Friday, October 18, 2013
"wizard" behind koch brothers donor network now on the outs...,
HuffPo | The high premium that Koch-backed groups attach to preserving donor
anonymity was underscored in a previously undisclosed email that Kevin
Gentry, the lead organizer of the Kochs’ twice-a-year donor meetings,
sent out to scores of financial backers in September, right after
Freedom Partners President Marc Short leaked key details of its IRS filing
to Politico. The filing revealed that Freedom Partners has become a
super conduit for funding many of the same conservative allies as the
Center to Protect Patient Rights, plus others like the National Rifle
Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of
Independent Business.
“As always, the confidentiality of members is a major priority for
us,” Gentry’s email said. “So just to be clear -- filing these tax
documents in no way publically [sic] discloses the names or other
details of donors.”
Significantly, Gentry stressed that Freedom Partners was set up as a
business league or 501(c)(6) -- similar to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
-- with a tax status that “provides additional safeguards,” since
“members' names are not disclosed to the IRS.”
The importance of anonymity to some donors has increased since last
fall’s elections when two California agencies began probing possible
violations of a state election law by Noble’s center and two other
nonprofits that also don’t disclose their donors. In California, the
state's attorney general and its Fair Political Practices Commission
have been looking into how the three nonprofits funneled $11 million to a small-business PAC in the state, which spent the funds on an unsuccessful drive to sway two ballot measures.
One ballot measure would have curbed union spending, while the other
would have blocked a tax hike backed by the governor. Under California
law, donors to state initiative campaigns are supposed to be fully
disclosed, and the probe is seeking to ferret out the real source of the
$11 million.
The inquiry has been heating up, with an increased focus on possible
criminal wrongdoing, according to two people familiar with its progress,
and could potentially lead to millions of dollars in civil penalties
and criminal charges. In recent weeks, additional subpoenas have been
issued and new cooperation has come from some witnesses, the two
individuals said. Some of that cooperation seems to be “adverse” to
Noble’s center and parts of the Koch donor network, according to one of
the two sources.
At least one donor who has been touched by the probe had previously
helped fund some Koch-backed projects. Charles R. Schwab, chairman of
the eponymous investment firm Charles Schwab Corp., or an entity
connected to him has received a subpoena, according to an individual
familiar with the probe. Charles Koch, speaking at a Koch conference in
2011, cited Schwab as one of about 30 donors who had kicked in $1
million or more in the prior year to Koch-backed causes.
A spokesperson for Schwab declined to comment. Rob Tappan, a Koch
Industries spokesman, has said that the company had no financial or
other role with the two California measures, and stressed that he was
speaking for the Kochs and not “independent entities” such as Noble’s
center. Both the California attorney general’s office and the Fair
Political Practices Commission declined to comment. Koch Industries, a
vast manufacturing and energy conglomerate, is the nation’s
second-largest privately owned company, with annual sales of about $100
billion and 70,000 employees worldwide.
By
CNu
at
October 18, 2013
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Labels: elite , establishment , hegemony
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