AshBritt
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</span></font><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/a-shady-pro-trump-super-pac-at-the-heart-of-the-ukraine-scandal-has-been-raising-alarms/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/a-shady-pro-trump-super-pac-at-the-heart-of-the-ukraine-scandal-has-been-raising-alarms/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A shady pro-Trump super PAC at the heart of the Ukraine scandal has been raising alarms</b></font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Mike Spies, Derek Willis / ProPublica October 18, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ProPublica</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last year, a Department of Defense contractor quietly donated half a million dollars to a group supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Once a watchdog organization noticed it, the contribution raised an alarm. Federal contractors are not allowed to donate to political entities. And groups are required by law to examine all donations for potential legal issues. If they discover that a contractor has made a contribution, the money has to be returned.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The other unusual aspect of the donation was the man behind it. </font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Randy Perkins, the founder of DOD contractor AshBritt Environmental,</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> had no history of six-figure contributions to federal political groups, although he has been a regular donor to Republicans for the past 15 years. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 2016.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The watchdog group pointed out that the money came in a day after AshBritt won a supplemental contract award worth $460,000 from the DOD for wildfire cleanup, bringing its contract total to about $1.7 million.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked about the donation, Perkins said he had meant to make a personal donation to express his support for specific Trump policies: “<b>I actually think this administration cares deeply about children and mental health issues.</b>” He said the contract extension had nothing to do with the contribution.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">America First Action, the Trump super PAC that accepted the donation, adjusted its report on the source of the funds only after the watchdog group, the <b>Campaign Legal Center, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.</b> Since America First’s creation in 2017, it has refunded just a fraction of 1% of all the funds it has raised.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you’ve been hearing about America First recently, it’s likely because two associates of presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani were arrested on allegations that they illegally funneled money to the group.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But that case is not the only problem that has ensnared the PAC as its role in backing Republican candidates has grown.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In another instance, the American subsidiary of a Canadian company made three donations totaling $1.75 million to America First in 2018. In another complaint, the Campaign Legal Center questioned the source of the donation and alleged tha<b>t Wheatland Tube LLC</b> may have violated laws against foreign nationals contributing to federal campaigns. The company declined to comment on the matter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last year, Common Cause, the political reform group, asked the FEC to determine whether the Trump campaign had illegally coordinated with America First and America First Policies, a related group that can raise money without disclosing its donors. The complaint alleged that the president and his campaign were improperly soliciting contributions for the two entities.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The FEC has not acted on any of these complaints to date, and it currently lacks a quorum to vote on enforcement actions proposed by its staff.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The number of complaints is pretty remarkable,” said Ann Ravel, a Democrat who served as chair of the FEC in 2015.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">America First communications director Kelly Sadler told ProPublica that the group takes its obligations seriously and goes to great lengths to comply with the law.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The PAC has denied any wrongdoing in the criminal case against the Giuliani associates. Sadler said the contribution at the heart of the indictment has been placed in a segregated account and will remain there “until these matters are resolved and a court determines the proper disposition of the funds.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a super PAC, America First can take unlimited donations from corporations and individuals. In return, it is not supposed to coordinate with campaigns, which are restricted in the amount of donations they may accept.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">America First has raised more money to support Trump’s reelection than any super PAC. It is currently chaired by Linda McMahon, and it has raised nearly $50 million over the last two years, including about $9 million in this election cycle to reelect Trump.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Its affiliated nonprofit group, America First Policies, was co-founded by Brad Parscale, now the president’s campaign manager.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive, until March was a member of the president’s cabinet, overseeing the Small Business Administration. She also donated $1 million to the PAC, whose public filings show 19 donations of at least $1 million.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The PAC’s top donors include casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Geoffrey Palmer, a billionaire California developer. Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who run a shipping supplies company, donated half a million dollars each.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 2018 election, America First spent more than $29 million supporting Republican candidates in House and Senate races. <b>Former Texas Rep. Pete Sessions</b>, a powerful GOP leader, received heavy backing from the PAC — $3 million toward a contest he would go on to lose.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The $500,000 donation attributed to AshBritt was among a flood of big donations coming into the PAC in the spring of 2018. The company, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, does disaster cleanup work.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Campaign Legal Center’s complaint got little attention. Under FEC rules, a committee has 30 days to confirm the legality of a questionable donation or to refund it; nearly three months passed before the PAC amended its filing to show the donation as being made directly by Perkins.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perkins said he tried to rectify the matter by providing “all paperwork to the FEC” and resubmitting forms to America First stating that the funds were in fact drawn from a corporate account that would later be taxed as personal income.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“When I wrote the check, I cleared it with America First,” Perkins told ProPublica.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perkins acknowledges that the optics of his America First donation are less than ideal.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The facts might be a problem,” he said. “But they are facts.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A few weeks after Perkins’ donation, the PAC received $325,000 from Global Energy Partners,</b> the Florida energy company that is now at the center of a presidential impeachment inquiry. The PAC was referred to as “Committee 1” in the federal indictment of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who pleaded not guilty on charges that they donated to try to advance their energy business in Ukraine in an arraignment this week.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The two men, according to the indictment, were key characters in a coercion campaign to recall the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, which they believed would pave the way for an investigation into Trump’s Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The indictment also alleges that Fruman and Parnas promised to fundraise for Sessions. Around the same time, Sessions wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging Yovanovitch’s ouster.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sessions, who is now running for Congress in a new district, did not respond to messages from ProPublica. In a statement issued on his behalf, he acknowledged meeting with the two Florida businessmen several times but said he took no action on their behalf.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sessions denied that his letter to Pompeo was directly related to the meetings.</b> He said he will donate the contributions Parnas and Fruman gave to his campaign to Texas charities.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The two men, according to the indictment, were key characters in a coercion campaign to recall the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, which they believed would pave the way for an investigation into Trump’s Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The indictment also alleges that Fruman and Parnas promised to fundraise for Sessions. Around the same time, Sessions wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging Yovanovitch’s ouster.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sessions, who is now running for Congress in a new district, did not respond to messages from ProPublica. In a statement issued on his behalf, he acknowledged meeting with the two Florida businessmen several times but said he took no action on their behalf.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sessions denied that his letter to Pompeo was directly related to the meetings. He said he will donate the contributions Parnas and Fruman gave to his campaign to Texas charities.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Do you have information about America First Action? Contact Mike at michael.spies@propublica.org, Derek at derek.willis@propublica.org, or David at David.McSwane@propublica.org. Here are other ways to contact us securely.</font></div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2003, Allbaugh and Barbour opened a lobbying firm called </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">New Bridge Strategies, funded by the BGR group, named for Barbour and former President HW Bush assistants Lanny Griffiths and Ed Rodgers</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. BGR had also delivered many $100s of millions in Katrina contracts for its clients, including $568 million for Florida firm Ash-Britt, one of </span><a href="http://www.nationalcorruptionindex.org/pages/profile.php?profile_id=229" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jeb Bush’s</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> big fans.</span><br style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><br style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Allbaugh is Board Chairman of New Bridge Strategies. Its CEO is <a href="http://www.nationalcorruptionindex.org/pages/profile.php?profile_id=196" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Jamal Daniel</a>, a longtime benefactor of President Bush’s oft-scandalized brother<b> Neil. Neil himself is listed as a Consultant to New Bridge Strategies.</b></font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Courier New">Maybe that’s why <b>AshBritt </b>Inc., didn’t hire Allbaugh. Instead, the Florida-based environmental services firm hired Barbour Griffith-and was selected by the Army Corps of Engineers to help lead the Katrina clean-up effort.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The contract, worth $568 million, was signed before the hurricane hit.</span> </font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Courier New">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Courier New">Interestingly, back in 2002, when an ice storm hit Allbaugh’s native Kay County, Oklahoma, Allbaugh arranged a conference call with county officials, who ended up choosing the Florida-based AshBritt over other firms with much lower competing bids. (AshBritt has been much in the news in recent weeks, with a plethora of pointed local articles raising questions about the company’s operations, its candor, and its spectacular growth during the Bush years – all through its lucrative contracts to <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">subcontract </span>to other firms that do most of the actual clean-up work.)</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Courier New">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Courier New">AshBritt’s president, Randal R. Perkins, said in an interview that he did not recall the 2002 conference call, and noted that his firm doesn’t deal directly with FEMA. “FEMA doesn’t contract directly, they just pay the bills,” he said. As for Allbaugh, Perkins said, “I know him, but I wouldn’t say that we are friends.”</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">Contributions, questions</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">In July 2010, Mr. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Christie</span> and BGR hosted a Washington, D.C., fundraiser for the New Jersey Republican State Committee. A BGR client<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, Amgen </span>Inc., co-hosted the event, which aimed to raise around $45,000, according to documents obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">Mr. Rogers hosted a fundraiser for Mr. Christie in 2013, and BGR hosted another such event for him four months ago, according to NJ Advance Media, a newspaper chain.</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">“The employees of BGR, a bipartisan government and public relations firm, are welcome to participate in political activity on their own time with candidates they support,” wrote Mr. Monroe, the BGR government affairs principal.</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Christie’s ties to BGR and the RGA drew scrutiny in 2012 and 2013 after a BGR client, Ashbritt Inc., got an emergency contract to remove debris after Hurricane Sandy. Ashbritt has also been a regular donor to both the RGA — including a $50,000 contribution a week after the hurricane — and the Democratic Governors Association.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman">sandy christie</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local//new-jersey/51470-fleeced-taxpayers-should-follow-the-money-in-the-ashbritt-scandal"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local//new-jersey/51470-fleeced-taxpayers-should-follow-the-money-in-the-ashbritt-scandal</font></a></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gov. Chris Christie’s office has asked the state comptroller to investigate whether the emergency contractor hired to clear the wreckage after superstorm Sandy padded its mileage reports to boost its payments.</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;"><span class="pp"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Recovery & Rebuilding, sent a letter to Comptroller Matthew Boxer dated Tuesday asking him to look into the matter, which was first addressed in a story published last Sunday by The Record of Bergen County.<span class="aa" /></font></span></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;"><span class="pp"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The story raised questions about whether AshBritt Inc. accurately reported the distance it drove to deposit some of the debris it collected. The company charges $21.25 per cubic yard for debris driven 15 miles or less and $30 per cubic yard for waste driven 16 to 30 miles.<span class="aa" /></font></span></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;"><span class="pp"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As you know, allegations of potential wrongdoing surfaced in media reports over recent days concerning the hauling and/or billing practices of AshBritt Inc., in connection with post-Superstorm Sandy debris removal work performed for several Ocean County communities,” Ferzan wrote.</font></span></p></div></div>