Ctr to Protect Patients' Rights CPPR kch

see also COALITION (not to be confused with yet another gp by scott) Note name change

=1/20 rebranded american encore<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore</a>one of 3 "banks"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/d/d6/W-kochnetwork.jpg"> http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/d/d6/W-kochnetwork.jpg  </a>pro publ:Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce $114,678,000  "bank"Americans for Job Security $24,550,000TC4 Trust $14,314,000  "bank"Americans for Prosperity $100,000GRANTS FROM THIS ORGANIZATION TO:American Future Fund $49,182,409Americans for Responsible Leadership $24,650,800Americans for Prosperity $11,513,079American Commitment $4,781,559CitizenLink $4,195,218National Rifle Association of America $3,150,000The 60 Plus Association $2,630,723Americans for Limited Government $1,575,000Citizen Awareness Project $1,000,000Veteransforastrongamerica.org $937,000American Energy Alliance $864,960Rightchange.com II $850,000Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights $710,000The Hispanic Leadership Fund $645,000Americans for Jerusalem $535,000Morning in America $521,500Coalition for American Values Action $510,000Club for Growth $450,000Susan B. Anthony List $385,000Americans for Tax Reform $350,000Arioch Project $320,000Emergency Committee for Israel $200,000Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee $173,573Citizen Media $156,000The LIBRE Initiative Trust $152,366Fair Arizona Independent Redistricting Trust $150,000National Federation of Independent Business $135,783GOPAC Education Fund $121,826Freedom Vote $100,000Americans for Job Security $100,000American Principles in Action $100,000Policy and Taxation Group $88,000All Votes Matter $80,000Common Sense Issues $75,000King Street Patriots $70,000AUL Action NFP $65,000Concerned Veterans for America $32,062Generation Joshua, a project of the Home School Legal Defense Association $30,000Generation Opportunity $29,211Council for Citizens Against Government Waste $25,000Republican Jewish Coalition $20,484Ohio Voter Integrity Project $5,000<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14.4px; outline: none; zoom: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sean Noble's mammoth group -- which since 2009 has funneled $170 million-plus to conservative organizations involved in politics -- seemed to be on the outs last year with its main backers. Now, say hello to American Encore. » <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://opensecrets.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=aa7cf182bf7041258bb250f9d&id=012d2560f3&e=44dfb36771" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">READ MORE</a></div><ul style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; line-height: 14.4px; outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; zoom: 1;"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://opensecrets.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=aa7cf182bf7041258bb250f9d&id=60591a3706&e=44dfb36771" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline: none;">The organization formerly known as CPPR was a major linchpin in one of the most complex dark money networks in America</a></li></ul>==

Another dark money conduit group funnelling money to Wisconsin Club for Growth is the Center to Protect Patient Rights, raising new questions about how much more Koch money flowed into the Wisconsin recall than has been previously reported. As Lisa Kaiser <a href="http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-22149-exclusive-koch-brothers%25E2%2580%2599-dark-money-flowed-into-wisconsin-recall-fight.html" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">reported</a> last week at the Shepherd Express, CPPR gave $225,000 to Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2011.

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/us/politics/group-linked-to-kochs-admits-to-campaign-finance-violations.html?ref=politics&_r=0" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">According to the New York Times</a>,  CPPR “is one of the largest political nonprofits in the country, serving as a conduit for tens of millions of dollars in political spending, much of it raised by the Kochs and their political operation and spent by other nonprofits active in the 2010 and 2012 elections.” CPPR, in turn, received <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/09/americas-newest-conservative-dark-money-engine-illustrated/69351/" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">most of its funding</a> from another Koch-connected organization called “<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Freedom Partners</a>.”

Like the Wellspring Committee, CPPR exists to offer an extra layer of anonymity to donors. Both groups also <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/11/wellsprings-flow.html" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">often contribute to the same nonprofits</a>, many of which have Koch ties, such as Americans for Prosperity.

CPPR was recently fined $1 million for its involvement in a <a href="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/a-money-shuffle-to-avoid-donor-disclosure/552/" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">dark money shell game</a> in California, where $15 million was shuffled between four different nonprofits to influence two ballot initiatives while evading the state’s donor disclosure laws.

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Two dark money groups linked to conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch have paid a record $1 million in fines to California to settle allegations that the combined <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809466-arizona-press-release.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">$15 million</a> they spent on two ballot proposals in the state was not properly disclosed.

The civil <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809469-arl-cppr-stipulation-final-with-ag.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">settlement</a>, announced Thursday afternoon in Sacramento, caps a year of investigation into the activities of the two Arizona groups, Americans for Responsible Leadership and the Center to Protect Patient Rights.

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The settlement disclosed new details in the case, including how the money was raised and how the Center to Protect Patient Rights disguised its two contributions to two California political committees. As part of the settlement, the Center to Protect Patient Rights conceded it was responsible for funneling $11 million through Americans for Responsible Leadership to a <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/10/california-secret-political-donation.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">political committee</a> spending money to fight a tax-hike measure and to support a proposition restricting unions’ political power.

The Center to Protect Patient Rights also gave an additional $4 million to another dark money group, the American Future Fund, which gave the money to another political committee spending on the anti-union measure.

“What is the takeaway from this trail of dark money?” asked Ann Ravel, the outgoing head of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, which investigated the groups along with the state attorney general’s office. “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.”

The state assessed one $500,000 fine to the Center to Protect Patient Rights only, and another $500,000 fine to the two groups jointly. The state is also demanding that the two <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809465-sbac-disgorgement-letter.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">political</a><a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809464-cff-disgorgement-letter.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">committees</a> “disgorge,” or hand over, the $15 million they received in improper donations through the Center to Protect Patient Rights before the end of November. All of the money would go to California’s general fund.

In an interview, Gary Winuk, the chief of enforcement for the California Fair Political Practices Commission, acknowledged that the state may have to go to court to recover that $15 million. One of the political committees has already <a href="http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1351572&session=2013" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">closed down</a>.

The settlement says California authorities determined that the Center to Protect Patient Rights “inadvertently, or at worst negligently,” did not report itself as a donor to the American Future Fund. A similar decision was made on the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809469-arl-cppr-stipulation-final-with-ag.html#document/p11/a128059" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">group’s</a> lack of disclosure to Americans for Responsible Leadership.

In a statement sent through its lawyer, the Center to Protect Patient Rights said the commission recognized it erred largely because it had never before made contributions in California and that it had no intention to violate campaign reporting rules.

“Also, the California Attorney General conducted a complete and thorough investigation and agreed that the conduct was unintentional and inadvertent,” said the lawyer, Malcolm Segal.

Americans for Responsible Leadership did not return a message seeking comment.

Anonymous money funneled through social welfare nonprofits and trade associations has become a major factor in federal elections since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in early 2010 opened up the door to unlimited corporate and union spending on outside ads, as documented by <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">ProPublica</a>. In the past two election cycles, social welfare nonprofits have spent more than $350 million, mostly from unknown donors, on election ads telling people to vote for or against federal candidates.

Some national groups have also started playing on the state level, particularly with ballot proposals.

The California agreement, reached on Oct. 17, underscored how some states, such as California, <a href="http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2012/10/31/idahopolitics/mayor_bloomberg_albertsons_heir_scott_gave_combined_450000_educa" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">Idaho</a> and <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/dark-money-groups-donors-revealed" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">Montana</a>, have actually done more to identify anonymous donors than the Federal Election Commission. In June, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman imposed regulations attempting to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/eric-schneiderman-dark-money_n_3390329.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">require disclosure</a> for money spent on state elections. A new disclosure bill has been introduced in California. This month, after a push by California’s Ravel, regulators from <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/10/03/state-watchdogs-band-together-to-take-on-dark-money/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">10 states</a> announced the launch of a nationwide effort to encourage the disclosure of donors.

But the settlement also highlights the limitations of investigations into who’s behind dark money groups: Instead of unmasking some reclusive billionaire or shy corporation, regulators often uncover yet another nonprofit, like a set of Russian nesting dolls. The original sources of the money spent in California were not publicly identified, nor will they be.

“A number of donors did not want to be identified,” said Winuk, the enforcement chief for California’s campaign finance regulator, who received only a redacted list of donors for the original contributions.

And while the groups have been linked to the Koch brothers, it’s not clear how exactly they’re connected. The Center to Protect Patient Rights, which operates out of a post office box in Arizona and doesn’t even have a website, has been described practically like an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/02/sean-noble-koch-brothers_n_4017578.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">ATM machine</a> for various groups affiliated with the Koch brothers. The <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809466-arizona-press-release.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">press release</a>issued by California authorities says the Center and Americans for Responsible Leadership “operated as part of the ‘Koch Brothers Network’ of dark money political nonprofit corporations.”

The Kochs have long been known for spending millions to influence elections behind the scenes, through a complex network of groups that critics have nicknamed <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">“the Kochtopus.”</a> The Kochs themselves have remained determinedly in the background.

One link between these two groups and the Koch network is Sean Noble, a GOP strategist who runs two political consulting firms and is the sole employee of the Center to Protect Patient Rights, which was launched in 2009. In 2010, he spoke on a panel at a Koch brothers’ secretive retreat, small semiannual affairs that are invitation-only and closed to the media. In <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/center-to-protect-patient-rights-ga.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">2010 and 2011</a>, the Center to Protect Patient Rights handed out almost $60 million to conservative groups that spent tens of millions on election ads. The Huffington Post recently quoted a GOP operative describing Noble as “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/02/sean-noble-koch-brothers_n_4017578.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">the wizard</a> behind the screen” for the Koch network’s election efforts in 2012.

Noble did not return a call for comment.

Another link is <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/behind-the-curtain-exclusive-the-koch-brothers-secret-bank-96669.html." style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">Wayne Gable</a>, a former top official at Koch Industries who has also served in leadership roles in several nonprofits formed by the Kochs. In 2011, Gable launched a new trade association that gave almost $115 million to the Center to Protect Patient Rights over the following year. It’s not yet clear how the Center doled out its money, as its tax return for 2012 isn’t yet available.

The leader of Americans for Responsible Leadership has close ties to Noble. Republican Kirk Adams hired Noble’s firm in 2011 and 2012 to help run his failed campaign to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake in Arizona. Adams lost in the primary in August 2012; the next month, he was named president of Americans for Responsible Leadership.

According to the settlement, some $24.5 million of the money distributed by the Center to Protect Patient Rights was raised by GOP strategist <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120301006742/en/GOP-Leaders-Launch-2012-California-Republican-National" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">Tony Russo</a> for another organization, Americans for Job Security, a Virginia-based trade association. (Russo didn’t return calls for comment.)

Americans for Job Security gave the money to the Center to Protect Patient Rights. Then the Center gave about <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809469-arl-cppr-stipulation-final-with-ag.html#document/p10/a128058" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">$7 million</a> to the Iowa dark money powerhouse American Future Fund on Sept. 11, 2012; of that, the American Future Fund gave about $4 million to a new California committee, the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_21796431/shadowy-arizona-group-inserts-itself-into-california-campaigns" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">California Future Fund for Free Markets</a>, which supported the anti-union measure. That committee has since closed down.

The Center also gave <a href="https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/809469-arl-cppr-stipulation-final-with-ag.html#document/p10/a128057" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">$18 million</a> to Americans for Responsible Leadership in October 2012, recommending that the group “should use the funds to support common social interests, including support” for the Small Business Action Committee PAC, a committee that Russo was also raising money for, the settlement said. Americans for Responsible Leadership then gave $11 million to the Small Business Action Committee PAC to spend on the two ballot proposals.

That $11 million contribution sparked a <a href="http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=8410969" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none;">complaint</a>, an investigation and a court battle. Just before the election, Americans for Responsible Leadership admitted that it got its money from the Center to Protect Patient Rights, which in turn got the money from Americans for Job Security.

The fine is the largest in California history in a campaign-finance case.

The manner in which the groups paid it speaks volumes about how dark their money really is.

They paid by cashier’s check, sent by a Sacramento lawyer’s office Thursday morning, betraying no clue to the money’s origin.

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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/09/a-story-on-politicos-website.html

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<div style=" text-align: left;">This is the latest in an exclusive OpenSecrets Blog <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/reports/moneytrail.php">series</a> about the funding and activities of politically active tax-exempt groups.

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Much of the funding for some of the largest conservative dark money groups in 2012 came from a previously little-known group that was started by and is to some degree bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, according to a story on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/behind-the-curtain-exclusive-the-koch-brothers-secret-bank-96669.html">Politico</a>'s website today.

Freedom Partners, a 501(c)(6) business partnership, made grants totaling $236 million since it was founded in November, 2011.

Almost half of that -- $115 million -- went to the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/nonprof_contrib.php?id=264683543">Center to Protect Patient Rights</a>, a group that has no activities of its own other than giving grants to other politically active tax-exempt organizations. That's more than CPPR's budget in all years combined since it was established in 2009. It's run by Sean Noble, a political consultant and Koch operative.

CPPR has given grants to some of the same groups that, according to Politico, Freedom Partners gave funds to last year, such as the conservative seniors' group <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C90011685&cycle=2012">60 Plus Association</a>, which also has Koch connections. CPPR gave 60 Plus $14 million over three years.

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<div id="more" class="asset-more">Freedom Partners sent $15.7 million to 60 Plus in 2012 alone.

And 60 Plus -- which has also <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=60+Plus+Assn&cycle=2012">received donations</a> from the American Petroleum Institute, the Karl Rove-affiliated Crossroads GPS, and another Koch-connected group that does nothing but give out grants, TC4 Trust -- reported spending more than $4.6 million in the 2012 federal elections, much of it to support GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

CPPR has not yet filed its tax forms covering 2012 with the IRS, so it's not yet known what groups it provided funds to last year -- or how much of its total revenue was covered by the $115 million from Freedom Partners.

Until now, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">CPPR</a> and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/nonprofit-funneled-money-to-kochs-voter-database-effort-other-conservative-groups.html">TC4 Trust</a> -- which were both uncovered last year by OpenSecrets Blog -- were believed to be the main "shadow money mailboxes" (having no activities of their own other than giving grants) on the right. As of last year, Freedom Partners, the only significant group in the network that is not a 501(c)(4), has taken the lead.

But the fact that it's heavily funding CPPR means that the latter group continues playing a major role in the network -- with an additional curtain of secrecy hiding its donors. 

<a target="_blank" href="http://freedompartners.org/us/">Freedom Partners</a> was started as the Association for American Innovation in December 2011. Its president, Marc Short, has overseen the Koch brothers' political efforts for some time. The Kochs, who run an industrial conglomerate based in Wichita, have been deeply involved in Republican politics for years and sponsor an annual strategy session for groups and donors on the right.

Short told Politico that Freedom Partners has about 200 donors each paying at least $100,000 each. One donor gave $25 million.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has been <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/press_release.php?pr_id=766">trying</a> to pierce the veil hiding donors to several tax-exempt nonprofits that contributed money to one another -- one of which was CPPR -- before ultimately giving it to a group working on ballot measures in the state last year. And attorneys general in other states, such as New York, also have been attempting to force such groups to identify their donors.

The use of a 501(c)(6) like Freedom Partners could help keep dark money stay dark. Business associations may not fall within the charitable trust jurisdiction of state attorneys general, so the arrangement could help stymie states' efforts to shed some light on who is behind the organizations. Neither (c)(4) groups nor (c)(6)s are supposed to be primarily political, but both types have asserted that providing grants to other organizations -- even if those groups spend some of their resources on political ads -- is not political activity.

Other groups that received major funding from Freedom Partners in 2012, Politico reported, include the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Future+Fund&cycle=2012">American Future Fund</a>, which received $13.6 million. AFF reported to the Federal Election Committee that it spent $25.4 million on ads benefiting conservative candidates in that election cycle.

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=Americans+for+Prosperity&cycle=2012">Americans for Prosperity</a>, a group that was started by the Koch brothers, got $32.3 million; it spent $36.4 million in outside spending during the 2012 elections, according to FEC reports it filed.

Themis Trust, a voter database spearheaded by the Kochs that was initially funded through TC4 Trust, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/nonprofit-funneled-money-to-kochs-voter-database-effort-other-conservative-groups.html">received $5.8 million</a>.

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<div>Follow Viveca on Twitter: <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/vjn">@VJN</a></div>

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<h4 class="entry-categories-header">Categories:</h4>

<li class="entry-category"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/outside-money/501c-groups/">501(c) groups</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-category"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/outside-money/">Outside Money</a></li>

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<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=association%20for%20american%20innovation&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">association for american innovation</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=center%20to%20protect%20patient%20rights&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">center to protect patient rights</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=dark%20money&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">dark money</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=freedom%20partners&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">freedom partners</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=sean%20noble&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">sean noble</a>,</li>

<li class="entry-tag"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/MT/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=8&tag=shadow%20money%20trail&limit=20&IncludeBlogs=8" rel="tag">shadow money trail</a>,</li>

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Henke and other departing AFP staffers signed nondisclosure agreements, and she did not respond to requests for comment, but she appears to have completely left the Koch network of groups.

That’s in contrast to other top AFP officials who recently left the group to join or start other new groups regarded as part of the Koch family, including Cobb’s Association for American Innovation and Phil Kerpen’s American Commitment.

The moves fit a pattern the Koch operation has pioneered of creating — and channeling millions of dollars to — political groups since it began increasing its political involvement.

The technique has helped the Koch network win the loyalty of donors, because it shields them from exposure, but it is now increasingly at risk thanks to an investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The California investigation is trying to unmask the original source of a mysterious $11 million donation that was funneled through a key Koch conduit in the weeks before Election Day to a California political committee boosting a 2012 ballot measure to restrict union political activity and opposing a separate ballot proposition to raise taxes.

“What they already admitted was definitely money laundering,” commission Chairwoman Ann Ravel told POLITICO.

Ravel said the groups under investigation are “raising issues and not providing everything requested” and that the agency may file a civil complaint.

But she predicted the investigation could reveal the donors by the middle of the year and potentially go after them if “the evidence shows that the donors knew or should have known that they were contributing to campaigns in California.”

Ravel’s commission has already forced the disclosure that, before the $11 million made its way from an Arizona nonprofit called Americans for Responsible Leadership (the originally disclosed donor) to the California committee, it <a href="http://images.politico.com/global/2013/02/17/cppr_11m_cfppc_110512.html" target="blank">passed from a Virginia-based nonprofit</a> called Americans for Job Security <a href="http://images.politico.com/global/2013/02/17/amersforrespleadership_11m_cfppc_110512.html" target="blank">to an Arizona 501(c)4</a> called the Center to Protect Patients Rights.

The latter group, run by the Kochs’ top ad man, Sean Noble, has played a key role in steering money to other Koch-backed groups, along with another mysterious 501(c)4 group called TC4 Trust.

Between 2009 and 2011 (the most recent years for which the groups’ tax returns were accessible), the two nonprofits combined to steer more than $75 million to Koch-linked groups including $18.1 million to the 60 Plus Association, $8 million to Public Notice and its subsidiaries, $7.1 million to American Commitment, $6.8 million to Themis and its subsidiaries, and $500,000 to Generation Opportunity. They also donated $4.8 million to Americans for Job Security and $900,000 to Americans for Responsible Leadership.

Americans for Responsible Leadership — which is <a href="http://images.politico.com/global/2013/02/17/torchinsky_amersforrespldrshp_response_102412.html" target="blank">represented by the lawyer</a> for Americans for Prosperity, American Commitment, the Center to Protect Patients Rights and other Koch-backed groups — contends that Ravel’s commission is “bowing to political pressure,” ignoring the Supreme Court’s 2010 <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31786.html" target="blank">Citizens United decision</a> allowing unlimited corporate political expenditures and trying to scare the group and its donors.

The commission’s efforts “utterly discount the legitimate interest that donors to non-profits have in maintaining their privacy” and have had a “deterrent effect on the activities of both ARL and its donors,” wrote Americans for Responsible Leadership in a <a href="http://images.politico.com/global/2013/02/17/amersforrespldrshp_response-noexhbts_102512.html" target="_blank">legal brief </a>filed just before the election.

Beyond the California investigation, Noble has come under scrutiny in the brothers’ post-election audit, sources say. His consulting firm, DC London, though technically independent, is widely regarded as almost a subsidiary of the Koch political operation. Its performance in 2012, when it handled advertising and other paid media for a number of the groups that get their cash through the Center to Protect Patients Rights and TC4 Trust, was seen as a weak link by some in Koch World.

Since the election, Gentry, who runs the donor seminars, has sent several emails to a list of operatives at other conservative groups asking them to study various aspects of Obama’s advertising and messaging strategies, becoming captivated this year with a 2012 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkmJ4gIa8ek" target="_blank">ad featuring Jennifer Lopez</a>, whom he called “the #1 public celebrity for young Latinas.”

It created “peer pressure to the target audience that if they don’t join their fellow Latinos in ‘getting Obama’s back,’ then they will not be part of the in-crowd,” he wrote.

===

The Center to Protect Patients' Rights (CPPR) is a secretive nonprofit group organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code that funneled nearly $55 million to a variety of other front groups that attacked Democrats in the 2010 elections. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-open_secrets-0">[1]</a> In 2012, the group's role as a part of an $11 million campaign money laundering shell game was revealed after the California Fair Practices Commission filed suit against one of its donors and recipients, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Responsible_Leadership" title="Americans for Responsible Leadership">Americans for Responsible Leadership</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-Cali-1">[2]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>] </div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#Ties_to_the_Coalition_to_Protect_Patient_Rights.3F">6 Ties to the Coalition to Protect Patient Rights?</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#Articles_and_resources">7 Articles and resources</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#Related_SourceWatch_articles">7.1 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#References">7.2 References</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

According to CPPR's 2009 and 2010 tax filings, the group is run by Sean Noble, who Politico has described as a "Koch operative." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-politico-2">[3]</a> Noble was part of a group of GOP operatives who met regularly with Karl Rove’s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Crossroads" title="American Crossroads">American Crossroads</a> to target 120 House of Representatives races in 2010. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-politico-2">[3]</a> Nobel was hired by the Kochs to coordinate with other conservative Super PACs to target Democratic representatives in 2010. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-3">[4]</a> Other individuals associated with the group also have Koch ties. Consultant Cheryl Hillen has raised at least $2.6 million for the organization and was formerly director of fundraising for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Brothers" title="Koch Brothers">Koch Brothers</a>-backed Citizens for a Sound Economy (which later split into Americans for Prosperity and Freedomworks). One of CPPR's original directors, Heather Higgins, is chairwoman of the Independent Women's Forum, a climate change denialist group that has received Koch money and was previously run by a Koch lobbyist.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-4">[5]</a>

In 2012, CPPR came under scrutiny during an investigation of a "campaign money laundering"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-Cali-1">[2]</a> shell game. The Arizona-based 501(c)(4) <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Responsible_Leadership" title="Americans for Responsible Leadership">Americans for Responsible Leadership</a> (ARL) made an $11 million donation to the Small Business Action Committee PAC in California, which spent those funds to oppose Proposition 30 (which would raise taxes) and Proposition 32 (which would prohibit labor unions from raising money for political activities through employees' voluntary payroll deductions).<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-5">[6]</a> California's elections board did not buy ARL's claim that its donors had given $11 million for reasons other than funding ads to influence these ballot issues and demanded it reveal its funders.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-6">[7]</a> ARL spent $11 million on ballot initiatives through a donation of that sum to the Small Business Action Committee PAC (SBAC) in October 2012.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-LA-7">[8]</a>

After initial resistance, ARL revealed that it had received $11 million in contributions for the purpose of funding ballot initiatives from another dark money nonprofit, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Job_Security" title="Americans for Job Security">Americans for Job Security</a>(AJS), a group that received its funding from none other than the CPPR. According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Under California law, the failure to disclose this initially was campaign money laundering."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-Cali-1">[2]</a>The group not only gets funding from CPPR, but is housed in the same offices as Karl Rove's American Crossroads SuperPAC.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-PRWatch-8">[9]</a>

While in 2010, CPPR gave $4.8 million to AJS, a sum that was used on anti-Democrat attack ads, in 2012, AJS gave $11 million to CPPR, which gave the money to ARL. ARL then passed the $11 million to the SBAC, indicating that some of the money flow between the organizations has been reversed.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-PRWatch-8">[9]</a> The money seems to have moved from one group to another in the span of a few days.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-LA-7">[8]</a>

According to CPPR's tax filings for 2011, the organization gave nearly $15 million away to various conservative groups which heavily aired ads in the 2012 election cycle. The organization raised $25.3 million in 2011 and spent $23.2 million. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-9">[10]</a> This is down from 2010, but that is likely due to the fact that 2011 was not an election year.

The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Future_Fund" title="American Future Fund">American Future Fund</a> one of the biggest recipients of grants from the Center to Protect Patient Rights, in recent years, received $1.1 million in 2011. AFF themselves spent $25 million on the 2012 elections, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=American+Future+Fund">$11 million</a> of which would go towards supporting Mitt Romney or opposing Barack Obama.

The right-wing groups receiving funding in 2011 include:

<ul>

<li>Free Enterprise America received $3.6 million</li>

<li>The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association" title="60 Plus Association">60 Plus Association</a> received $2.4 million</li>

<li>The Coalition to Protect Patient Rights received $1.6 million</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Concerned_Women_for_America" title="Concerned Women for America">Concerned Women for America</a> received $1.5 million</li>

<li>Americans for Responsible Leadership received $902,000</li>

<li>Americans for Job Security received $17,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Commitment" title="American Commitment">American Commitment</a> received $1.6 million</li>

</ul>

Additionally, two consulting firms run by Noble, DC London and Noble & Associates, were paid a total of $3.1 million by CPPR.

In 2010, the CPPR made a round of massive donations to some of the most prominent right-wing profit political groups, most of which oppose the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Affordable_Care_Act&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Affordable Care Act (page does not exist)">Affordable Care Act</a>, higher taxes on the wealthy, or abortion. As a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, the CPPR does not have to disclose its donors, the source of this money. However, it must disclose its donations. Most of the recipients of CPPR's largesse are also nonprofits that do not disclose their donors, so CPPR's contributions had not been previously reported.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-open_secrets-0">[1]</a>

The group gave out more than $44 million in grants in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">2010</a>. Including $11.7 to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Future_Fund" title="American Future Fund">American Future Fund</a> This exceeds the $10 million the organization originally reported to Federal Election Committee

The table below lists every organization given money by CPPR in 2010:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-10">[11]</a>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Future_Fund" title="American Future Fund">American Future Fund</a> $11,685,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/60_Plus_Association" title="60 Plus Association">60 Plus Association</a> $8,990,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Limited_Government" title="Americans for Limited Government">Americans for Limited Government</a> $5,585,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Job_Security" title="Americans for Job Security">Americans for Job Security</a> $4,828,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Tax_Reform" title="Americans for Tax Reform">Americans for Tax Reform</a> $4,189,000</li>

<li>Revere America $2,300,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a> $1,924,000</li>

<li>US Health Freedom Coalition $1,430,000</li>

<li>Susan B Anthony $1,025,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Club_for_Growth" title="Club for Growth">Club for Growth</a> $690,000</li>

<li>Americans United for Life Action $559,000</li>

<li>The Institute for Liberty $457,000</li>

<li>Noble & Associates $340,000</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Energy_Alliance" title="American Energy Alliance">American Energy Alliance</a> $250,000</li>

<li>Coalition to Protect Patient Rights $205,000</li>

<li>Freedom Vote $200,000</li>

<li>Protect Your Vote $100,000</li>

<li>Hispanic Leadership Fund $47,000</li>

<li>Americans United for Life $45,000</li>

<li>Tea Party Patriots $30,000</li>

<li>Common Sense Issues Coalition $25,000</li>

<li>Common Sense Issues $10,000</li>

<li>Concerned Women 4 America $4,500</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Future_Fund" title="American Future Fund">American Future Fund</a> $1.3 million</li>

<li>60 Plus Association $2.6 million</li>

<li>Coalition to Protect Patient Rights $1.9 million</li>

</ul>

<h2>Ties to the Coalition to Protect Patient Rights?</h2>

The Center to Protect Patient Rights appears to have ties to the similarly-named Coalition to Protect Patient's rights, whose records are stored at the same Glendale, Ariz., address by a woman who describes herself as an employee of DCI Group, a lobbying firm practiced in manufacturing "grassroots" campaigns for the tobacco industry and others that has handled public relations for the Coalition. But the Coalition's spokesman, physician and lawyer, Donald Palmisano, told OpenSecrets Blog in 2011 he'd never heard of CPPR, as did a publicist with DCI Group. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-11">[12]</a>

The Coalition received nearly $1.6 million from CPPR in 2011, as well as $1.9 million in 2009 and $205,000 in 2010.

"According to its most recent Form 990, obtained by OpenSecrets Blog, the Coalition paid Mentzer Media $1.4 million in 2011 for "media strategy and ad buy." That expenditure along accounted for nearly all of the Coaltion's spending in 2011, and all of the money it received from CPPR. Though it has never reported any spending on federal candidates to the Federal Election Commission, the Coalition was listed as one of the groups mounting an attack against Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, according to the Huffington Post; Brown won his race." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-open_secrets-0">[1]</a>

<h2>Articles and resources</h2>

<h3>Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Job_Security" title="Americans for Job Security">Americans for Job Security</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Responsible_Leadership" title="Americans for Responsible Leadership">Americans for Responsible Leadership</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Soft_money" title="Soft money">Soft money</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Brothers" title="Koch Brothers">Koch Brothers</a></li>

</ul>

<h3>References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-open_secrets-0">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-open_secrets_0-0">1.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-open_secrets_0-1">1.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-open_secrets_0-2">1.2</a> Vivica Novak and Robert Macguire: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">Mystery Health Care Group Funneled Millions to Conservative Nonprofits</a>, May 18th, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-Cali-1">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-Cali_1-0">2.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-Cali_1-1">2.1</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-Cali_1-2">2.2</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/press_release.php?pr_id=766/">"Americans for Responsible Leadership Admits Campaign Money Laundering, Discloses $11 Million Donor"</a>, "California Fair Political Practices Commission", November 5, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-politico-2">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-politico_2-0">3.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-politico_2-1">3.1</a> Ken Vogel, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49303_Page2.html">Kochs brothers' plan for 2012: raise $88 million</a>, Politico, Feb. 11, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-3">↑</a> Lee Fang: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.republicreport.org/2012/55million-koch-fronts/">Koch Operative Steered $55 Million To Front Groups Airing Ads Against Democrats; Ads Assailed Candidates Over Abortion, 9/11, Medicare</a>, Republic Report, May 19th, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-4">↑</a> Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/08/11697/americans-job-security-targets-wi-gop-senate-race-shadows">Americans for Job Security Targets WI GOP Senate Race, From the Shadows</a>, PRwatch, Aug. 10, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-5">↑</a> Andy Kroll, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/11/california-americans-responsible-leadership-donation-jerry-brown/">"California's Biggest 'Campaign Money Laundering' Scheme, Revealed- Kinda"</a>, "Mother Jones", November 5, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-6">↑</a> Ian Lovett, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/us/politics/california-lawsuit-seeks-names-of-political-donors.html?ref=politics&_r=0/">"California: Lawsuit Seeks Name of Political Donors"</a>, October 25, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-LA-7">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-LA_7-0">8.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-LA_7-1">8.1</a> Chris Megerian and Patrick McGreevy <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/11/koch-brothers-california.html/">"Disclosure by Arizona nonprofit shows ties to Koch brothers"</a>, LA Times Blog, November 5th, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-PRWatch-8">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-PRWatch_8-0">9.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-PRWatch_8-1">9.1</a> Brendan Fischer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/11/11845/california-elections-board-peels-back-layer-dark-money-onion-finds-more-onion/">"California Elections Board Peels Back Layer of Dark Money Onion, Finds More Onion"</a>, "PR Watch", November 6, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-9">↑</a> Novak, Viveca. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/center-to-protect-patient-rights-ga.html">Center to Protect Patient Rights Gave Millions in 2011 to Outside Spenders in Election</a> Accessed 12/17/2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-10">↑</a> Vivica Novak and Robert Macguire: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/05/cppr.html">Mystery Health Care Group Funneled Millions to Conservative Causes</a>, Opensecrets.org, Accessed Monday October 1st, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_ref-11">↑</a> Novak, Viveca. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/center-to-protect-patient-rights-ga.html">Center to Protect Patient Rights Gave Millions in 2011 to Outside Spenders in Election</a> Accessed 12/17/2012.</li>

</ol>

</div>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Category</a>:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Front_groups_portal" title="Category:Front groups portal">Front groups portal</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

=

According to CPPR's 2009 and 2010 tax filings, the group is run by Sean Noble, who Politico has described as a "Koch operative." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-politico-1">[2]</a> Noble was part of a group of GOP operatives who met regularly with Karl Rove’s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Crossroads" title="American Crossroads">American Crossroads</a> to target 120 House of Representatives races in 2010. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-politico-1">[2]</a> Nobel was hired by the Kochs to coordinate with other conservative Super PACs to target Democratic representatives in 2010. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-2">[3]</a> Other individuals associated with the group also have Koch ties. Consultant Cheryl Hillen has raised at least $2.6 million for the organization and was formerly director of fundraising for the Koch-backed Citizens for a Sound Economy (which later split into Americans for Prosperity and Freedomworks). One of CPPR's original directors, Heather Higgins, is chairwoman of the Independent Women's Forum, a climate change denialist group that has received Koch money and was previously run by a Koch lobbyist.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-3">[4]</a>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Concerned_Women_for_America" title="Concerned Women for America">Concerned Women for America</a> received a grant of $1.5 million in 2012.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_to_Protect_Patient_Rights#cite_note-4">[5]</a>

<div>ow is a table showing organizations that received money from both CPPR and TC4 Trust from 2009 until the end of 2010 (in TC4's case, mid-2011). The total comes to more than $41 million.

TC4's grantees in its second year, in addition to the groups already named, were Eleventh Edition LLC; Freedom Club; the Center for Shared Services; TRGN LLC; and Generation Opportunity. Little or no public information exists for some of those organizations. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>In its first year, other than Themis, TC4 gave money to just one other organization -- an LLC that, like many of its other grantees, has a name that is a jumble of letters. However, the name is smudged on the scanned copy of the 990 that OpenSecrets Blog has seen, though there are indications it may be connected to American Commitment.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>Disregarded, but not forgotten

"Disregarded entities" could be considered something like subsidiaries or affiliates of their parent organizations. They are not required to file separate federal tax returns. But in other ways they are treated as legally separate from the parent, and are sometimes used to protect the parent company from liability. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>And, perhaps more importantly in this case, disregarded entities can give grants under their own names to other groups, and the recipients need only list those disregarded entities -- not their parent organizations -- as donors. </div>

<div>

</div>

<div>That helps provide an additional layer of anonymity to any person or organization concerned, for whatever reason, about being identified as a donor.</div>

<div>

</div>

<div>The usefulness of these layers of cloaks to those fighting disclosure was apparent recently when the California Fair Political Practices Commission ordered an Arizona 501(c)(4) group, Americans for Responsible Leadership, to name its donors. Under court order, it did so, but little was unmasked. The group got its money from CPPR, which had received it from Americans for Job Security; both are also 501(c) organizations, and whoever or whatever was the original source of the funds remained hidden. The frustrated state agency called it a plain case of "money laundering."

The Koch connections

Links between many of the grantor and grantee groups and the Kochs are numerous and multilayered. For instance, Hamel, who ran TC4 in its first year and then became head of Public Notice, which received money from both of the larger groups, was a presenter at the 2010 edition of the brothers' annual gathering of conservative donors and groups.

Also at that meeting with Hamel -- a former Bush administration spokeswoman and frequent guest on Fox News -- were Sean Noble and Heather Higgins, two of the original board members of CPPR. Yet another of the original CPPR board members, Eric Novack, was a senior fellow at the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity.

<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/assets_c/2012/12/sean%20noble-10176.html"><img src="/f94061c2-f462-576d-af61-7010fb68c3ec.jpg"/></a>American Commitment, which also received money from the two large donor groups, was originally headed by CPPR president Noble. Later, Phil Kerpen took over; Kerpen is on the board of Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, which also was sent checks from the two major groups. The 60 Plus Association, the largest recipient of funds from TC4 and CPPR together and a big outside spender in 2010 ($7.1 million) and 2012 (4.4 million), is frequently reported to be on the receiving end of Koch money.

As for Themis, its 2010 revenue was $7.7 million, tax documents show. The three grants from TC4 total $6.8 million, almost all of its income. According to <a target="blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/07/koch-brothers-database-2012-election">The Guardian</a> newspaper, the Kochs set up Themis "with $2.5m of their seed money," which could correspond with TC4's first, $2.5 million grant to Themis. The organization's data work played a role in helping Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker beat back a recall attempt earlier this year, <a target="blank" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77453_Page2.html">Politico </a>reported, noting that Koch strategists discussed investing as much as $20 million in Themis. Its unknown whether the additional funds materialized, in part because the 990s that might provide clues have not been filed yet.

Themis' tax documents list a Paul W. Brooks as the sole trustee, which is the same name as that of a former Koch Industries senior vice president. Messages left for him were not returned. The group's chief operating officer, Ben Pratt, is a former Koch Industries executive, as well.

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Groups that are granted 501(c)(4) tax status by the IRS are supposed to be focused on "social welfare" causes; politics can't take up more than half their resources, as the rules have been interpreted over the years. Perhaps to reassure regulators that it is hewing to the law, TC4's most recent 990 contains a statement that reads, "Each grant recipient is required to sign a grant agreement, which among other things...provides that the grant funds shall not be used for political activity."

But tax attorney Owens is skeptical that the statement is a lock against all such activity by grantees. "My reaction is that we're not able to see the actual grant agreements. We don't know whether they require the recipients to report back" how they used the money, "or what the agreements provide if there is a violation of the terms. And we don't know how they define 'political.'"</div>

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And the language may not keep organizations from using money received from TC4 to give to still other politically active nonprofits, for instance -- which groups like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/04/for-friends-crossroads-helps-with-t.html">don't appear to consider</a> political spending.

There are still a number of mysteries about where how all the money in the TC4 and CPPR networks moves around, and at whose behest. </div>

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<div>But if it's not already perfectly clear that all the secrecy is no accident, a Salvador Dali quote on the <a target="_blank" href="https://ben-pratt.squarespace.com/blog/2012/12/15/its-not-guns-you-should-be-afraid-of">personal blog</a> of Themis COO and former Koch Industries executive Ben Pratt sums it up nicely: "The secret of my influence has always been that it has remained a secret."</div>

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<h2><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171055/could-attorney-general-kamala-harris-turn-tide-dark-money" title="Could Attorney General Kamala Harris Turn the Tide on Dark Money? ">Could Attorney General Kamala Harris Turn the Tide on Dark Money?</a></h2>

<div class="byline"><a href="http://www.thenation.com/authors/lee-fang">Lee Fang</a> <abbr class="published" title="2012-11-05T22:50:05-18000">on November 5, 2012 - 10:50 PM ET</abbr></div>

A major misstep by a conservative nonprofit has led to a dramatic turn of events in the Golden State. In what was first a case of a mysterious Arizona group laundering political money for two key ballot initiatives in California, the scandal may quickly evolve into a criminal investigation that could rock the foundations of Capitol Hill by unmasking the most prominent dark money slush fund in the country.

It’s all up to Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general, who was elected two years ago on a platform of getting tough on white-collar crime. Her office told <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/11/fppc-accuses-arizona-nonprofit-of-money-laundering.html" target="_blank">reporters</a> today that she is laying out the options for either a criminal or civil investigation into this major secret money group.

First, some background:

• On October 15, a mysterious nonprofit in Arizona called Americans for Responsible Leadership <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/496604/col-money-arl-response.pdf" target="_blank">cut</a>a stunning $11 million donation to a committee in California dedicated to defeating Prop 30 (a ballot initiative to raise taxes to fund the budget) and passing Prop 32 (an anti-union effort to ban payroll deductions), but didn’t disclose where that money came from. The move violated a brand new rule in California mandating that even 501(c) nonprofits disclose the source of their donations.

• Three days later, on October 18, Common Cause, a government watchdog, filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission asking for an inquiry. The commission, a state campaign finance regulator that puts the Federal Election Commission to shame with its aggressive pursuit of the public interest, took up the case and on October 25, advised Americans for Responsible Leadership that it had <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/496604/col-money-arl-response.pdf" target="_blank">25 hours</a> to comply with a request for information about the source of that $11 million check.

• Americans for Responsible Leadership hired Holtzman Vogel, a DC-area law firm retained for years by Karl Rove and other Republican leaders, to try to quash the FPPC’s requests, claiming at one point to a local judge that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision protected the group from having to disclose its donors. As the Sacramento judge <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/california-budget/ci_21899632/attorney-arizona-group-accuses-california-watchdog-group-trying" target="_blank">accurately</a> observed, the Citizens United decision did no such thing.

• In a surprise last week, an appellate judge, without comment, agreed with the Arizona group in preventing the FPPC from action. This forced a late minute <a href="http://www.contracostatimes.com/elections/ci_21915313/state-court-appeal-sides-shadowy-arizona-group-and" target="_blank">appeal</a> that led to an emergency decision by the California Supreme Court, which ruled 7-0 on Sunday to force disclosure.

And that brings us to the revelation this morning that Americans for Responsible Leadership received the <a href="http://www.sbsun.com/elections/ci_21932215/fppc-releases-names-donors-who-made-secret-11" target="_blank">$11 million from</a> Americans for Job Security, a trade association based in Virginia. Americans for Job Security, founded by two Republican operatives who now handle media-buys for Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC, is just another coin-operated front group. In the past, corporations have given it large sums in exchange for negative advertising in campaigns and lobbying efforts.

In the letter to regulators, Americans for Responsible Leadership conceded that Americans for Job Security in turn received the $11 million from yet another nonprofit, this one called Center to Protect Patients’ Rights.

The FPPC’s chair, Ann Ravel, says the trail of dummy nonprofits is a clear sign that the Arizona nonprofit behind the $11 million donation was <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/election2012/2012/11/05/state-watchdog-agency-accuses-arizona-group-of-money-laundering/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=state-watchdog-agency-accuses-arizona-group-of-money-laundering" target="_blank">engaged</a> in “campaign money laundering.” It’s obvious to anyone that Americans for Responsible Leadership is still playing shell games. The two nonprofits it disclosed do not give any real information about the individuals or corporations that provided the money for the $11 million check.

Here’s why this now gets very interesting.

As I reported <a href="http://www.republicreport.org/2012/55million-koch-fronts/" target="_blank">exclusively in May</a>, the Center to Protect Patients’ Rights—the group that is, at this point, the closest thing we know about the origin of the $11 million in California—is the hub for billionaire donors to funnel cash to attack ad campaigns across the country. Sean Noble, the president of the group, is a key deputy to the Koch brothers’ political machine. He helps run weekly meetings with other Republican Super PACs to coordinate spending. As head of the Center to Protect Patients’ Rights, he doles out checks to various nonprofits that in turn use that money to pummel Democrats with negative advertising.

Noble’s strategy centers on brand marketing. To appeal to Catholic voters, his group will cut a <a href="http://www.republicreport.org/2012/55million-koch-fronts/" target="blank">check</a> to a right-wing religious nonprofit, like the Susan B. Anthony List, to run ads accusing Democrats of supporting abortion. To make an appeal to elderly voters, the Center <a href="http://www.republicreport.org/2012/55million-koch-fronts/" target="blank">finances</a> a nonprofit called the 60 Plus Association to run ads accusing Democrats of cutting Medicare. The list goes on, from organizations dedicated to scare tactics against Muslim Americans to Tea Party groups, Noble has channeled billionaire cash to a stunning array of different fronts that then air nasty negative ads during elections. The public only sees the brand at the end of the commercial, but never the true source of the money. Quirks in nonprofit law allow even the most modest forms of disclosure—the transfers from one group to the next—to be kept secret until over a year after the election. That’s why we learned about the transfers during the midterm elections only this year.

Noble’s group completely altered the shape of Congress. During the 2010 election cycle, Noble’ group funneled some $55 million, which in conjunction with the US Chamber of Commerce’s $75 million, lifted House Republicans into the majority, radically shifting the balance of power in Washington, DC. This year, it’s pretty clear that shadow money groups active in federal elections across the country are again depending on this pool of untraceable money.

The right-wing billionaire clique, rumored to be the same <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/10/20/124642/beck-koch-chamber-meeting/" target="blank">group of tycoons</a> who attend the <a href="http://www.republicreport.org/2012/koch-meeting-indian-wells/" target="blank">posh Koch strategy conferences</a>, is obessed with secrecy. They were quick to <a href="http://www.republicreport.org/2012/koch-meeting-indian-wells/" target="_blank">kick me out</a> of one of their confabs earlier this year, and have used every legal instrument available to prevent their names from being revealed. Accordingly, Center for Protecting Patients’ Rights pushes the limits of campaign finance law, but rarely violates it.

Even in California, a nonprofit can avoid disclosure laws by claiming to only support issue advocacy.

That’s where the operatives messed up. The $11 million they financed in California went to an <a href="http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2012/10/the-11-million-gift-to-jerry-brown/" target="_blank">explicit campaign committee</a>, voiding any argument that the donation was in pursuit of an “issue” rather than a political campaign. There’s no grey area here; the money was part of a campaign donation, and its true donors, meaning the people behind the Center to Protect Patients’ Rights, must be disclosed.

Kamala Harris seems determined to pursue a criminal investigation. But will she?

The growing scandal resembles another eleventh-hour Koch campaign effort. In 1996, a resurgent Clinton administration came close to helping Democrats retake the House of Representatives. In the closing days of the 1996 election, a nonprofit group called Triad Management helped two other nonprofits air <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2004/07/15/5967/kochs-low-profile-belies-political-power" target="_blank">$3 million</a> in television ads in twenty-six House races and three Senate races. The money saved Speaker Newt Gingrich’s majority.

A subsequent <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105srpt167/pdf/CRPT-105srpt167-pt5.pdf" target="blank">investigation</a> <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2004/07/15/5967/kochs-low-profile-belies-political-power" target="blank">found</a> that more than half of the Triad money came from an organization funded by David and Charles Koch, and that the money was spent disproportionately in areas where Koch Industries owned refineries and pipelines. The investigation also <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2004/07/15/5967/kochs-low-profile-belies-political-power" target="_blank">found</a> that Koch Industries provided direct corporate money for the ads, an apparent violation of campaign finance law at the time.

At the time of the Senate investigation, Koch Industries had been building up its lobbying muscle to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/09/21/119973/koch-mike-pompeo/" target="_blank">combat charges</a> relating to over 300 oil spills caused by the corporation in the mid nineties.

Just as The Wall Street Journal reported on many Triad-related documents, Koch received help from its allies in DC. In October of 1997, Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN)—then, the chair of the Senate Government Affairs Committee—moved to cancel hearings into the investigation.

Today, the dynamics are different, but the core issue is the same. A Koch-group was caught violating the law, and there’s a chance to uncover the truth about one of the biggest secret money efforts in American history. It’s likely that Koch and these billionaires will do anything it takes to prevent this current scandal from growing.

Attorney General Harris will decide whether or not to pursue an investigation into the $11 million donation. The result of the effort may reveal who really purchased Congress for the last two years, and the next two.

Katrina vanden Heuvel recently made the case against dark money on MSNBC's Up with Chris Hayes. Watch <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171026/katrina-vanden-heuvel-dark-money-drowns-out-voice-people" target="_blank">here</a>.

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<div class="related-terms">Related Topics: <a href="http://www.thenation.com/section/campaign-finance">Campaign Finance</a> | <a href="http://www.thenation.com/section/election-2012">Election 2012</a> | <a href="http://www.thenation.com/section/politics">Politics</a></div>

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<a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171055/could-attorney-general-kamala-harris-turn-tide-dark-money">http://www.thenation.com/blog/171055/could-attorney-general-kamala-harris-turn-tide-dark-money</a>

june 12 election:

<h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle entry-title">debate over campaign regulation</h1>

Mercury News Editorial

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<div id="articleDate" class="articleDate">Posted:   06/05/2012 12:35:49 PM PDT</div>

Supporters and opponents of campaign finance reform usually agree that sunshine is important. But supporters say disclosure should be the starting point for regulation, while opponents say just reporting donations is enough.

This debate goes on but court rulings have made most regulation beyond requiring disclosure all but impossible. And a report on campaign donors by the Center for Investigative Reporting's California Watch only illuminates the problem.

In state elections over the past 11 years, the top 50 individual donors and the top 50 group contributors combined spent $1.25 billion to sway lawmakers and voters, says California Watch. That's about one-third of the political contributions in that

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Ctr to Protect Patients' Rights CPPR kch

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