Freedom Path

<h1 class="title-news">Freedom Path, Group Supporting Orrin Hatch, Makes Exaggeration In New Ad</h1>

Posted: 04/12/2012 6:31 pm

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The Following post first appeared on <a href="http://factcheck.org/" target="_hplink">FactCheck.org</a>.

A group supporting Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch claims in a TV ad that a Republican challenger “voted to allow state employees to double dip, collecting a pension and a pay check.” That’s a gross exaggeration. Hatch’s opponent, former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, actually authored a bill in the state Senate to ban double dipping.

The ad’s claim is based on the fact that the bill later was amended to allow the practice to continue on a smaller, more restricted scale. Liljenquist voted for the modified legislation, which became law — saving taxpayers as much as $10.5 million over time.

The ad also claims that Liljenquist voted to exempt himself and others from public records requests. That’s true as far as it goes. But the ad fails to mention that Liljenquist later voted to repeal the law.

<center>Double Spinning</center>

Freedom Path, the group behind the claim, displays in its ad the words, “Liljenquist voted to allow state employees to double dip, collecting a pension and a pay check,” while a narrator makes the same point with slightly different language. The ad fails to tell the whole story, which involves Liljenquist actually leading the charge to change Utah’s pension system and end double dipping. A little background: The economic downturn of the late 2000s resulted in a <a href="http://le.utah.gov/audit/09_17rpt.pdf" target="hplink">$6.5 billion shortfall</a> (see page 3) in Utah’s state employee retirement system. A legislative audit in 2009 found that rehired retirees working full time could cost the state <a href="http://le.utah.gov/audit/09_17rpt.pdf" target="hplink">$897 million</a> (see page i) over the next 10 years. As a state senator, Liljenquist authored legislation to lessen Utah’s long-term contributions to retirement funds and to ban double dipping.

During the legislative process, Liljenquist’s <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2010/bills/sbillint/sb0043.htm" target="hplink">original bill</a> (see line 23) to ban double dipping <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2010/bills/sbillenr/sb0043.htm" target="hplink">was amended</a> (see lines 364 to 416) to allow the practice to continue on a smaller, more restricted scale. Retired state workers could return to work and still collect a pension after waiting one year. But those employees had <a href="http://le.utah.gov/lrgc/2010keyretirementbills.pdf" target="hplink">two choices</a>: They could receive pension payments without any additional credit to their retirement, or they could delay pension payments while earning more credit. The legislation also <a href="http://le.utah.gov/lrgc/2010keyretirementbills.pdf" target="hplink">eliminated</a> an expensive <a href="http://le.utah.gov/audit/09_17rpt.pdf" target="_hplink">perk</a> (see page ii) that returning retirees were receiving: The state was required to contribute to employees’ personal 401(k) plans using the same rate the employees received before retirement, which matched as much as 39 percent of their salary.

The final legislation, which Liljenquist <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2010/status/sbillsta/sb0043s3.003s.txt" target="hplink">supported</a>, became law. A <a href="http://le.utah.gov/lfa/fnotes/2010/sb0043s03.fn.htm" target="hplink">legislative analysis</a> projected that the new law could save the state as much as $10.5 million in the long run. Liljenquist’s efforts won <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576080260001386474.html" target="hplink">praise</a> from the Wall Street Journal and Governing Magazine, which <a href="http://www.governing.com/poy/dan-liljenquist.html" target="hplink">named him</a> one of its Public Officials of the Year in 2011. One of Freedom Path’s <a href="http://www.freedom-path.org/ads/" target="_hplink">glossy mailers</a> (using a photo of an ice cream cone) similarly misleads. But in fine print, the mailer at least acknowledges that Liljenquist introduced a bill to end double dipping before supporting the final legislation.

<center>Half the Record</center>

The TV ad also claims that “Liljenquist voted to exempt himself and other politicians from many public records requests.” That’s true as far as it goes, but there’s more to the story. Following public outcry, the state senator backtracked and voted to repeal the measure. The <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2011/bills/hbillenr/hb0477.htm" target="hplink">law</a> would’ve exempted from public records requests various communications within state government, such as voice mails and text messages as well as the financial information of potential government appointees. Liljenquist joined many of his colleagues in <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2011/status/hbillsta/hb0477.002s.txt" target="hplink">voting</a> for the measure. Then, in the following days and weeks, he and other lawmakers <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51484431-76/repeal-senate-session-special.html.csp" target="hplink">called</a> for its repeal before successfully <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2011S1/bills/static/HB1001.html" target="hplink">voting</a> to do so.

We have no quibbles with the ad’s claim that Liljenquist missed 24 percent of votes in the state Senate in 2011 — a <a href="http://utahdatapoints.com/2011/06/which-legislators-miss-the-most-votes/" target="hplink">calculation</a> provided by <a href="http://utahdatapoints.com/2010/11/a-new-blog/" target="hplink">Utah Data Points</a>, a nonpartisan blog created by an assistant political science professor at Brigham Young University. But we do take issue with Liljenquist’s <a href="http://www.danforutah.com/issues/just-the-facts/" target="hplink">explanation</a> on his campaign website for missing so many votes. He refers to a Utah Data Points <a href="http://utahdatapoints.com/2011/06/why-do-legislators-skip-votes/" target="hplink">analysis</a> that found legislative leaders missed more votes than non-leaders. But Liljenquist held no leadership position <a href="http://le.utah.gov/%7E2011/journal/s0001.pdf" target="_hplink">during 2011</a> (see pages 9 and 10). Even so, Liljenquist missed nearly twice as many votes as the average leader.

Freedom Path vs. FreedomWorks

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<a href="http://www.freedom-path.org/" target="hplink">Freedom Path</a> is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, issue-advocacy organization. It can raise unlimited amounts of money and does not have to disclose its donors. The pro-Hatch group is not to be confused with <a href="http://www.freedomworksforamerica.org/" target="hplink">FreedomWorks for America</a>, another 501(c)(4) group that <a href="http://www.freedomworksforamerica.org/candidate/dan-liljenquist" target="hplink">supports</a> Liljenquist and other tea party-aligned candidates. The group produced its own misleading ads against Hatch, which we <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2012/03/tea-partys-targets/" target="hplink">fact-checked</a> in March.

Liljenquist may have a shot at ruining the six-term senator’s plan to secure the Republican nomination for Senate before Utah’s June primary. Hatch must win <a href="http://utgop.org/inner.asp?z=5E5F5759" target="hplink">60 percent</a> of the delegate votes at the state Republican convention on April 21 to bypass the primary. But a <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile/53868338-68/percent-hatch-poll-pac.html.csp" target="hplink">recent poll</a> indicated the senator may lack the support he needs. If he fails, Hatch will face off in the primary against the candidate with the second largest amount of delegate votes, which likely would be Liljenquist.

Based in Salt Lake City, <a href="http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/305/12970856305/12970856305.pdf#navpanes=0" target="hplink">Freedom Path</a> includes on its board Nevada lobbyist <a href="http://www.sbstrategic.com/about/" target="hplink">J. Scott Bensing</a>, a former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former chief of staff to Nevada Sen. John Ensign. So far <a href="http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C90012832" target="hplink">this year</a>, the group has spent <a href="http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/589/12950853589/12950853589.pdf#navpanes=0" target="hplink">$300,000</a> on TV ads and mailers, which have supported Hatch as well as Mitt Romney and Utah Sen. Mike Lee while attacking Liljenquist and other Hatch rivals. Bensing also is the <a href="http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/562/12030711562/12030711562.pdf#navpanes=0" target="hplink">treasurer</a> for Freedom Path Action Network, a sister super PAC, which had $2 in cash on hand and owed $500 to a Dallas law firm in January, according to a <a href="http://images.nictusa.com/pdf/426/12950336426/12950336426.pdf#navpanes=0" target="hplink">year-end report</a> filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Freedom Path is planning more campaigns in Nevada, Texas and a few other states during this election cycle, according to <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_28/Hatch-Gets-Air-Cover-From-Utah-Nonprofit-208682-1.html" target="_hplink">Roll Call</a>. The group provided us with a list of citations for the claims made in the ad attacking Liljenquist, but it failed to return calls or emails seeking further comment.

— Ben Finley

Footnote: We learned of Freedom Path’s ad through an intern in the Liljenquist campaign who asked that we withhold his name. We welcome tips and leads from anyone — even those connected to campaigns. But the reporting is our own. We still make our own judgments and apply the same standards of fairness and accuracy. We encourage readers to submit claims to the <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/spindetectors/" target="_hplink">Spin Detectors</a> website, through which we ask our readers to help us monitor political claims and campaigns across the country.

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=<div class="main-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden clearfix" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 1280px;"><div class="field-item even first" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="body-copy-inner" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 410px 0px 250px; border: 0px; width: 1280px;">hen six-term GOP incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah faced the prospect of a mutiny from conservative activists, his allies within the pharmaceutical industry stepped in to help defend him.New documents obtained by the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Center for Public Integrity</a> show that the drug lobby’s main trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), gave $750,000 in 2011 to Freedom Path, a nonprofit group that spent big to help Hatch win another term.Despite his solid <a href="http://conservative.org/news/american-conservative-union-pac-endorses-orrin-hatch-for-u-s-senate/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">conservative credentials</a>, Hatch drew a primary challenge from former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist in the 2012 election. Hatch out-fundraised the challenger by an 11-1 margin, but Liljenquist was helped by super PAC <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/03/07/8350/pac-profile-freedomworks-america" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">FreedomWorks for America</a>, which reported spending nearly $1 million on anti-Hatch ads.Filings with the Federal Election Commission indicate that Freedom Path spent at least $517,000 on ads designed to help Hatch’s electoral prospects, though Freedom Path board member Scott Bensing said the group’s spending was closer to $1 million.The drug lobby’s donation was revealed on PhRMA’s newly filed Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service, which covers the 2011 calendar year. Since the donation went to a nonprofit, it was not required to be reported to the Federal Election Commission.PhRMA made contributions to several other politically linked nonprofits, including:<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">$500,000 to “Montana Growth,” which appears to be a group that produced fliers and radio ads supporting a conservative candidate for the state Supreme Court;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">$264,500 to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a controversial organization made up of state lawmakers and corporate executives that creates “model legislation” for state legislatures;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">$250,000 to the liberal-aligned Citizens for Strength and Security;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">$200,000 to anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">$40,000 to conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation; and</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">$40,000 to the Utah Families Foundation, which Hatch helped start in the 1990s and still raises money for.</li></ul>(Update: Nov. 30, 2012, 5:45 p.m.: Additional research has shown that "Montana Growth" was not the "Montana Growth Network," which was active in the state's Supreme Court race, but rather a Democratic-aligned nonprofit. See <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/11/30/11878/drug-lobby-donation-went-pro-democratic-nonprofit" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">this article</a> for more.)Freedom Path is a “front group set up to protect Orrin Hatch,” said Russ Walker, FreedomWorks’ vice president of political and grassroots campaigns.“Orrin Hatch has always worked hard for the drug lobby,” Walker said. “He has always been an advocate for their positions.”A spokesperson for Hatch did not respond to requests for comment.But Dave Hansen, Hatch's campaign manager, said by law the campaign couldn't coordinate with Freedom Path."We had no contact with them," he said. "And did not know what they were doing, when they did it or where they got their funds from."According to Bensing, Freedom Path seeks a “more accountable federal budget, a balanced budget amendment and less intrusive government.”He said his organization has received money from about “eight to 10” contributors, totaling roughly $1.5 million since its launch last year. He declined to identify any of these backers. The group reported raising $850,000 in 2011 from two donors, according to an IRS document obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics.Earlier this year, Liljenquist <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53677266-90/hatch-freedom-path-group.html.csp" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">complained</a> to The Salt Lake Tribune about the lack of information about Freedom Path.“Organizations have just as much right as people to participate in politics, but there should be visibility on who is funding them and where that money is coming from," he said.Federal rules only require Freedom Path, which is a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofit, to disclose its donors if a contribution is earmarked for a specific advertisement. Freedom Path officials says the group has not solicited money for particular ads.Like Freedom Path, FreedomWorks operates a nonprofit wing that does not reveal its donors. The non-disclosing nonprofit also accounted for about 15 percent of the $15 million raised by its super PAC arm.Friend of PhRMAHatch received more <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=H04&cycle=2012&recipdetail=A&sortorder=U" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">campaign contributions</a> from the pharmaceutical industry than any other member of Congress in the 2011-2012 election cycle, some $448,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.The 78-year-old lawmaker sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is the ranking GOP member on the powerful Senate Finance Committee.As far back as 1984, he authored legislation with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., that helped allow generic drugs to flourish but also gave brand-name pharmaceutical companies new powers to contest patent infringements by generics.And he helped spearhead a successful effort to give pharmaceutical companies 12 years of exclusive rights to sell biologic drugs rather than the seven-year period favored by President Barack Obama during the health care reform debate.Furthermore, his son, Scott Hatch, is a partner at a lobbying firm whose clients include PhRMA and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline, though both Hatches have maintained that Scott does not lobby his father or his office.PhRMA declined to respond to direct questions from the Center. Senior vice president Matthew Bennett said in a written statement that the group “often makes grants or charitable contributions to organizations that share PhRMA’s goals.”PhRMA spent more than $14 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of this year and donated $185,500 to politicians via its PAC during the 2012 election cycle, including $6,000 to Hatch, federal records show.In July, it also gave $50,000 to a joint fundraising committee that benefited three Democratic super PACs: <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/16/8175/pac-profile-majority-pac" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Majority PAC</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/16/8172/pac-profile-house-majority-pac" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">House Majority PAC</a> and <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/01/30/8025/pac-profile-priorities-usa-action" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Priorities USA Action</a>, which supported Obama’s re-election.The new IRS filing further shows that PhRMA contributed $5,000 to the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/21/9164/nonprofit-profile-american-action-network" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">American Action Network</a>, a conservative nonprofit headed by former Sen. Norm Coleman. That’s down significantly from the $4.5 million PhRMA <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/27/8271/drug-lobby-gave-94-million-nonprofits-spent-big-2010-election" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">donated</a> to the group in 2010.PhRMA officials declined to comment about whether the organization gave additional money to American Action Network in 2012.Long-time ALEC memberPhRMA has provided financial support to the Republican-dominated American Legislative Exchange Council for years. Jeffrey Bond, a senior vice president at PhRMA, sits on ALEC’s “private enterprise board.”The organization opposes policies that would allow U.S. consumers to buy prescription drugs from countries such as Canada at bargain prices and bring them back to the United States. It has also pushed model legislation aimed at countering proposals that advocate for government-mandated price controls on pharmaceuticals.Meanwhile, in a seeming departure, the trade group appears to have given a large contribution to an organization active in Montana’s Supreme Court election.Montana Growth, whose address is listed as a mailbox at a UPS store in Washington, D.C., on the IRS form, appears to be the “Montana Growth Network,” which sought to influence the state’s nonpartisan judicial race. State District Judge Laurie McKinnon defeated Missoula public defender Ed Sheehy for an open seat on the high court, after attorney Elizabeth Best was knocked out during a contentious primary.McKinnon was endorsed by the Montana Chamber of Commerce and Montana Farm Bureau, while the Montana Growth Network attacked Sheehy for a case in which he argued that the death penalty was unconstitutional.The $500,000 donation was far more than the candidates raised in a state where contribution limits are among the lowest in the nation.McKinnon, who won with about 56 percent of the vote, raised about $87,000 while Sheehy raised roughly $67,000, according to the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics.Group’s origins questionedIn 2010, Hatch’s Republican colleague, Sen. Bob Bennett, was targeted by tea party-aligned activists and thwarted from winning a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. Hatch wanted to avoid a similar fate.Bennett’s re-election was opposed by the anti-tax group Club for Growth as well as FreedomWorks, which is headed by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey.Freedom Path’s first ad was released in July of 2011. It <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeCXiAr7Hks&feature=plcp" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">touted</a> Hatch and tea party-backed freshman Sen. Mike Lee, who bested Bennett in 2010, as “leading the fight in Washington to get spending under control,” though Lee had declined to endorse Hatch before the June primary.Another <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Lh34GZJe8&feature=plcp" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">ad in January</a> championed Hatch as “leading the conservative charge to repeal Obamacare.” And one <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjca_V4OObc&feature=plcp" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">ad in March</a> trumpeted the balanced budget amendment introduced by Hatch and Lee.The group also produced several advertisements attacking Liljenquist.Ultimately, Hatch prevailed, capturing about two-thirds of the vote.During the contested primary election, all that was known about Freedom Path was its leadership, which has ties to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.In addition to Bensing, the group’s board members include GOP operative Mark Emerson.Bensing is a lobbyist at the firm SB Strategic Consulting, whose clients include the Nevada Department of Transportation, Station Casinos in Las Vegas and Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.He previously worked as Ensign’s chief of staff and as the executive director of the NRSC.Emerson, meanwhile, previously worked for Hatch and served as Ensign’s chief of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives. He once was the executive director of the Utah Republican Party.During the campaign, Freedom Path also hired the consulting firm November Inc., which is headed by Mike Slanker, a former NRSC operative and Ensign aide.Sheila Krumholz, the executive director the Center for Responsive Politics, said PhRMA’s $750,000 contribution to Freedom Path allowed the drug lobby to claim some credit for Hatch's victory, “without being directly linked to the outside group's expenditure if he'd lost.”Rick Hasen, a professor at the University of California-Irvine law school, added that voters should have been informed of the donation because it would have helped them judge the “credibility of the ads.”“Groups adopt anodyne names like ‘Freedom Path’ which reveal nothing to voters about who is really behind [their] political advertising,” he said. “Voters may have liked or not liked that Sen. Hatch's election was being supported by the pharmaceutical industry, but they should have known about it.”</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 1280px; line-height: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="calais-tags-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 28px 250px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: left;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5.6px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">More stories about</h4><div class="calais-tags node-11862" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="first" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Orrin-Hatch" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Orrin Hatch</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Pharmaceutical-Research" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Pharmaceutical Research</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Manufacturers-of-America" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Manufacturers of America</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Dan-Liljenquist" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Dan Liljenquist</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Scott-Bensing" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Scott Bensing</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Republican-Party" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Republican Party</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Utah" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Utah</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/United-States-Senate" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">United States Senate</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/pharmaceutical-industry" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">pharmaceutical industry</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Tea-Party-movement" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Tea Party movement</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/FreedomWorks" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">FreedomWorks</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Club-for-Growth" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Club for Growth</a>,<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Pharmaceutical-lobby" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Pharmaceutical lobby</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Pharmaceutical-Research-and-Manufacturers-of-America" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America</a>, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Dick-Armey" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Dick Armey</a></div></div></div></div>

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