CD's blog

Comparisons To Watergate Scandal Grow

Washington, DC -- Today, several watchdog groups dedicated to clean and transparent elections sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the improper use of tax exempt provisions to raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the 2010 midterm elections. The letter, written by Kevin Zeese, the groups’ attorney and spokesman, states that groups such as American Crossroads, American Future Fund, the Chamber of Commerce and others are violating tax law, campaign finance law and criminal law by creating tax exempt organizations to engage in partisan political activity without restriction or accountability. The letter can be found at http://www.velvetrevolution.us/images/Holder_Special_Prosecutor_Letter.pdf

October 25, 2010: Today, we announced a $20,000 reward for any hacker, computer scientist or IT specialist who can provide evidence that vote tabulation results were manipulated in such a way that the results changed the legitimate winner. The information must result in an arrest and conviction. Our announcement is posted on this Reward Poster. In short, evidence from past elections has pointed to tabulation manipulation by Karl Rove and GOP controlled operatives that may have changed the results of elections such as Ohio 2004 and Alabama 2002. See www.RoveCyberGate.com. In fact, in 2004, the Ohio Secretary of State election servers were suddenly re-routed to the GOP controlled servers at Smartech in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the results flipped from John Kerry to George Bush. Bush’s IT guru Mike Connell was responsible for setting up that manipulation with the assistance of Ken Blackwell, and Connell was later killed in a mysterious plane crash after he indicated he was ready to talk about the matter.

 Robert Rowling, the CEO of TRT Holdings (the owners of Gold's Gym), is spending quite a bit of money this election cycle. Using both his corporate and personal bank accounts, Rowling has given upwards of $2 million to Karl Rove's new organization, American Crossroads. In turn, that money has been used to support some of the most virulently anti-gay politicians in the country.

..."On Wednesday, for example, the watchdog groups Public Citizen and Protect Our Elections filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that the pro-Republican organization Crossroads GPS is violating federal campaign finance laws by claiming to be a nonprofit group rather than a political committee. A similar complaint was filed with the IRS earlier this month against Crossroads GPS, which was founded with the help of GOP political guru Karl Rove and is one of the leading spenders this year."...

Rove Group Operates As a Political Committee But Is Not Registered As One, Should Be Prosecuted, Says Public Citizen and Protect Our Elections

October 13, 2010: Moments ago progressive watchdog orgaizations Public Citizen and Protect Our Elections filed a complaint against Crossroads GPS, claiming that the 501c(4) is registered as a nonprofit organization, but is in fact a political committee and should be subject to the restrictions and disclosure rules for political committees.

October 7, 2010- One day since the Center For American Progress broke the story that not only is the US Chamber of Commerce funneling tens of millions of dollars into attack ads against Democrats, but has been receiving money from foreign corporations, and about 150 protestors are outside their headquarters in Washington DC. These people were not bussed in- The protest was arranged with less than 24 hours notice. They came from their offices on their lunch breaks to voice their disapproval of the Chamber’s meddling in politics.

October 5th, 2010- Two campaign finance watchdog groups-The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21- have filed a complaint with the IRS about Crossroads GPS- the 501(c)(4) subsidiary of Karl Rove's American Crossroads. The complaint requests an investigation into wheather the group has violated its non-profit status by criticizing candidates for office. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 are both non-partisan non-profit organizations working to lessen the influence of big money on politics, and advocating for tougher campaign finance laws. American Crossroads Watch has worked closely with The Campaign Legal Center in the preparation of the IRS complaint, and expects to be filing additional legal complaints with the Federal Elections Commission and the Department of Justice in the near future. 

In this first video, Need To Know explains how the Citizens United decision in January has altered campaign finance rules, and is allowing 501(c)(4) groups- funded by billionaires- to pose a grass roots organizations while running an avalanche of attack ads against Democratic incumbents:

Watchdog Group Hails Senate Finance Committee Request for IRS Investigation Into Activities of American Crossroads et al. for Misuse of 501c4 Status to Hide Donors and Engage in Prohibited Political Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The watchdog group, www.AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org, hails Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus for requesting that the Internal Revenue Service (1) survey major 501(c)(4), (c)(5) and (c)(6) organizations involved in political campaign activity to examine whether they are operated for the organization's intended tax exempt purpose and to ensure that political campaign activity is not the organization's primary activity, (2) examine if these political activities reach (a primary purpose level–) the standard imposed by the federal tax code – and if they do not, whether the organization is complying with the notice or proxy tax requirements of Section 6033(e), and (3) survey major 501(c)(4), (c)(5), and (c)(6) organizations to determine whether they are acting as conduits for major donors advancing their own private interests regarding legislation or political campaigns, or are providing major donors with excess benefits. See complete letter at http://www.velvetrevolution.us/images/Baucus_irs_tax_exempt_9_28_10.pdf

In the wake of the Citizens United decision in January, major nonprofit groups have been spending unprecedented amounts of money on political campaigns. The majority of these groups (and by far the majority of the money spent) represent conservative interests, and are funded by donors whose identities are kept secret. But on September 29th- thanks in part to the 6000+ voters who signed our letter to Congress Senator Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has written a letter to the IRS demanding an investigation into American Crossroads and other Super PACs, and asking the IRS to identify which tax laws they may have broken.