gps

=this is a tag; see Am Crossroads, Rove and rove2<a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/11/17/pro-koch-cbs-analyst-received-15-million-from-t/206918">http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/11/17/pro-koch-cbs-analyst-received-15-million-from-t/206918</a>A newly-released IRS filing reveals that a central group in Charles and David Koch's financial network paid CBS News analyst Frank Luntz's firm roughly $1.5 million in 2014 for messaging work. Luntz recently used his CBS platform to praise Koch donor conference attendees as symbolizing "the American dream," and defend the Kochs' spending -- without disclosing that he's benefited from their largesse.
Koch Organization Paid Frank Luntz's Firm Roughly $1.5 Million
Politico: Freedom Partners Chamber Of Commerce Is The "Central Group" In The Koch Brothers' Financial Network. Politico's Ken Vogel wrote that Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce is the "central group in the increasingly powerful network of conservative public policy and political groups helmed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch." Freedom Partners was created in 2011 and "raised $162 million in 2013 and 2014. Three quarters of that haul came in last year, almost entirely from six-figure membership dues of wealthy donors who the Kochs convene twice a year for summits that highlight the virtues of fiscally conservative, small government policies -- and that raise money for groups and candidates who support those policies." [Politico, 11/17/15]
Freedom Partners Paid Luntz Global LLC Roughly $1.5 Million In 2014. An IRS filing for Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, publicly released on November 17, said that the Koch organization paid Luntz Global LLC $1,496,879 for market research in 2014. Luntz is the founder and president of Luntz Global. [FreedomPartners.org, accessed 11/17/15, LuntzGlobal.com, accessed 11/17/15, via Politico]
Luntz Is A Regular Attendee At Koch Donor Seminars. Politico wrote that Luntz is "a regular guest at Koch donor seminars." This past summer, Luntz reportedly attended "a closed-door gathering of major conservative donors in Southern California ... which was organized by the political network helmed by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch." [Politico, 11/17/15, 8/18/15]
Mother Jones: Luntz Provides "Message Advice" For Koch Network. Campaign finance reporter Peter Stone wrote in Mother Jones of Luntz:  
GOP operatives say that Luntz also provided message advice for Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners, the fundraising hub for the Koch network, for critical ad campaigns in Senate battleground states. "The Koch team seeded these Democratic Senate seats early with powerful anti-Obama and anti-Obamacare ads," one operative told me. (AFP told me its policy is not to comment on whether someone is a consultant; Freedom Partners failed to respond to my inquiries for this story.) [Mother Jones, 12/8/14]
Luntz Praised Koch-Backed Work In 2014 And 2015
Luntz Defended Koch Brothers In August 2015 Appearance. On August 3, CBS This Morning hosted Luntz to talk about the influence of the Koch brothers. CBS began the segment by identifying him as a "Republican strategist" and "CBS News contributor." Luntz said he was going to be speaking to participants at the Koch gathering, but he and CBS did not disclose any details about their financial relationship. Luntz used his appearance to defend the Kochs, stating that the people who attend the Koch conference are examples of "the American dream that`s all brought into one place at one time." Federal Lawsuit Filed Against FEC Seeks to Shed Light on Karl Rove's 'Dark Money' DonorsBy ERNEST A. CANNING on 2/3/2014, 6:05am PT  With Brad Friedman...
After a recent three-to-three decision by a partisan-deadlocked Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Karl Rove may have thought he was off the hook for federal campaign finance violations by his Crossroads GPS organization. Two non-profit, good government groups, however, feel differently. Last Friday, they filed a federal lawsuit [PDF] against the FEC in hopes of forcing the agency to reverse its ruling, revisit the complaint against his group's 2010 electioneering, and to enforce federal campaign finance rules as specified by law.
Late last Friday, Attorneys from the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center and the Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a civil complaint against the FEC in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C.
The suit seeks to reverse what the plaintiffs describe as an "arbitrary" and "capricious" decision by the three Republican FEC Commissioners, in contradiction of the advice of their own staff attorneys, to dismiss the administrative complaint the groups had filed against Rove's organization. That administrative complaint charged that Rove's group violated federal campaign finance law during the 2010 election cycle.
The votes by the three Republican FEC Commissioners effectively quashed any further official investigation into the allegations that Rove's group violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) when it spent the majority of its money during the 2010 election cycle on electioneering, but failed to register as a "political committee" with the FEC, as required by law. Their decision to shut down the investigation came after what the FEC's own staff attorneys found to be a likely violation of the federal campaign finance law.
By dismissing the administrative complaint and shutting the door on the investigation, the Republican FEC Commissioners not only allowed Rove to keep, as a secret, the identity of donors of tens of millions of dollars used to support Republican Congressional campaigns in 2010, but effectively offered Rove carte blanche to conceal donor identities with respect to monies spent in subsequent elections, such as the 2012 election cycle in which Crossroads GPS "spent at least $71 million on federal campaign activity," according to the newly filed federal complaint.
The plaintiffs charge that the FEC's deadlock was the result of "an impermissible interpretation of FECA," and the agency's own published guidelines due to an "abuse of discretion" by the Republican commissioners in a manner that was "otherwise contrary to law"...Shell Game
While the suit was filed last week, the intention to file was first announced by Craig Holman, the Government Affairs Lobbyist for Public Citizen's Congress Watch, during an interview last month with Brad Friedman...http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10491
Three Texas tycoons are responsible for more than half the funds that conservative super PAC American Crossroads has raised since it was founded by top GOP strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie in 2010.Harold Simmons, Bob Perry and Robert Rowling have collectively donated $30.5 million, or just over 54 percent, to the high-profile super PAC either personally or through their corporate accounts, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Internal Revenue Service and Federal Election Commission filings.