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russo, tony

related to sal?

http://www.russomcgarty.com/our-team/all/

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Anthony Russo, a partner at Russo McGarty & Associates, has a 26 year track record in government relations, political strategy and public policy. He specializes in providing strategic consulting to major corporations, professional associations, and initiative campaigns.

Anthony previously was Group Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Irvine Company, one of the nation’s largest private real estate companies, known for its best-of-class portfolio of premier office, apartment, retail, resort and new community properties. There, he had responsibility for government affairs, political action, branding and communications.

Anthony participated in several successful political efforts including the successful 2006 Newport Beach general plan update and a 20-year extension of Measure M (Orange County’s transportation half cent sales tax). Anthony also provided leadership to the successful 2006 statewide infrastructure bond campaign – providing billions in funding to schools, transportation and housing.

Prior to joining the Irvine Company in 2003, Anthony managed several successful candidate and initiative campaigns as a sole proprietor and partner at McNally Temple Associates. These campaigns included two statewide school bonds, Linda Lingle for Governor of Hawaii in 2002, Ron George to the California Supreme Court, and over a dozen California legislators and members of Congress.

Anthony graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Southern California with a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in political science. He also is a graduate of  the California State Assembly Fellowship Program. Anthony is a member of the Board of Directors of Golden Pacific Bank in Sacramento, and he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Majority of Orange County.

Anthony and his wife, Jenifer Russo, were married in 1989. They have two sons, Ethan and Colin Russo.

sons of wich

CA dark $ engr tony russo (after walker ~ union wi) ; noble $ ad frank luntz; CA law limit, so swapped;

1mil$ fine, ravel names Kochs, denied

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tossed under the bus by sean noble, now defunct?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

California had launched an investigation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Individual donors to the effort were never disclosed, although the redaction was so poor, it was possible to determine that they included financier Charles Schwab, California philanthropist Eli Broad and Gap Chairman Bob Fisher, but not the Kochs or their companies.

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

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

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

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

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

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tony?

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

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

By Laurel Rosenhall

lrosenhall@sacbee.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Read more articles by Laurel Rosenhall

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/24/5850792/california-fppc-issues-record.html#storylink=cpy

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Background

Employment History

T-Mobile USA , Inc.
T-Mobile USA , Inc.
Apex Strategies , Inc.
Suntrof Solar , LLC.

:{

The Irvine Company

}:

Voter Connect Communications , Inc.
Team Cal
The Irvine Company - Key Company

Board Memberships and Affiliations

All Natural Pak Corp

Education

University of Southern California

University of Southern California

University of Southern California

www.wirelessfoundation.org, 9 July 2013 [cached]

Tony Russo Vice President, Federal Legislative Affairs T-Mobile

T-Mobile is concerned that ...

www.cio.com, 24 June 2013 [cached]

T-Mobile is concerned that AT&T and Verizon will use their resources to scare other bidders away from the auction, saidTony Russo, T-Mobile's vice president for federal government relations.

"The two dominant carriers have an incentive to box out other carriers from this low-frequency spectrum," he said.

Anthony ...

www.dvisiondev.com, 9 June 2012 [cached]

Anthony Russo Anthony Russo is Government Relations Manager of Suntrof Solar, LLC. Mr. Russo a 24 year track record in California politics and public policy. As President ofApex Strategies, Inc., he specializes on providing strategic consulting to major California corporations, professional associations, and initiative campaigns.

Most recently, Anthony was Group Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Irvine Company, known for its best-of-class portfolio of premier California real estate including office, apartment, retail, resort and new community properties. There, he had responsibility for government affairs, political action, branding and communications.

Anthony participated in several successful political efforts including the successful 2006 Newport Beach general plan update and a 20-year extension of Measure M (Orange County's transportation half cent sales tax). Anthony also provided leadership to the successful 2006 statewide infrastructure bond campaign. He also served as Team CalChairman to the California Republican Party since 2007.

Executive Board Member - Tony ...

www.allnaturalpak.com, 14 May 2011 [cached]

Executive Board Member - Tony Russo | Read more: Executive Board Member - Tony Russo

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Executive Board Member - Tony Russo | Read more: Executive Board Member - Tony Russo

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Executive Board Member - Tony Russo

Executive Board Member - Tony Russo Tony Russo has a 24-year track record in California politics and public policy. As President of Apex Strategies, Inc., a Sacramento-based public affairs company, he specializes on providing strategic consulting to major California corporations, professional associations, and initiative campaigns. Most recently,Anthony was Group Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Irvine Company, known for its best-of-class porxolio of premier California real estate including office, apartment, retail, resort and new community properties.There, he had responsibility for government affairs, political action, branding and communications.

Anthony participated in several successful political efforts including the successful 2006 Newport Beach general plan update, a 20-year extension of Measure M (Orange County's transportation half cent sales tax) and adoption of an updated General Plan initiative in Newport Beach.

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Anthony also provided leadership to the successful 2006 statewide infrastructure bond campaign. He also serves asTeam Cal Chairman to the California Republican Party.

Prior to joining the Irvine Company in 2003, Anthonymanaged several successful candidate and initiative campaigns as a sole proprietor and partner at McNally Temple Associates.

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Anthony graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Southern California with a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in political science. Healso was accepted into the California Assembly Fellowship Program. Anthony and his wife, Jenifer Russo, were married in 1989.

Tony Russo

tic.irvinecompany.dev.sitewire.net, 10 Mar 2009[[cached]](http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=-1606083322&page_url=//tic.irvinecompany.dev.sitewire.net/About-Us/tony-russo.aspx&page_last_updated=2009-03-10T03:37:37&firstName=Tony&lastName=Russo)

Home > About Us > Executive Bios > Tony Russo

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Tony Russo

Group Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs

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Tony Russo

Tony Russo is group senior vice president of Corporate Affairs for The Irvine Company. Mr. Russo is responsible for overseeing the company's federal, state and local corporate government relations. He also leads the Corporate Communications, Technology Advancement and Corporate Marketing groups.

In his previous role with the company, Mr. Russo served as senior vice president, Government Relations, managing federal, state and local corporate government relations. Healso developed and executed executive corporate and political activities.

Before joining The Irvine Company in 2003, Mr. Russowas president of Voter Connect Communications, Inc., where he directed strategic planning and budgeting for corporate clients and political candidate campaigns. He also assisted with litigation support and business plan development.

Mr. Russo is a member of the American Association of Political Consultants and the USC School of Public Administration Alumni Association. He also is a member of the Rolling Hills Christian Church where he works with student programs.

Mr. Russo has master's and bachelor's degrees in public administration, as well as a bachelor's degree in political science, all from the University of Southern California.

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Tony Russo

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Tony Russo

Group Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs