor favors ‘hard-right candidates’ who traffic in wild ‘conspiracy theories’</strong></a></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">2018 midterms</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/dark-money">https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/dark-money</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx graph</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div><b>Dark money’ groups funneled millions to powerful <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">super PACs</span> during 2018 midterms</b></div><div>By Karl Evers-Hillstrom</div><div>January 3, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>(AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)</div><div>
</div><div>Even in the most expensive midterm election cycle ever, outside spending reported by “dark money” 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) nonprofits was surprisingly sparse, falling to $126 million from $161 million in 2014.</div><div>
</div><div>Don’t let that fool you. Rather than spend it themselves, dark money groups instead chose to funnel their funds through super PACs, with which they are often closely linked or directly connected.</div><div>
</div><div>Groups that do not disclose their donors and shell corporations gave more than $176 million to super PACs and outside spending hybrid PACs during the 2018 election cycle, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.</div><div>
</div><div>The surge in dark money giving came as super PACs spent nearly $818 million in the 2018 elections, a monumental increase from the $345 million they spent in the previous midterm cycle.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The top outside spending super PAC this cycle, <b>Congressional Leadership Fund, </b>also got the most dark money, receiving more than $26 million from the closely-linked American Action Network. The same officials run the two conservative groups and share a Washington, D.C. office.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Similarly, conservative dark money group<b> One Nation </b>gave more than $18.5 million to the neighboring Senate Leadership Fund, with which it shares an office and president.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Democrat-aligned Senate Majority PAC, the second-largest outside spending group this cycle, got $6.8 million from dark money sources, including $4.5 million from the Greater New York Hospital Association, a trade association that does not disclose its donors. The super PAC also took in $1.4 million from the closely-tied Majority Forward, by far the top dark money spender this cycle.</span></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Looking beyond the biggest political players, several super PACs directly connected with political nonprofits got significant funds, if not all their money, from the corresponding non-disclosing nonprofit.</div><div>
</div><div>One prominent example of this is<b> Democrat-supporting Environment America Action Fund,</b> which got pretty much all of its money from dark money sources and more than $14 million from its own subsidiaries.</div><div>
</div><div>Even super PACs supporting single candidates get in on the dark money action. Hometown Freedom Action Network, a single-candidate super PAC supporting Tommy Pope — a Republican who lost the primary in South Carolina’s 5th District race — got nearly all of its $3.4 million from<b> Citizens for A Working America, </b>a non-disclosing group.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Change Now PAC emerged as a large spender seemingly out of nowhere,</b> shelling out $7.9 million to aid House Democrats despite popping up a few months before the election. The group took nearly $3 million from dark money group Sixteen Thirty Fund and another $1.8 million from partially-disclosing groups, which include fellow super PACs that accept dark money.</div><div>
</div><div><b>In total, 33 super PACs and hybrid PACs received more than $1 million from dark money sources.</b></div><div>
</div><div>These groups are allowed to spend unlimited sums on advertisements and other literature supporting or opposing candidates. Super PACs must disclose their donors, but large givers can shield their identities by contributing to dark money nonprofits that funnel the funds to super PACs. Those super PACs then identify the respective dark money group as the donor.</div><div>
</div><div>“It is clear that any long-term solution to the dark money problem will require addressing transfers between groups,” said Tyler Cole, legislative director at Issue One, a cross-partisan Washington, D.C. group that aims to reduce the influence of big money on politics. “Real disclosure requires identifying what individual donors are behind the groups that spend millions to influence American elections.”</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It’s possible dark money’s influence is greater than CRP’s numbers convey, as super PACs also accept funds from fellow partially-disclosing groups — groups that take money from dark money sources. Contributions from these groups could be dark money, but it’s nearly impossible to tell.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Additionally, dark money groups have been known to spend funds on issue advocacy advertisements that they do not register with the FEC.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Though not considered dark money in CRP data, <b>“Pop-up PACs” are a new kind of strategy to dodge donor disclosure. These super PACs waited until Oct. 18 to spend for or against candidates, allowing them to hide their donors until after election day.</b></span></div><div>
</div><div>“The American public is fed up with our broken political system and their anger is starting to boil over,” Cole said. “Political consultants and dark money groups know this, but they are still not willing to engage in meaningful disclosure.”</div></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">2016</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Adelson</strong><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"> – Estimated worth: $30.4 billion. Contributions (with wife Miriam) since 1989: $190.4 million</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sheldon and Miriam Adelson spent $82.5 million last cycle, coming in at No. 2 after opening the spigots late in the election season to douse GOP outside groups with cash: the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00504530&cycle=2016" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Congressional</a> and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00571703&cycle=2016" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Senate Leadership Funds</a>, pro-Trump super PAC <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00574533&cycle=2016" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Future45</a></span> and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00580381&cycle=2016" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Granite State Solutions</a>, which worked against Democrat Maggie Hassan’s bid to win a New Hampshire Senate seat. The casino magnate couple topped our list in 2012, donating $93.2 million to Republicans and super PACs like <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00490045&cycle=2012" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Restore Our Future</a> ($15 million), which was devoted to helping elect Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">list</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.legistorm.com/score/viewPressRelease/id/6884.html">https://www.legistorm.com/score/viewPressRelease/id/6884.html</a></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/11/13173/fracking-special-interests-spent-big-2016-elections</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Corporations that profit from fracking funneled millions to PACs for "independent expenditures" in the 2016 election cycle,</b> according to Federal Election Commission filings.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For example, the fracking giant Devon Energy gave $500,000 to the "<b>Congressional Leadership Fund," a Super PAC</b> "exclusively dedicated to protecting and strengthening the Republican Majority in the House of Representatives</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">." Devon is notorious for helping to bankroll the fight against citizens in Denton, Texas, who won a bid to ban fracking in 2014 . The Denton ban passed with 59% of the vote, but Texas state legislators and members of the American Legislative Exchange Council nullified that local initiative and </span><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/11/12668/alec-and-big-oil-work-overturn-denton-fracking-ban" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">pre-empted</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Devon spent $195,000 in disclosed spending in the local battle and has spent an untold sum to influence the results local and in the state capitol.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Another corporation with a big interest in fracking gave an additional $500,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund. That half million dollar donation came from Hushang Ansary, the Chairman of Stewart & Stevenson, a manufacturer and distributor of well-stimulation equipment</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> like fracking blenders, fracking pumps, and chemical additive units.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Fracking special interests also gave at least $3.35 million to the "Senate Leadership Fund,"</b> a Super PAC with "one goal: to protect and expand the Republican Senate Majority." That sum includes $250,000 from Continental Resources, a self-described "leader" in fracking and a $250,000 check from Hushang Ansary, the Chairman of Stewart & Stevenson.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The outside spending equivalents that support Democrats--the House Majority PAC and Senate Majority PAC--received no comparable reported donations from the fracking industry.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fracking companies also gave overwhelmingly to the GOP through corporate PACs that include donations from executives and other employees.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For example, according to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Open Secrets</a>, the Devon Energy PAC directly contributed $263,625 this election cycle to 44 federal candidates</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, 43 of whom were Republican. Continental Resources' PAC gave $118,400 to 31 federal candidates, 27 of whom were Republican. Meanwhile, global oil corporations like ExxonMobil, which now invests significantly in fracking, gave $1,555,000 to candidates, with 90% going to Republicans.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the 115<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span> Congress convenes in January 2017, fracking interests will be well-positioned to<em> play</em> with federal legislation after spending so much to help Members of Congress elected. The Republican Party is firmly in the hands of fossil fuel interests including the fracking industry.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(There is no reported figure for how much such corporations spent on groups that are registered as 501(c)(4) non-profit organizations that do not disclose donors and which have grown dramatically since the <em>Citizens United</em> decision. Unlike Super PACs, so-called social welfare organizations like Karl Rove's "One Nation" do not disclose their donors but sometimes play an influential role in the elections. It is not known how much money they may have received from fracking interests but they have received such funding in the past, according to the limited information available.)</font></p><h2 style="line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fracking Interests Buy the States</font></h2><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The fracking industry also played big in 2016 in state elections, particularly in states that have shale gas formations and tight oil deposits.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Pennsylvania, where the bulk of the Marcellus Shale formation lies, fracking interests <a href="http://www.exposedbycmd.org/wp-admin/followthemoney.org" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">contributed</a> at least $700,000 this election cycle. Amongst those interests was <b>Chesapeake Energy, </b>a company that spent $111,800 this cycle. Its former CEO, Aubrey McClendon, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224543/http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-29/news/29717481_1_corbett-campaign-tom-corbett-marcellus-shale" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">once wrote</a> a contribution check to then-Governor Corbett that "arguably changed not just the history but also the political direction of the state."</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The second largest overall spender in state's 2016 elections was the Senate Republican Campaign Committee of PA. State filings show the committee was financially supported by Consol Energy, Range Resources, Southwestern Energy Company, and Marathon Petroleum Corporation, all of whom are major players in the fracking industry.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In North Dakota, the home of the Bakken Formation, fracking interests like <b>Continental Resources </b><a href="http://followthemoney.org/election-overview?s=ND&y=2016" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">contributed</a> roughly $100,000, a significant amount in a small state.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Texas, a state with colossal shale gas and shale oil reserves, fracking interests <a href="http://followthemoney.org/election-overview?s=TX&y=2016" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">contributed</a> $1.22 million, with all the usual suspects writing checks: Devon Energy, Chesapeake, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Exxon.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These numbers are by no means a final tally. There are simply too many campaign spending vehicles to account for, from the "dark money" groups to national organizations like the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) that funnel corporate money into state races.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The RSLC, for example, received at least $200,000 from Devon Energy, $201,000 from Marathon Petroleum, and $150,000 from <b>Noble Energy</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">–all of whom operate fracking wells–yet state campaign finance filings only show the Republican State Leadership Committee's name when the committee makes a disbursement, if the name is mentioned at all.</span></font></p><h2 style="line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fracking Interests Fight Democracy</font></h2><div class="clearfix" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There is a reason why fracking special interests sometimes hide their election activities: the fracking process is so intrusive and damaging, it is leading to popular revolt through local democratic initiatives by Americans affected by the process.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Communities that have been fracked are torn apart – physically, metaphorically, ideologically–in a process that shakes them to their core.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although it is particularly salient with fracking, this "popular revolt" phenomenon extends to a host of public policy issues. Repressive workplace conditions, hazardous levels of gun violence, and the unjust deportation of migrant workers have led many municipalities to democratically take action by raising the minimum wage, establishing gun safety measures, and enacting sanctuary city policies.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Local governments can right these wrongs, and can ban invasive and harmful practices like fracking, which is why local democracy is seen by corporate interests as a threat. As CMD has <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/02/13029/2016-ALEC-local-control" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">documented</a>, ALEC corporations, including fracking operators, have worked through ALEC and state legislatures to try to supplant local democracy and preempt/prevent cities from regulating corporate activities.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>ALEC legislators who are members of the GOP have spearheaded state efforts to preempt local democracy.</b> November 8<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span>'s election results will likely worsen the situation. The GOP did not just win Washington D.C. on election night; thanks in part to a deluge of corporate-funded outside spending, the party made gains in statehouses across the country.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As a result, half of all U.S. states will be under Republican trifectas in 2017, with GOP control of governorships and both houses of state legislatures (including the unicameral Nebraska).</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, in Iowa, a state that just elected a GOP trifecta to office, local <a href="http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2014Research/140130-fracsand-xs.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">bans</a> on fracking sand mining operations could be targeted for preempting by ALEC state lawmakers. The Democrats lost majority control of the state senate in November.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet not all legislative bodies are willing to preempt local democracy, which is why, as CMD<a href="http://prwatch.org/news/2016/11/13167/oil-gas-industry-spends-big-harder-amend-colorado-constitution" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> documented</a>, after a flurry of anti-fracking measures nearly missed being placed on the November ballot in Colorado, fossil fuel interests funded Amendment 71, a ballot initiative designed to make it harder for Coloradans to petition their government and amend the state Constitution.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Amendment 71's primary financial support came from the "Protecting Colorado's Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence" PAC, which received $5.38 million from <b>Noble Energy,</b> a fracking operator <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/fracking-company-violations-IP.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">responsible</a> for 358 oil spills between 2009 and 2011, the most of any oil company operating in the state. It received an additional $6.7 million from Anadarko Petroleum, a fracking company that <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/anadarko-anoints-brand-ambassadors-to-fight-off-drilling-bans" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">spent</a> 2016 sending "brand ambassadors" to high schools to speak on the benefits of fracking.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the end, Amendment 71–a ballot initiative which on its face dealt only with governing process and not energy policy–passed with 55% of the vote after the fracking industry poured millions into the campaign.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Which is why Amendment 71 serves as a perfect symbol of the 2016 elections. As Michael Klare <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175523/michael_klare_a_new_energy_third_world" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">predicted</a>, in order to frack the nation, Big Oil must first buy it.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Klare has detailed what he calls the fossil fuel-funded <em>"third-worldification"</em> of the United States.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Klare warned that the "resource curse" theory, which had been used by academics to describe the political conditions of far-off locales like Nigeria, was coming home to the U.S. with the fracking revolution, and that as a consequence, "the rights and wellbeing of local citizens will be trampled underfoot."</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That political transition would not, however, be self-enacting. Klare proposed that to succeed, "Big Oil will have to overcome a host of regulatory and environmental obstacles. It will, in other words, have to use its version of deep-pocket persuasion to convert the United States into the functional equivalent of a Third World petro-state."</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 2016 election was a concrete example of how, as Klare predicted, fracking interests have invested in the state in order to minimize it.</font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Has American democracy been bought by the frackers? Maybe. At the least, fracking interests appear to be renting it for 2017, and with the prospect of Trump in the White House it remains to be seen what national parks or other resources the regularly bankrupt businessman will seek to sell off to a fracking industry intent on currying favor with him.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div></div><div></div>