MB Public Affairs

Op-EdJim Newton: A mysterious inquiryPublic officials across L.A. County have been asked for information on the advocacy organization by a firm that specializes in "opposition research." But who's paying the bill?June 20, 2011|Jim NewtonLast month, scores of public officials across Los Angeles County opened their mail to find nearly identical requests for information: Members of the Los Angeles City Council and the county Board of Supervisors, the Community Redevelopment Agency and Community College District Board of Trustees, the city of Long Beach and untold others were asked to produce records relating to the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. It was the first blow, silently delivered, in what could be a nasty fight, of a sort that is becoming increasingly common in American and California politics.LAANE, as it's known, is an 18-year-old advocacy organization that seeks to fashion and influence public policy relating to jobs, the environment and community development. The group, widely perceived as having a strong liberal slant, has a staff of 45 people and an annual budget of $4 million, and it is headed by a shrewd executive director, Madeline Janis. Housed in a tiny suite of offices just west of downtown (LAANE rents the space from the union UNITE-HERE), its modest quarters give little evidence of its impact, which is profound. In project after project -- from winning passage of the city's Living Wage Ordinance to revamping the way the Los Angeles port handles truck traffic to reimagining the region's approach to recycling -- LAANE has shown itself to be one of Southern California's most potent political organizations.That has made it plenty of enemies, and one of them is now quietly but unmistakably striking back. The group that filed the requests for information under the California Public Records Act is called MB Public Affairs, a Sacramento-based operation that specializes in "opposition research," the art of ferreting out dirt on one's enemies. MB Public Affairs is headed by Mark Bogetich, a garrulous operative known to his friends as "Bogey," who has helped a number of Republican candidates neutralize their opponents. In recent years, MB Public Affairs has worked for Altria, once known as the Phillip Morris Cos.; the state Republican Party; Arnold Schwarzenegger; Meg Whitman; and California's Indian tribes, whose gambling receipts give them an intense interest in state and sometimes local politics.When MB Public Affairs filed more than 50 public records requests for information on LAANE, it was not a casual act. It was almost certainly intended to find something damaging, and it's costing someone serious money. One operative who knows this business well estimated the price of such a digging campaign at roughly $50,000.The requests submitted by MB Public Affairs sought calendars, details of any meetings between public officials and LAANE representatives and information about payments made to LAANE, among other things. LAANE heard about the requests from some of those who received them, and the group then made a public records request of its own in return, asking for copies of any information given to MB Public Affairs.Those documents are trickling into LAANE, and there are, Janis acknowledges, a few potentially embarrassing but insignificant tidbits. There are, for instance, exchanges between LAANE and Councilman Eric Garcetti in which a LAANE representative urges Garcetti to support union efforts at Hollywood and Vine and at airport hotels (its critics often charge that LAANE is a tool of organized labor; Janis makes no apologies for LAANE's alliances with labor but stresses that only about 15% of its money comes from unions). Janis also is concerned that LAANE's critics may charge that it exceeds federal or local limits on lobbying, an argument she's heard before and firmly denies.Some of the documents are just plain puzzling. In the batch that came from Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who has tangled with labor and Janis, there is a cryptic, handwritten note on the back of one page: "Janis Commissioner, unethical, illegal in tampering with local process."
What's most intriguing and unsettling at LAANE, however, is the anonymous nature of the probe.
There's a possibility that it's being bankrolled by business interests on the opposite side of an issue LAANE has taken on. Or it might be motivated by ideology, something akin to the attacks on labor in Wisconsin or on community organizing as practiced by ACORN: "Is this connected to a right-wing infrastructure??" Janis asked rhetorically. "That's what scares me and is keeping me up at night."I've known Janis for a decade. We haven't always agreed on everything, but she's nothing if not open; in response to my requests, she turned over volumes of material, even a private audit of her organization. LAANE's tax returns are on the Internet, as is Janis' salary and the organization's donors.MB Public Affairs, by contrast, is much more private. Bogetich told me last week that the firm was checking the accuracy of some of LAANE's claims, possibly including its lobbying reports, and is "looking at the extent to which LAANE has influence." But he declined to answer questions about who has hired his firm or what it is charging.Meanwhile, materials are piling up in MB Public Affairs' offices, to be released -- or not -- depending on what it finds. And Janis is left to wonder when that shoe might drop."We're used to a barroom fight," Janis said last week. "What they're doing is a mugging in a parking lot."
jim.newton@latimes.com404http://www.bgkstrategies.com/https://web.archive.org/web/20081206005249/http://www.bgkstrategies.com/bs<table width="749" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><tbody><tr><td width="734" height="400" class="b">BGK Strategies LLC is a Sacramento-based public affairs firm that provides clients a unique combination of political strategy, public policy expertise, research capabilities and communications skills. The firm provides consulting services to ballot measure committees, independent expenditure/federal 527 committees, issue advocacy efforts, trade associations, private business interests and non-profit organizations. Founded by Mark Bogetich, Lawrence Green and Michael Kahoe, BGK Strategies LLC also features Joe Shumate, one of California's most successful political strategists. The firm presents clients with the valuable advantage of aggressive and experienced principals, each with a proven track record of providing successful results.Bogetich, Green, Kahoe and Shumate are experts in the major issues that dominate today's headlines – environmental policy, health care and energy – as well as land use, real estate development, banking and insurance, among others. We have fought in some of the nation's toughest public affairs and political campaign battles. BGK Strategies LLC is dedicated to providing the highest level of service through direct principal involvement with each client and a commitment to excellence in everything we do.BGK Strategies LLC 1215 K Street, Suite 2150 Sacramento, California 95814 Phone: 916-443-1835 Fax: 916-441-2651 </td></tr><tr><td width="734" class="rsc"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081206005249/http://www.bgkstrategies.com/pps/pd/">Public Affairs</a> . <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081206005249/http://www.bgkstrategies.com/pps/r/">Research</a> . <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081206005249/http://www.bgkstrategies.com/pps/pr/">Communications</a></td></tr><tr><td width="734" class="foot">Copyright 2008 BGK Strategies LLC</td></tr><tr><td width="734" colspan="3" class="subfoot"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081206005249/http://www.bgkstrategies.com/pps/privacy.asp">Privacy Policy</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081206005249/http://www.bgkstrategies.com/pps/terms.asp">Terms of Use</a></td></tr></tbody></table>We found Mark Gerard Bogetich!Address HistorySacramento, CABronxville, NYSan Francisco, CACarmichael, CASan Carlos, CARelativesKatherine MerksamerThomas BogetichJennifer McConnellFrancesca BogetichShelly BogetichWorked atC2 Research IncC² Research, Inc. specializes in market research, intelligence collection and execution services to help clients create, manage and promote their brands in an increasingly competitive world. C² prides itself in being a boutique market research company with a vast international reach.Studied atGeorgetown UniversityUniversity Of California At Irvinelarry greena new public affairs firm in town. Political researcher Mark Bogetich is teaming up with Republican strategist Joe Schumate and a pair of "policy experts," Michael Kahoe and Lawrence Green in a company focusing on public affairs, initiative work and independent expenditure campaigns. The firm will be called <a href="http://www.bgkstrategies.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(13, 118, 186); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">BGK Strategies LLC</a>, Bogetich said.The new firm is located in the same office Bogetich has previously worked out of in the Esquire building.Kahoe served as deputy cabinet secretary under Gov. Pete Wilson and has been involved in policy world environmental regulation, including serving as deputy secretary in Cal/EPA. Green is the former executive vice president and lobbyist for the California Land Title Association.Schumate, an advisor to the firm," is a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Pete Wilson, a long-time Republican strategist. He is one of the men featured in the 2003 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324619/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(13, 118, 186); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">"Spinning Boris,"</a> a story of how three American political consultants directed Russian President Boris Yelstin's re-election campaign in 1996.According to his bio, Bogetich is a "political vulnerability researcher." That's a nice way of saying that he digs up dirt on his clients' political opponents.<div style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 1px; height: 1px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-transform: none; overflow: hidden;"> Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article2571813.html#storylink=cpy</div>eMeg Asks: What Does Jerry Have to Hide?
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010In the summer silly season of California’s 1990 campaign for governor, a  strategist for Dianne Feinstein used to say that running against Pete Wilson  was like “getting up every morning and having somebody throw marbles in front of you” all day.The description perfectly expressed the challenge of facing the aggressive, always-on-offense style of Republican Wilson’s camp, which worked assiduously to keep Democrat Difi constantly off balance before defeating her in November.The phrase came to mind Tuesday with word that Meg Whitman’s campaign  has filed a Public Records Act request seeking reams of documents at the state Department of Justice, ostensibly to discover if Attorney General Jerry Brown has been nefariously using state employees or resources to advance his bid for governor against eMeg.The request, formally made by Sacramento GOP oppo research consultant Mark Bogetich, came one day after Seema Metha did a feature in the L.A. Times, which examined the line that Brown must walk between his official duties and campaign activities; the piece presented no evidence that he’d crossed it, nefariously or otherwise.Rising with its usual, over-inflated self-righteousness, the eMeg Empire nonetheless pointed to Mehta’s story to explain its PRA demand, a cheap head fake used to justify a smart political play.The demand, which Brown’s office has 10 days to answer, is a tactical move to strew marbles in Krusty’s path, a distraction that interferes with his effort to gain some traction, let alone momentum, in at least three ways:
1-It pushes out the idea that Brown must be guilty of something – planting the suggestion that he’s committed some kind of official misconduct into both the campaign debate and the public consciousness (especially if Team Whitman throws some advertising dough behind it).
By putting Brown in the position of having to prove a negative, in a year when politicians are more subject than ever to perceptions of chicanery, it sets up a new line of attack over his character, at a time when his camp is trying to push a narrative that questions her personal integrity; as the money quote from eMeg spokeshuman Sarah Pompei announcing the PRA request  clearly shows, Whitman is already treating her so-far baseless suspicions as proven fact:After 40 years in politics, Governor Brown appears to be someone who will try to take advantage of his incumbency, even if it costs taxpayers money. Voters deserve to know what they’re spending on Jerry Brown’s personal P.R. campaign.”
Deserve to know “what they’re spending,” not “whether they’re spending,” mind you.
2-It opens the possibility that the records search might actually reveal something embarrassing or, at least, something commonplace that can be twisted to seem embarrassing.
The PRA letter from Bogetich  is actually pretty mundane: asking for hiring and payroll records, calendars and travel expense sheets (have a blast reading those maintenance logs for state cars, man) for DOJ employees who work on communications matters. Given Brown’s experience in office, and the micromanaging he does over anything involving media, it’s unlikely there are any bombshells there, but, hey, a girl can always hope.
Whatever else the PRA demand does, it creates a tiresome, day job distraction for Brown, his professional staff and his Merry Band of campaigners to locate, pull, examine and assess thousands of pages of boring documents, all of it time not spent plotting and running against eMeg.
3-It’s a brush back pitch that serves to warn Brown that he needs to be extremely careful in wielding the most effective weapon of his el cheapo campaign – the constant free publicity he receives from weighing in on every high-profile case, from Anna Nicole Smith to the Grim Sleeper, and suing every populist target from investment firms to health care insurers.
In putting Brown into a defensive posture, the move seeks to transform his greatest strength into a potential liability and make it harder for Krusty to frame the election as a referendum on Meg – and easier for her to make it about him.
It’s worth noting that Bogetich markets his firm by offering “political vulnerability research” that “helps clients…de-position opponents.” Orwell would be proud.
It’s also telling that he’s part of a broader oppo research division within the mighty Empire: in describing the operation a few months ago, Politico quoted an inside source who made a point we keep harping on:
We believe that (Brown) hasn’t undergone the rigors of modern campaigning. He hasn’t run a competitive race at this level since the early eighties. It’s a different news cycle than he has experienced. He’s incredibly skilled and incredibly talented. But this is a new challenge for him.
Not to worry Gandolf fans: he’ll gets things cranked up on the fax, as soon as the typeball gets replaced on the Selectric.
P.S. Things could be worse for Democrats.
If they had nominated Gavin Newsom instead of Brown, they would have had to contend with “vulnerability research” Bogetich was doing a while back on the cost of the only-in-San Francisco “Healthy Penis” campaign. (Answer: $122,575).http://blog.sfgate.com/cityinsider/2009/03/06/the-cost-of-the-healthy-penis-campaign/  STD'shttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-bogetich-45840921scrapeBill McGahayManaging Director Park Strategies LLC--
Aileen YunResearch Analyst at MB Public Affairs
Fred MainAdvocate Clear Advocacy
Eric GileAssistant Commercial Title Officer/ Commonwealth Land Title Company
Steve GallagherCommunity Outreach Manager at California Housing Finance Agency - Mortgage Assistance Corporation
Debbie LeHardyPresident, DL&Co., LLC
Jonathan ClayPresident/owner at JGC Government Relations, Inc
J. Ryan CogdillResearcher at MB Public Affairs<div></div><div>"Top national research firm" i.e. Mark Bogetich RT <a href="https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedBen" class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" data-mentioned-user-id="9532402" style="color: rgb(0, 132, 180); text-decoration: none; letter-spacing: 0.26px; line-height: 32px; white-space: pre-wrap; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">@BuzzFeedBen</a> Marco Rubio spent $20,000 doing oppo on himself</div>as in nielsen merksamer?http://www.saccds.org/board-trustees<h2 class="node-header node-item" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.saccds.org/profile/katherine-merksamer-88" title="Katherine Merksamer ‘88" style="outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; display: block;">Katherine Merksamer ‘88</a></h2><div class="node-content content node-item" style="line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Born and raised in Sacramento, Katherine attended SCDS through 8th grade, high school at El Camino, and Menlo College for a bachelor’s degree in humanities. She is a community volunteer, currently serving as the co-president of the Country Day parents’ association. Kathryn and her husband, Mark Bogetich, are parents of two daughters in the Country Day middle school.</div>==http://laane.org/images/stories/Fight_the_Right_June_2011/MB_Public_Affairs_Fact_Sheet.pdfMB Public Affairs Fact SheetMB Public Affairs is the current iteration of Mark Bogetich’s political consulting and oppositionresearch firm. With various California Republican operatives, he has previously run MBAssociates, CommandFocus, and BGK Strategies. In the past decade, these firms have billedover $4 million from conservative and Republican clients.iMB Public Affairs: Key Personnel? Mark Bogetich is in the top echelon of Republican strategists and consultants. He hasbeen called “the go-to guy for [the Republican] party,”ii “the only game in town,”iii and“highly regarded in Republican circles.”iv He reportedly has “managed throughout his career to keep his name below the radar.”v
 Andrew Davis has worked extensively for the Republican National Committee, theMcCain-Palin campaign, the Bush-Cheney re-election and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Heassisted in the confirmations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Courtand more recently has been an advisor to Sarah Palin.vi? Mike Donovan has worked for Governors Deukmejian and Wilson.vii? Michael Kahoe has worked in numerous positions in California Republicanadministrations, with a focus on environmental issues.viiiBogetich: Key Clients? California Republican Party? Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn.? Michael Huffington? Tom Campbell? Bill Jones? Bill Simon? Tom McClintock? Randy “Duke” Cunningham? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Carly Fiorina? Steve Cooley? Steve Poizner? Dan Lungren? Meg Whitman? Marco Rubio? Karl Rove (American Crossroads)? CA Chamber of Commerce? CA Tribes? Altria (formerly Philip Morris)? California Hospital Assn.? Assisted Living Federation of America? California Restaurant Assn.? California Land Title Assn.? American Chemistry Council? Yes on 8An allied GOP strategist describes Bogetich’s role: “Mark basically sits in the factory and manufacturesthe laser-guided precision munitions, and guys like me are the F-16 pilots that point them and dropthem.”x
Bogetich has previously used the PRA as part of his political strategy, though he has refused to discussthe topic, brushing off questions from the press: “I don’t discuss my public records act requests.”MB Public Affairs Fact Sheet

MB Public Affairs is the current iteration of Mark Bogetich’s political consulting and opposition

research firm. With various California Republican operatives, he has previously run MB

Associates, CommandFocus, and BGK Strategies. In the past decade, these firms have billed

over $4 million from conservative and Republican clients.i

MB Public Affairs: Key Personnel

 Mark Bogetich is in the top echelon of Republican strategists and consultants. He has

been called “the go-to guy for [the Republican] party,”ii “the only game in town,”iii and

“highly regarded in Republican circles.”iv

He reportedly has “managed throughout his

career to keep his name below the radar.”v

 Andrew Davis has worked extensively for the Republican National Committee, the

McCain-Palin campaign, the Bush-Cheney re-election and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He

assisted in the confirmations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court

and more recently has been an advisor to Sarah Palin.vi

 Mike Donovan has worked for Governors Deukmejian and Wilson.vii

 Michael Kahoe has worked in numerous positions in California Republican

administrations, with a focus on environmental issues.viii

Bogetich: Key Clientsix

 California Republican Party

 Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn.

 Michael Huffington

 Tom Campbell

 Bill Jones

 Bill Simon

 Tom McClintock

 Randy “Duke” Cunningham

 Arnold Schwarzenegger

 Carly Fiorina

 Steve Cooley

 Steve Poizner

 Dan Lungren

 Meg Whitman

 Marco Rubio

 Karl Rove (American Crossroads)

 CA Chamber of Commerce

 CA Tribes

 Altria (formerly Philip Morris)

 California Hospital Assn.

 Assisted Living Federation of America

 California Restaurant Assn.

 California Land Title Assn.

 American Chemistry Council

 Yes on 8

An allied GOP strategist describes Bogetich’s role: “Mark basically sits in the factory and manufactures

the laser-guided precision munitions, and guys like me are the F-16 pilots that point them and drop

them.”x

Bogetich has previously used the PRA as part of his political strategy, though he has refused to discuss

the topic, brushing off questions from the press: “I don’t discuss my public records act requests.”

x==The food industry really hates it when you compare them to Big Tobacco. They try to deny the negative association by claiming that food is different from tobacco. Of course that's true, but why are the same consultants who have worked for the tobacco industry now shilling for Big Food, opposing the ballot initiative that would require labeling of all foods containing GMO ingredients?

Hiring Secret Consultants for the Dirty Work

The latest financial <a href="http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/PDFGen/pdfgen.prg?filingid=1680146&amendid=0">filings</a> in California for the "<a href="http://www.noprop37.com/">No on 37: Coalition Against the Deceptive Food Labeling Scheme</a>" reveal a $7,500 payment to the Sacramento-based political consulting firm <a href="http://www.mbpublicaffairs.com/who-we-are/">MB Public Affairs</a>. Here is how The Los Angeles Times <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/20/opinion/la-oe-newton-column-20110620">described</a> the firm last year: "MB Public Affairs is headed by Mark Bogetich, a garrulous operative known to his friends as 'Bogey,' who has helped a number of Republican candidates neutralize their opponents. In recent years, MB Public Affairs has worked for Altria, once known as the Phillip Morris Cos." Bogetich has also been <a href="http://laane.org/images/stories/Fight_the_Right_June_2011/MB_Public_Affairs_Fact_Sheet.pdf">called</a> "the go-to guy for [the Republican Party]" and "the only game in town." The Los Angeles Times article explains how last year MB Public Affairs filed more than 50 Public Records Act requests to dig up dirt on a small but effective group called the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. No wonder, given that the organization has scored such important victories as a living wage for workers, which would threaten plenty of businesses.

But which ones? Who knows, because by hiring MB Public Affairs to do its dirty work, the food industry gets to keep its nose clean -- a classic Big Tobacco tactic. Well-known brands such as PepsiCo (which I <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-simon/pepsi-gmo-food_b_1749575.html">wrote about</a> last week) and Kraft don't want to be associated with negative campaigning, so they farm out the job to consulting firms. In this case, they went right to the top (or the bottom). Things are likely to get ugly.

Creating Front Groups for the Dirty Work

Another tactic honed by Big Tobacco is to form a front group that appears to be made up of small businesses and others, in order to give the impression of a grassroots campaign, but which is really funded by large corporations. This tactic, known as an <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf">Astroturfing</a>, is alive and well with "No on 37," which <a href="http://www.noprop37.com/page/q-and-a">describes</a> itself as a "broad coalition of family farmers, scientists, doctors, taxpayers, small businesses, labor, food companies, biotechnology companies and grocers."

Small farmers and small businesses? I don't see any listed on the "Who We Are" <a href="http://www.noprop37.com/page/who-we-are">page</a>. I do see many not-so-small trade groups representing numerous not-so-small corporations, some of them from outside California, including <a href="http://www.croplifeamerica.org/">CropLife America</a>, which is a trade group for the biotech and pesticide industry.

Also, the "No on 37" campaign is <a href="http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1344135&session=2011&view=expenditures">represented</a> by the law firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bell,McAndrews%26_Hiltachk,LLP" target="blank">Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk</a>, which has a sordid <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bell,McAndrews%26_Hiltachk,_LLP">history</a> of stealth tactics such as Astroturfing. And no wonder, with former <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/07/27/174754/prop23-tobacco/?mobile=nc">Phillip Morris outside council</a> Tom Hiltachk as the campaign's treasurer. (His firm's <a href="http://www.bmhlaw.com/">address</a> is listed on the <a href="http://noprop37.com/page.php?id=26">webpage</a> for where to send donations; you can't get much cozier with the "no" campaign than that.)

Hiltachk made this disingenuous <a href="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/2012/feb/02/gene-pool/">statement</a> about the GMO labeling initiative back in February: "Farmers and food producers strongly oppose this costly, ill-conceived labeling proposition." There are those invisible farmers again.

No stranger to California politics, Hiltachk's firm represents the California Republican Party and helped make Arnold Schwarzenegger governor by orchestrating the statewide recall campaign against former Governor Gray Davis.

According to <a href="http://www.polluterwatch.com/thomas-w-hiltachk">PolluterWatch</a>, Tom Hiltachk and his firm are well-known for creating front groups that promote or attack ballot initiatives at the behest of the firm's wealthy corporate clients: "In the past Hiltachk has attacked anti-smoking initiatives while being paid by major tobacco corporations."

And this scathing article at <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/07/27/206482/smelling-a-chance-to-burn-oil-money-tobacco-lobbyists-orchestrate-effort-to-repeal-ca-clean-energy-law/">ThinkProgress</a> from 2010 describes Hiltachk's attempt to repeal California's clean energy policy and says his "under-the-radar tactics of shifting money around and using phony groups are nothing new." Specifically:

<blockquote>During the eighties and nineties, Hiltachk and his law partners helped the tobacco industry, with funding from Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, coordinate a variety of stealth front groups. While his law firm received over a million from tobacco interests, Hiltachk <a href="http://tobaccodocuments.org/nysa_ti_s2/TI14131741.html">helped organize</a> "Californians for Smokers' Rights," a supposedly "grassroots" group that relied on tobacco industry consumer lists to mobilize opposition to <a href="http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/tobacco/Pages/CTCPLegislativeMandateforTobaccoControl-Prop99.aspx">anti-smoking initiatives</a>.</blockquote>

Another Big Tobacco front group Hiltachk's firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bell,McAndrews%26_Hiltachk,_LLP#Representing_Front_Groups">managed</a> was "Californians for Fair Business Policy," which fought local efforts to enact smoke-free bans in California in the early 1990s.

This is going to be a busy election season for Hiltachk, as he is also the mastermind behind the deceptive <a href="http://educationviews.org/could-california-go-the-scott-walker-way/">union-busting</a> Proposition 32, about which a local California <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/if-you-liked-citizens-united-youll-love-prop-32/Content?oid=3306130">paper writes</a>: "[I]f you liked Citizens United, you will love Prop 32." As The New Yorker <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2007/08/06/070806taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz1wvtKDXOB">sums it up</a> in an article describing the firm's shady operations: "They specialize in initiatives that are the opposite of what they sound like."

Another group with Big Tobacco origins now spreading lies about the GMO labeling initiative is the unsubtle front group California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, whose executive director recently <a href="http://www.flashreport.org/blog/featured-columns-library0b.php?faID=2012080707153514">warned</a> us to "beware of trial lawyers lurking in your food." (It seems lawyers are scarier than altering the genetic code of the food supply.) According to the Center for Media and Democracy's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_Against_Lawsuit_Abuse">Sourcewatch</a>, Philip Morris is a primary funder of various Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse groups, which, under the guise of tort reform, aim to make it harder to bring lawsuits for problems caused by hazardous products.

Doubt Is Their Product

In sum the food industry, to oppose a simple labeling law, is hiring lawyers and consultants with ties to the tobacco industry, to deploy stealth tactics such as creating front groups, digging up dirt on opponents, and spreading outright lies.

For decades the tobacco industry and its shills hid the truth by deploying its most effective weapon: manufacturing doubt about the health hazards of smoking. How many millions of Americans died as a result of Big Tobacco's deceptive and cynical campaign? Why would we trust these same operators now?

You can hardly blame industry for calling on such shady characters. Big Food has seen the polling data showing that more than <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/labelgmos/pages/2602/attachments/original/1343756416/Mellman-Survey-Results_3.12.pdf?1343756416">90 percent of consumers</a> want to see GMO foods labeled. When you don't have the people or the truth on your side, all you have left is playing dirty.

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-simon/big-tobacco-shills-trying-to-stop-gmo-labeling-in-california_b_1773772.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-simon/big-tobacco-shills-trying-to-stop-gmo-labeling-in-california_b_1773772.html</a>

srcwtch stubCalifornians for Fair Business Policy was a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tobacco_Institute" title="Tobacco Institute" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Tobacco Institute</a>-created <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Front_group" title="Front group" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">front group</a> based in Long Beach, California, formed to fight local efforts to enact smoking restrictions in California in the early 1990s. CBFP conducted referenda on existing bans, in attempts to weaken or repeal them.Bob McAdam, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tobacco_Institute" title="Tobacco Institute" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Tobacco Institute</a>'s Vice President for Special Projects described the industry's efforts to oppose smoke-free laws, stating,<blockquote style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While the industry has coordinated the process, we have effectively used surrogates throughout this effort, and we have several organizations started which serve to facilitate the organization of local interests. These entities provide us with the negotiation necessary to limit our referenda exposure. First, we have created Californians for Fair Business Policy, which is the name given to our operation that has conducted the various referenda....<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Californians_for_Fair_Business_Policy#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a></blockquote><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);">References</h2><ol class="references" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Californians_for_Fair_Business_Policy#cite_ref-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/mwv02f00" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" transform="transform" translate="translate" crect="Crect" x="x" y="y" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" m831.194="M831.194" h5.234v5.391l-1.571="h5.234v5.391l-1.571" z="z" m835.424="M835.424" l.022="l.022" fg="Fg" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">McAdam RS. “Memorandum to Kurt L. Malmgren. November 27, 1991</a>” Tobacco Institute Bates Number TIMN 0022833/839.</li></ol><tdo>resource_id=24868 resource_code=californians_for_fair_business_p search_term=Californians for Fair Business Policy</tdo>==

MB Public Affairs Fact Sheet

MB Public Affairs is the current iteration of Mark Bogetich’s political consulting and opposition research firm. With various California Republican operatives, he has previously run MB Associates, CommandFocus, and BGK Strategies. In the past decade, these firms have billed over $4 million from conservative and Republican clients.i

MB Public Affairs: Key Personnel

 Mark Bogetich is in the top echelon of Republican strategists and consultants. He has been called “the go-to guy for [the Republican] party,”ii “the only game in town,”iii and “highly regarded in Republican circles.”iv He reportedly has “managed throughout his career to keep his name below the radar.”v

 Andrew Davis has worked extensively for the Republican National Committee, the McCain-Palin campaign, the Bush-Cheney re-election and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He assisted in the confirmations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court and more recently has been an advisor to Sarah Palin.vi

 Mike Donovan has worked for Governors Deukmejian and Wilson.vii

 Michael Kahoe has worked in numerous positions in California Republican administrations, with a focus on environmental issues.viii

Bogetich: Key Clientsix

 California Republican Party

 Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn.

 Michael Huffington

 Tom Campbell

 Bill Jones

 Bill Simon

 Tom McClintock

 Randy “Duke” Cunningham

 Arnold Schwarzenegger

 Carly Fiorina

 Steve Cooley

 Steve Poizner

 Dan Lungren

 Meg Whitman

 Marco Rubio

 Karl Rove (American Crossroads)

 CA Chamber of Commerce

 CA Tribes

 Altria (formerly Philip Morris)

 California Hospital Assn.

 Assisted Living Federation of America

 California Restaurant Assn.

 California Land Title Assn.

 American Chemistry Council

 Yes on 8

An allied GOP strategist describes Bogetich’s role: “Mark basically sits in the factory and manufactures the laser-guided precision munitions, and guys like me are the F-16 pilots that point them and drop them.”x

Bogetich has previously used the PRA as part of his political strategy, though he has refused to discuss the topic, brushing off questions from the press: “I don’t discuss my public records act requests.”xi

i Based on filings with the California Secretary of State’s Office. Together, MB Associates, CommandFocus, BGK Strategies and MB Public Affairs have $3,808,970 in billings. This does not include billings for non-electoral clients, who do not have to record payments.

ii San Jose Mercury News, “Dirt diggers mine candidates’ past,” October 24, 2002.

iii San Jose Mercury News, “Dirt diggers mine candidates’ past,” October 24, 2002.

iv Roll Call, “LaRocco and roll,” June 21, 2007.

v Roll Call, “LaRocco and roll,” June 21, 2007.

vi Website of MB Public Affairs (http://www.mbpublicaffairs.com/who-we-are/), accessed June 9, 2010; New York Times Magazine, “The Palin network,” November 17, 2010.

vii Website of MB Public Affairs (http://www.mbpublicaffairs.com/who-we-are/), accessed June 9, 2010.

viii Website of MB Public Affairs (http://www.mbpublicaffairs.com/who-we-are/), accessed June 9, 2010.

ix Culled from various press accounts as well as filings with the California Secretary of State’s office.

x San Jose Mercury News, “Dirt diggers mine candidates’ past,” October 24, 2002.

xi San Francisco Chronicle, “GOP Gov candidate Meg Whitman did register to vote in SF,” October 20, 2009.
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