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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    A rare look inside the Koch brothers political empire

    A rare look inside the Koch brothers political empire


    • BY MATEA GOLD
    • February 5 at 2:19 pm


    The labyrinthian design of the political network backed by the Koch brothers and their fellow conservative donors serves several purposes, but one of the biggest is to ensure the privacy of its financial backers.

    As we detailed last month, the money flows through a complex maze of tax-exempt groups and limited liability corporations, creating multiple barriers that shield the identities of the donors. Such anonymous contributions should be allowed, Charles Koch has argued, to protect people from the attacks that he and his brother David and their company have fielded. Critics say the Kochs and their allies seek to influence elections without accountability.

    Following the Koch Brothers political empire.

    Now a document published by Mother Jones provides a rare glimpse inside the closely held network. The spreadsheet -- apparently left behind by a guest who attended a recent Koch-sponsored donor seminar at a resort outside Palm Springs – lists the names of more than 40 top donors, along with the senior Koch officials they met with during the three-day conclave.

    This is not the first time we’ve learned the names of some of the Koch network donors. But the document reveals the vast resources of the group’s backers, which includes top corporate executives, hedge fund billionaires and longtime Republican financiers. Several of those in attendance also have been top contributors to American Crossroads, the super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove.


    Among the notable attendees identified were:
    *Papa John pizza chain founder John Schnatter
    *Kenneth Griffin, chief executive of Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel
    *Debra Waller, chief executive of Jockey International
    *Silicon Valley real estate investor Carl Berg

    The spreadsheet shows the personal attention that the Kochs and their operatives lavish on donors. Charles Koch was scheduled to hold one-on-ones with at least nine contributors, including private equity investor John Childs and TRT Holdings co-founder Robert Rowling, who were set to have sessions with him at the “Koch residence.” Many donors also met with senior staff at Americans for Prosperity, the major political arm of the network, which is in the midst of a huge campaign against vulnerable congressional Democrats. Top officials with Freedom Partners, a new tax-exempt business league that funds AFP and the other nonprofit groups, also were set to be in some of the meetings.


    "It has long been reported that AFP participates in the Seminar,” said AFP spokesman Levi Russell. “It's a great assembly of organizations and individuals who support free-market solutions, and includes some of the greatest job creators on the country. AFP is proud to be a part of it.”


    A spokesman for Koch Industries declined to comment, and officials at Freedom Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...mpire/?hpid=z5

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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Koch Donor Conference Meetings

    A list of private meetings from Charles and David Koch's January, 2014 donor conclave in Palm Springs, California.

    @ http://www.motherjones.com/documents...rence-meetings
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  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    February 6th, 2014
    03:18 PM ET
    1 hour ago

    Iowa candidate: Koch backing 'like being endorsed by Charles Manson'


    Posted by
    CNN's Dana Davidsen

    (CNN)
    - Elections in Coralville, Iowa, a town of about 20,000, took a big city turn when the billionaire Koch brother's group, Americans for Prosperity, jumped into last year's mayoral and city council race.


    "It was kind of like being endorsed by Charles Manson," is how Chris Turner, a fiscally conservative city council candidate, described the support by AFP to "The Daily Show's" Jason Jones.


    Turner said in the segment that aired Wednesday that the group's tactics against his opponent were "reprehensible."

    "It put me in a very awkward position," he said, adding later that he tied for last place in the election.


    The New York Times reported on the powerful conservative political group's ambitions in the small, Midwest town days before the election last November, when AFP was mounting an aggressive campaign against the now-Mayor John Lundell using direct mail attacks, advertising and phone calls to voters.


    Lundell, who won with 65% of the vote, told Jones that AFP's attacks were "full of very misleading, I would call lies," including allegations that he manipulated his property taxes.


    "I've been through several elections and I welcome opponents but they brought an air of ugliness to this campaign that is not the way we run our government in Coralville," he said.


    The Koch brother's group's attacks also warned that Coralville, where the city's debt was a major issue in the campaign, would become the next Detroit.


    But not everyone was put-off by the outside influence.


    Matthew Vadum, a conservative author who "The Daily Show" labeled as a "political insider," said to sell a point of view, sometimes you have to employ a bit of "salesmanship."


    "Some man's sleaze is another man's class," he said. "You have to have a little bit of showbiz."


    AFP's attacks didn't get the group far in Coralville. The Daily Show segments notes that none of the Koch group-backed candidates won in the Iowa race.


    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...son/?hpt=hp_t2

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