cits sound gov't
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no links wapo</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Groups funded by secret donors buffeted two dozen House races in 2014</b></font></font></font></font></div><div> </div><div>Rep. Joseph J. Heck (R-Nev.) gives his victory speech this month after defeating Democrat Erin Bilbray to keep his seat in Congress. (John Locher/AP)</div><div>By Matea Gold November 28, 2014 </div><div>
</div><div>Last June, Scott Renfroe, a Colorado state senator running in a crowded GOP congressional primary, was hit with a slashing attack ad that accused him of supporting “taxpayer-funded bailouts” for a failed local bank.</div><div>
</div><div>“Not conservative,” declared the ad run by a Denver-based nonprofit group called <b>Citizens for a Sound Government.</b> The spot hit two weeks before the primary, which Renfroe lost by 20 points.</div><div>
</div><div>The innocuous-sounding group was among a wave of organizations funded by secret donors that set a new high-water mark in the 2014 midterms, spending more than $170 million on congressional races, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.</div><div>
</div><div>And as the Renfroe case suggests, they were not focused only on expensive, high-profile Senate contests. Secret-money groups had a major presence in more than two dozen House races as well, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance data compiled by the CRP.</div><div>
</div><div>In 13 House races, non-disclosing groups spent at least $1 million on political ads and voter outreach. In an additional 17 House campaigns, they made up more than half of the spending by independent groups.</div><div>
</div><div>Secret-money groups had a major presence in the 2014 midterm election. </div><div>
</div><div>VIEW GRAPHIC </div><div>The money spent by these “dark money” groups heavily favored Republicans, but a large chunk was also spent by liberal groups such as Patriot Majority and VoteVets.org.</div><div>
</div><div>The overall reach of groups financed by unknown donors was much bigger; the analysis includes only campaign expenditures reported to the Federal Election Commission. Several hundred million dollars more that were not disclosed publicly were estimated to have been spent by tax-exempt groups on “issue ads,” data gathering and voter outreach.</div><div>
</div><div>“People are sick of it,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a critic of secret money in campaigns who is slated to chair the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee next year.</div><div>
</div><div>Tester introduced a bill this month that would require nonprofits that report campaign-related spending to disclose any donors who give them at least $5,000 in a year. The legislation faces an uphill climb; Republicans who will control both chambers of Congress next year have been hostile to such measures.</div><div>
</div><div>“The voters deserve to know who is trying to influence our elections,” Tester said. “They’re not doing it for no reason. I think they’re expecting a policy decision.”</div><div>
</div><div>Conservatives who defend keeping donors’ names private said the right of anonymous speech is essential, noting that Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) spent much of this year publicly assailing the billionaires Charles and David Koch for their political activities.</div><div>
</div><div>“Increasingly, politicians in Washington want to shut down debate and silence those that disagree with them,” said James Davis, a spokesman for the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a tax-exempt group backed by the Kochs and other big donors on the right.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Much of the secret money injected into House campaigns this year was spent by well-known nonprofit advocacy groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association and the League of Conservation Voters, which have taken advantage of a Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to spend money directly on politics.</span></div><div>
</div><div>But in the 2014 midterms, a slew of new groups powered by unknown financiers cropped up in down-ballot races. Some were set up as super PACs that must reveal their donors but that reported getting money only from non-disclosing nonprofits — leaving questions about who is ultimately financing their activities.</div><div>
</div><div>One such entity, the Hometown Freedom Action Network, a super PAC based in Ohio, ran $123,000 worth of mobile ads supporting Don Ytterberg, a Republican who mounted an unsuccessful challenge against Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D) in Colorado. The group is funded solely by two Ohio nonprofits, A Public Voice and the Government Integrity Fund.</div><div>
</div><div>The Government Integrity Fund — run by Tom Norris, an Ohio lobbyist for the concrete industry — drew headlines in 2012 when it financed heavy attacks against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in Ohio.</div><div>
</div><div>This year, the tax-exempt organization expanded its reach, pouring money into four super PACs that supported GOP Senate candidates in Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota and Nebraska, as well as House campaigns in Arizona, Colorado and New York, according to FEC filings.</div><div>
</div><div>Norris did not respond to requests for comment.</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Groups funded by unknown donors have expanded their political engagement as federal regulators have taken a hands-off approach to scrutinizing their activities.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A politically divided six-member FEC has deadlocked on major disclosure cases involving nonprofits. The agency faces new pressure to tighten its rules after a federal judge on Tuesday threw out an FEC disclosure regulation, declaring it too narrow.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the Internal Revenue Service, which oversees tax-exempt groups, officials are undergoing an extensive reassessment of how they judge political activities by nonprofits in the wake of revelations that the agency improperly targeted certain groups for investigation.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Groups funded by secret donors, meanwhile, are becoming political mainstays.</span></div><div>
</div><div>One prime example was the hotly contested Nevada congressional race this year between incumbent Republican Joseph J. Heck and unsuccessful Democratic challenger Erin Bilbray, where $1.8 million was spent by independent groups. Of that amount, 69 percent came from non-disclosing organizations such as the National Association of Realtors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One of the most robust secret-money groups in 2014 was the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, a tax-exempt organization that spent more than $13 million boosting Senate Minority Leader Mitch<b> McConnell</b> (R), including $7.5 million for ads directly advocating for his reelection.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Scott Jennings, an adviser to the group, said in a statement that it “engaged in limited political activity, but the organization’s mission and expenditures are geared toward the broader policy environment as it relates to the well-being of Kentuckians.”</div><div>
</div><div>That argument was rejected by Melanie Sloan, executive director of the liberal-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed an IRS complaint Monday charging that the Kentucky organization functioned for the private benefit a single politician, a violation of tax law.</div><div>
</div><div>“It matters so much, because we have no idea what politicians are doing for that money,” said Sloan, who predicted that every presidential candidate in 2016 will be boosted by a secret-money group.</div><div>
</div><div>Officials who ran some of the major non-disclosing groups this year maintained that they helped contribute to a robust public dialogue.</div><div>
</div><div>“Healthy debate fosters the competition of ideas in a favorable way, and I think that’s good for democracy,” said <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Alan Philp, president of Citizens for a Sound Government and a former Republican National Committee staffer.</span></div><div>
</div><div>The nonprofit, which Philp formed in 2011 with two other GOP operatives, reported just $10,000 in income during its first year of existence, according to tax forms. This year, the group poured more than $45,000 into defeating Renfroe in the House race in Colorado and put more than $1 million into gubernatorial races in Connecticut and Nebraska. The organization also got involved in the Senate race in Alaska and a House race in Arizona, Philp said.</div><div>
</div><div>“We seek to engage the citizenry in a discussion and debate over issues and candidates across the country,” he said. “Our task is far more than just political races.”</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>For his part, Renfroe said he does not have any idea who financed the ad slamming his conservative credentials.</div><div>
</div><div>“There are a lot of groups out there that have nice-sounding names, and you don’t know who is behind some of them,” said the state senator, who blamed the flow of money to independent groups on the strict limits on donations to candidates. “It gives power to the outside groups in a much bigger way.”</div><div>
</div><div>Does it bother him that the outfit that attacked him did not have to reveal its backers?</div><div>
</div><div>“People can express their free speech — that’s the way our process is set up,” Renfroe said. “And I don’t see where you’re going to change the system anytime soon.”</div><div>
</div><div>Alice Crites contributed to this report.</div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/09/22/15671/citizens-sound-government</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bruning attack ads</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WASHINGTON — Independent groups that don’t disclose their donors have put nearly $1 million behind campaign ads for Senate banking committee chairman Richard Shelby, who faces upstart conservative John McConnell and three other challengers in Alabama.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.citizensforasoundgovernment.org/" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">Citizens for a Sound Government</a>, a Colorado-based social welfare nonprofit, is the lead group backing Shelby. </span>The conservative group has spent more than $400,000 on its own to fund ads for Shelby and contributed another $400,000 to fund <a href="https://www.citizensuperpac.com/" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">Citizen Super PAC</a>‘s pro-Shelby ads. In addition, <a href="http://onenationpac.org/" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">One Nation</a>, a nonprofit connected to a former aide of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has spent $140,000 on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxhLfTGLqzM" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">radio ads</a> to support the five-term senator.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/citizens-united-anniversary-six-years_us_56a118b8e4b076aadcc581d9" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">Citizens United decision</a> opened the door to unlimited corporate, union and individual spending on elections, the amount of untraceable money supporting political campaigns has soared.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While super PACs must disclose their donors, nonprofits like Citizens for a Sound Government do not. Usually, they direct this undisclosed dark money toward the most competitive races — but, as Shelby’s campaign shows, unknown donors are supporting even relatively safe incumbents.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The problem with dead-end disclosure situations is we have no idea who is behind it and no way to find out,” said Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the campaign finance watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s not clear who’s funding the pro-Shelby ads, but <a href="http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2015_07_EO/45-0924894_990O_201412.pdf" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">tax forms</a> show that Citizens for a Sound Government is connected to Republican party insiders working to influence government policy.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citizens for a Sound Government was created in 2011 by Gentry Collins, James Anderson and Alan Philp, founders of the “grassroots” lobbying firm <a href="http://www.cappublicaffairs.com/about/" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">CAP Public Affairs</a>. All three are also former Republican National Committee staffers.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CAP Public Affairs helps its clients promote topics they care about by encouraging ordinary citizens to reach out to lawmakers about them. This practice of manufacturing grassroots support for an issue is also known as “astroturfing,” and it’s not mandatory to disclose the groups behind it. CAP Public Affairs’ only publicly disclosed client is <a href="http://www.fara.gov/docs/6124-Registration-Statement-20120807-1.pdf" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">the government of Angola</a>, which the firm worked for in 2012.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2014, Citizens for a Sound Government paid CAP Public Affairs — in other words, its own founders — nearly $500,000 to cover project management fees.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Philp is still the president of Citizens for a Sound Government, but in 2013, Jeff Burton and Reeves Barbour replaced Collins and Anderson as board members.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Barbour is a lobbyist for Crest Investment Company, a private equity firm with global energy holdings. He’s also the son of Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and super-lobbyist.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Burton runs a political consulting firm called Prevail Strategies. In 2014, Burton’s Prevail Strategies received nearly $150,000 from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America trade group to support Republican candidates in the midterm elections.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citizens for a Sound Government has also been active in past elections. In 2014, the nonprofit group spent $1.3 million on “research” and “education” related to the Nebraska gubernatorial campaign. Some of this money went toward so-called “issue ads” promoting Republican Pete Ricketts’ successful gubernatorial race and attacking his primary campaign opponent, Jon Bruning. The group also funneled $685,000 to a super PAC supporting Connecticut Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley, who lost that election.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Just last year, Citizens for a Sound Government spent more than $200,000 on TV ads to support Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Hal Heiner, a Republican, and gave $200,000 to a super PAC supporting him. Heiner lost the Republican primary race to Matt Bevin.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citizen Super PAC, which received $400,000 from Citizens for a Sound Government, is a for-hire group with no clear objective except to provide a super PAC shell for donors to fund ads without their names on them. </font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Established as a <a href="http://adage.com/article/campaign-trail/gop-super-pac-kickstarter-political-ads/298791/" target="blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">crowd-sourced super PAC</a> to fund election ads — along the lines of Kickstarter or GoFundMe — the group features <a href="https://www.citizensuperpac.com/projects" target="_blank" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entry_text="entry_text" lnid="lnid" citation="citation" mpid="mpid" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(46, 112, 97);">three pro-Shelby projects</a> on its website that have all been fully funded.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Due to the mercenary nature of Citizen Super PAC, it’s unclear whether its other donors are funding ads to support Shelby or other candidates. A super PAC called New Generation PAC donated nearly $130,000 to Citizen Super PAC on Jan. 20 before closing up shop. New Generation had received $100,000 from the coal company Murray Energy Corporation and a couple of five-figure donations from California-based Ramat Medical and S&F Management Company.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All of this spending to support Shelby shows just how hard it is to determine who is helping to elect powerful politicians.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; line-height: 27px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" roboto="Roboto" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citizens for a Sound Government did not respond to a request for comment.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2015 state races, outside $:</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Learn more about six other national groups playing in the 2015 races:</font></p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Republican Attorneys General Association</strong>,</span> a national organization looking to fill every attorney general seat with a Republican, spent $1.1 million on ads in Kentucky’s race. Its major donors over the past 13 years include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, businessman Sheldon Adelson and the conservative Judicial Crisis Network. Democratic corporate attorney Andy Beshear beat out Republican Whitney Westerfield, despite the group’s support.</font></li></ul><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Republican State Leadership Committee</strong>, a tax-exempt group looking to fill state-level offices with Republicans, spent an estimated $988,000 on ads about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court race, losing all three races to Democrats. Its top donors include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the conservative legal group American Justice Partnership and tobacco company Reynolds American.</font></li></ul><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Public Integrity Alliance</strong>, a nonprofit that can keep its donors hidden, entered the attorneys general races in Louisiana and Mississippi, spending an estimated $213,000 combined airing<b> TV ads targeting Republican Buddy Caldwell</b> and Democrat Jim Hood. Caldwell lost his race, while Hood won. This group based in Arizona played in the 2014 Arizona attorney general primary and expanded its efforts after unnamed activists asked for help, according to its president, Tyler Montague.</font></li></ul><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Center for Individual Freedom</strong> spent more than $748,000 on ads attacking<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell during his fight to hold his position. Caldwell lost to former U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry </span>in an all-Republican runoff. Tobacco executives formed the Virginia-based nonprofit more than 15 years ago to combat government smoking restrictions. The nonprofit, which does not need to disclose its donors, has generally backed conservative candidates across the country, airing ads in the 2014 contests for Arkansas attorney general and Michigan Supreme Court.</font></li></ul><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Humane Society Legislative Fund</strong>, the lobbying arm of the animal rights protection group, supported Vitter</span> in the Louisiana governor’s race by buying an estimated $116,000 worth of ads.</font></li></ul><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Bluegrass Action Fund</strong> backed unsuccessful Republican Hal Heiner for the Kentucky </span>governorship, spending an estimated $233,000 on campaign ads. About a third of its donations came from the nonprofit <b>Citizens for a Sound Government based in Lakewood, Colorado, which does not disclose its donors. Its chairman is Alan Philp, the COO of Aegis Strategic, a group funded by David and Charles Koch.</b></font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>=</b></font></li></ul><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><b>=</b></span></font></div></div></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><b>http://conservativetransparency.org/org/aegis-strategic-aegis-pac/</b></span></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><b>
</b></span></font></div><div><div class="page-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border-bottom: 3px solid rgb(230, 230, 230); line-height: 20px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aegis Strategic & Aegis PAC</font></h3><ul class="list-unstyled list-inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; list-style: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px; margin-right: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><span class="fa fa-map-marker" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transform: translate(0px, 0px);" /> Location:</strong><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Arlington,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> VA</span></font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px; margin-right: 10px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="fa fa-dollar" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transform: translate(0px, 0px);" /> Tax-Exempt Status:</strong> For-Profit</li><li class="mar-e-15" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 10px; display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="fa fa-globe" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; transform: translate(0px, 0px);" /> Website:</strong> <a href="http://aegis-strategic.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">http://aegis-strategic.com/</a></li></ul></div><div class="org-blurb" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 20px;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aegis Strategic</font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">Aegis PAC </span><a href="https://aegispac.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">was</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> “a project of Aegis Strategic, whose mission is to help establish America as a country of freedom and opportunity for all citizens by identifying and working to elect principled leader committed to promoting a free and prosperous America.” </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Aegis Groups were “founded with the blessing” of the <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/individual/koch-brothers/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Koch brothers’</a> political advisers, according to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Politico</a>. Aegis’s staff was almost entirely composed of former and current employees of the Koch network, and according to the Politico article, “its consulting contract with <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/freedom-partners/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Freedom Partners</a> provides most of its revenue.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mother Jones <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/koch-brothers-candidate-training-recruiting-aegis-strategic" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">speculated</a> that the impetus for the creation of Aegis Strategic emerged from a Freedom Partners donor summit, where a major “topic of conversation was <b>‘candidate recruitment and training’</b>… A little over a month later, corporate records show, Aegis Strategic was officially incorporated in Delaware.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aegis Strategic reportedly <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/koch-brothers-candidate-training-recruiting-aegis-strategic" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">planned</a> “to handpick local, state, and federal candidates who share the Kochs’ free-market, limited-government agenda, and groom them to win elections.” In terms of those candidates, Aegis <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">confirmed</a> to Politico that it would target Republican incumbents, saying “we do look for opportunities and we relish opportunities to find unprincipled incumbents who aren’t adhering to free-market principles who could be challenged and who we could replace with a better vote.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The candidates that Aegis identifies supposedly <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/koch-brothers-candidate-training-recruiting-aegis-strategic" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">would have</a> “access to the Kochs’ formidable donor network.” Aegis president Jeff Crank “<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">acknowledged</a> that some candidates seek out his firm” specifically because of its ties to the Koch network. And this decision pays off for those candidates – Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">detailed</a> how Crank moderated a panel at a Koch conference in 2014 featuring GOP Senate hopefuls Joni Ernst, Tom Cotton, and Cory Gardner to discuss how “third party groups in the network” were making “a big difference” in their campaigns. The three candidates then each <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">collected</a> more than $60,000 from a joint fundraising committee, <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/388/14978077388/14978077388.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">Victory Trust 2014</a>, set up by Aegis for the conference.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">Mother Jones <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/koch-brothers-candidate-training-recruiting-aegis-strategic" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">argues</a> that Aegis “comes across as an effort by the Koch brothers’ allies to bring in-house the business of campaigns</b><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">. On its website, Aegis bills itself as a one-stop shop… offering candidates such services as opposition research, fundraising, direct mail, TV/radio/cable advertisements, phone banking, data management, and social media.” It’s apparent that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Aegis also sets up “dark money” groups to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">support</a> its clients – <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/trees-of-liberty" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Trees of Liberty</a> to boost Joni Ernst’s bid for Senate, and Citizens for a Sound Government to help Hal Heiner’s bid for Kentucky Governor are two known examples. In both those instances, the groups ran negative advertisements against fellow Republicans.</span></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aegis PAC</font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">Aegis PAC, meanwhile was a project to funnel grassroots fundraising money to Aegis Strategic’s preferred candidates. As the AegisPAC website </span><a href="https://aegispac.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">states</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">, “Not all Republicans are worth electing and not all races are competitive.” A donation form by Aegis PAC reveals that “contributions made through AegisPAC will be transmitted directly to the designated candidates for federal and state offices.” For the 2016 cycle, those candidates </span><a href="https://twitter.com/regan_page/status/662656292293603329" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">included</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> Koch-favorite Sens. </span><a href="http://realkochfacts.com/ed-board-slams-toomey-for-siding-with-the-kochs-over-pennsylvania/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">Patrick Toomey</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/BridgeProject21/status/662717408721801216" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">Ron Johnson</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">. AegisPAC also</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> <a href="https://aegispac.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">supported</a> Pam Tucker (whom it was <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">aggressively recruiting</a> to run for embattled GOP Rep. Frank Guinta’s seat, including flying her to DC to meet with the Kochs’ <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/mercatus-center/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Mercatus Center</a>, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">per Politico) John Faso, Jim Banks, Lee Zeldin and Don Bacon for the House of Representatives; Greg Gianforte and Bill Cole in governors’ races; and Josh Hawley for Missouri State Attorney General.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Aegis Strategic president Jeff Crank was formerly the Chief Operating Officer for <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/americans-for-prosperity-americans-for-prosperity-foundation/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">Americans for Prosperity</a></b><a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/americans-for-prosperity-americans-for-prosperity-foundation/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;"> and Americans for Prosperity Foundation</a>. Aegis’s COO was Alan Philp, and while, unlike most other Aegis Staffers, his bio mentions no Koch ties, Philp has an extensive history of heading Koch-backed organizations, including leading <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/03/27/pacs-james-comer-hal-heiner-set-go-kentucky-governors-race/70557638/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">two</a> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/politics/campaign-spending-kentucky-governor/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">groups</a> supporting Hal Heiner’s failed gubernatorial bid in Kentucky. Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">confirmed</a> that Aegis was active in setting up at least one of those groups. In the early 90’s, <b>Philp was an adjunct scholar at the <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/mackinac-center-for-public-policy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;">Mackinac Center</a>,</b> a <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/state-policy-network/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">State Policy Network</a> member.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Aegis’s lead strategist, Karl Crow, co-founded i360, the Kochs’ for-profit data operation, after graduating from the Koch Associate Program and working for the <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/charles-g-koch-charitable-foundation/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation</a>,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> where he focused on “how political advocates for economic freedom are identified, trained and promoted,” foreshadowing his work at Aegis. Crow </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/the-kochs-vs-the-gop-215672" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">created</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"> </span><a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/trees-of-liberty" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">Trees of Liberty</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">, a dark money 501(c)4 non-profit which attacked Sen. Joni Ernst’s GOP primary rivals and which shares an address with Aegis, according to Politico.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">Brad Stevens, Aegis’ Director of Candidate Identification, previously worked as a state director for Americans for Prosperity, and was a National Advisory Committee Member. Joe Burgan, who works on Candidate Identification as well, was Hal Heiner’s campaign manager when he ran for mayor, prior to the Kochs failed attempt to boost his gubernatorial campaign. Aegis’s Political Analyst, Aaron Greenberg, previously worked as an assistant to the Vice President for the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/leadership-institute/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Leadership Institute</a>. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">And Director of Development Tommy von der Heydt “also serves as the Deputy Director of Member Relations for </span><a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/org/freedom-partners/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; background-color: transparent;">Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce</a><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">” and previously worked as a senior development officer at AFP.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><b>==</b></span></font></div>