Well, things keep getting interesting. It turns out that the American Issues Project, funded by billionaire McCain fundraiser Howard Simmons, is using copyrighted images owned by a 501c3.

The group, the Free History Project, sent a cease and desist letter to the right-wing group which is broadcasting in Michigan and Ohio. See their letter below.

August 25, 2008

VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS

American Issues Project
301 West Platt Street, Suite #353
Tampa, Florida 33606

Re: Advertisement Entitled “Know Enough?”

To Whom it May Concern:

Keker & Van Nest represents The Free History Project, which owns the copyright on the documentary film The Weather Underground, directed by Sam Green, co-directed by Bill Siegel, and produced by Carrie Lozano.

It has come to our attention that you have made unauthorized use of material from The Weather Underground in your television advertisement entitled “Know Enough?” (“the advertisement”), directly infringing The Free History Project’s copyright in the film. For instance, without requesting permission to do so, you took footage of William Ayers from The Weather Underground and used it in the advertisement. You have thus willfully violated The Free History Project’s intellectual property rights.

As counsel for The Free History Project, I request that you immediately: (1) remove the advertisement from any television station, cable network, or other media outlet where it is currently running; (2) remove the advertisement from the American Issues Project’s website (www.americanissuesproject.org); (3) cease and desist from any and all further distribution of the advertisement or any other work derived from The Weather Underground; (4) cease and desist from any and all further infringement of The Free History Project’s copyright; and (5) deliver to Keker & Van Nest—or destroy—all copies of the advertisement or any other work derived from The Weather Underground.

These demands are made without waiver of the other remedies available to The Free History Project for your copyright infringement. Please also be aware that we intend to notify television stations and cable providers in Ohio and Michigan (where, we understand, the advertisement is running) of our objection to your use of our copyrighted material.

I look forward to a prompt confirmation that you will cease your infringing conduct immediately. However, if you continue to infringe The Free History Project’s copyright, we will pursue all available legal remedies.

Very truly yours,

JOHN W. KEKER

Download a PDF of the letter. Read their press release.

For those of you unfamiliar, John W. Keker is a serious lawyer with a record as a prosecutor and a litigator. In layman's terms: he's a bad ass. Those TV stations should look out.

Irony of ironies. Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire and McCain fundraiser behind the incendiary ads attacking Senator Barack Obama, is divisive even in his own family.

It turns out that at least one of Simmons' daughters, Serena Connolly, is a max-out donor to both Senators Clinton and Obama. She wrote her first check to Senator Obama in the 2nd quarter of 2007.

Another Simmons daughter, Lisa Epstein, has donated to Democrats in the past.

Neither of the daughters has supported smear campaigns like their father. And, it has been reported they have a lot of disagreements with their father over politics.

Both Ms. Connolly and Ms. Epstein are directors of the foundation named after their father--the Harold Simmons Foundation. As it turns out, the foundation supports a lot of what some would call liberal causes: helping immigrants, campaign reform, prison reform, handgun control, reproductive rights. 

Check out more on the Harold Simmons Foundation >>

Campaign finance filings reveal that billionaire Harold Simmons is the sole financier of ads attacking Obama for his relationship with former activist Bill Ayers. Simmons donated the entire $2.8 million that funds the American Issues project, a new group that will continue to release incendiary ads against Obama.

It's no surprise that Simmons would spend millions attacking Obama. Simmons is a max out donor and a bundler to McCain's Presidential Campaign. Texans for Public Justice also reports on the extent of Simmons government interests: "Taxpayers subsidize Simmons sugar prices, bankroll military purchases of his aerospace metals and ultimately pay for the limits that government officials place on his tax and pollution liabilities. President Clinton used the line-item veto to narrowly avert a 1997 loophole for Simmons to dodge $80 million in taxes."

Harold Simmons has a long history of corruption and scandal:

Simmons earned his fortune through hostile takeovers, and his companies have been charged with raiding their workers pension funds to finance such takeover deals. [Source: Washington Post, 5/12/83]

Simmons's NL Industries was found liable for the lead poisoning thousands of children in Rhode Island. The company has also been named as a potentially responsible party for several superfund sites throughout the nation.

Simmons's Waste Control Specialists fought to ship low-level radioactive waste to a West Texas site. Rep. Robert Talton accused company lobbyists of trying to bribe him with a job and $60,000 in donations. Simmons continues seek approval to bury the radioactive waste in Texas, and continues to donate millions in contributions to Texas politicians.

This Texas billionaire is also no stranger to bypassing federal contribution limits. In 2004, he contributed $3 million to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth a group that maliciously attacked Sen. Kerry's service record. In 1993, "the Federal Election Commission fined him $19,800 for exceeding federal contributions limits." In 1997, two of Simmons's daughters alleged in a lawsuit that their father put their names on hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions. The case was settled for $50 million dollars.

American Issues Project, a new Republican 501(c)4, has started a multi-million dollar smear campaign attacking Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. The group's recent aduses imagery linking Obama to 9-11 and criticizes Obama for his relationship with former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, despite Obama's denunciation of Weather Underground's crimes in the 1960s.

American Issues Project plans to spend $2.8 million airing the ad, which will be the largest single third-party expenditure this cycle. Spokesman Christian Pinkston says the ad is just the first of a series of things the group will do to target Obama, and indicates that the group has other provocative material that was not included in the ad.

Pinkston has experience producing misleading attacks. His media and consulting firm, The Pinkston Group, did work for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

News reports point out that the release of the ad matches a recent upswing in the McCain campaign's references to Ayers. American Issues Project's board member, Ed Failor Jr, was previously a paid consultant for McCain's campaign, raising questions about whether this new 501(c)4 is truly independent from the McCain Campaign. Unlike a candidate committee, American Issues Project bypasses campaign finance regulations, and is not required to disclose its donors.

The group initially wanted to air the ad on Fox, but a Fox spokesman said the network declined to run it.

American Future Fund (AFF) has emerged as a shadowy conservative group, responsible for ads attacking Democrats in tight congressional races. AFF has been criticized for its secrecy because the group discloses virtually nothing about its leadership or organization.

The Iowa Independent speculates that AFF "will spend heavily to prop up lightly funded Republican campaign committees." But unlike a campaign committee, AFF is organized as a 501(c)4 so it is not required to disclose the names of donors.

American Future Fund consultants have been responsible for some of the most malicious and incendiary ads produced in presidential politics. Ben Ginsberg, legal counsel behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth smear campaign against Kerry in 2004, teamed up to start AFF with Larry McCarthy, the media consultant who produced the racially-charged Willie Horton ad against Dukakis in 88.

Now, American Future Fund is at it again. AFF has already produced attack ads against Democratic Senate Candidate Al Franken, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Harry Reid, and US Rep. Mark Udall. The AFF affiliated PAC has distributed ads on youtube attacking Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Some organizations have already filed complaints, claiming that the ads constitute political advertising, and require donor disclosure.

Read more about the American Future Fund here.

My mouth dropped open when I saw the number: $427 million. That's how much the oil and coal industries spent during the first half of 2008 to influence public opinion and public policy according to the nonpartisan reform group Public Campaign Action Fund. The analysis looked at four different areas: political contributions, lobbying expenditures, paid advertising and political spending by outside organizations.

You wonder where John McCain gets his line about "drill here, drill now?" It comes from industry front groups who are getting some of this dough.

Among the findings is that they've spent over $200 million on advertising alone. That is a hell of an echo chamber they're giving to John McCain and the Republican Party.

Read the full report.

M E M O R A N D U M

To:     Conservative and Republican Donors

From: Tom Matzzie, Accountable America

Date:  August 15, 2008

Re:     Mixed Nuts--who you're getting in bed with

I thought I'd write you in this format that you might be more familiar with to make sure you were aware of the folks you're getting in bed with if you fund the conservative smear groups by highlighting this week's fringe nut: Jerome Corsi.

Jerome Corsi, author of "The Obama Nation," is at best a little nuts and at worst a truly bad person. That hasn't kept conservative groups help him get on the New York Times list with big bulk purchases of his book. Republican consultant Mary Matalin called his book "a work of scholarship" which raises quesions about whether she agrees with him.

Let's review some of what we know about Corsi.

1. Corsi cavorts with white supremacists.

2. Corsi is guilty of anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim and anti-Semetic statements or associations.

3. Corsi is a known plagiarist (according to a conservative!).

4. Coris is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist--desecreating the memory of everybody killed in that horrible terrorist attack.

5. The Associated Press reported that: "Corsi writes for World Net Daily, a conservative Web site whose lead headline Thursday [August 14] was 'Astonishing photo claims: Dead Bigfoot stored on ice.'"

Many of you donors hold positions with big companies or you're a leader in your community. You might be involved in some worthwhile charity. You're a conservative, but not a fringey right-winger. So, my question to you is: do you really want to associate yourself with people like Jerome Corsi?

If you start funding the right-wing smear groups you will be associated with these groups and people like Corsi, if not Corsi directly, forever. Thanks to the Internet this sort of stuff doesn't disappear. It will follow you forever.

Think about it.

Obama Nation, the anti-Obama attack book written by 9/11 conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, has been thoroughly discredited. Nevertheless, it's debuting at #1 on the New York Times best seller list, in no small part due to the bulk orders by right-wing interest groups.

Now, some groups are going even further to promote the book. NPR reports that the National Campaign Fund – a right-wing PAC with affiliated 501(c)3, 501(c) and 527 groups – is collaborating with Corsi to create a series of videos based on the book. The National Campaign Fund is run by Floyd Brown, the creator of the infamous Willie Horton ad that seriously damaged Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign.

Read the full report from NPR here.

Bob Perry recently donated $400,000 to Club for Growth, a group with a reputation for producing misleading attack ads. The group is now using Perry's contribution to produce ads against Democratic Senate Candidate Mark Udall. TPM speculates that these attack ads may be Republican candidate Schaffer's only hope:

Schaffer will be relying on wealthy funders like Perry to be funding, via Club for Growth, attack ad campaigns that just might enable him to hang on to his seat despite the scandals engulfing him.

But this isn't Perry's first foray into funding deceptive ads:

In 2006, Perry became the primary financier of the Free Enterprise Fund, a 527 heavily criticized for producing an attack ad suggesting Senator Menendez had mob connections. Perry also had a habit of putting the home telephone numbers of Democratic Candidates in his TV attack spots.

In 2004, Perry was the primary financier of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a smear campaign devoted to undermining Democratic Presidential Nominee John Kerry.

In 2001 and 2002, Perry was the largest contributor to DeLay's PACs, giving $165,000 in 2002 and $95,000 in 2001. DeLay was later indicted for conspiracy charges in 2005.

Read more about Perry's efforts here and here.

John McCain is a busy man. But he is making time to meet with Sheldon Adelson, the top funder of Freedoms Watch and other "independent" groups this Friday in Aspen, Colorado. Aspen Daily News has the story:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is coming back to Aspen on Aug. 14 and this time he is bringing his heavy hitters with him.

Some of the biggest fundraisers for McCain's Republican presidential campaign will be here a week from Thursday for a reception, dinner and campaign briefing with the candidate, according to sources inside the campaign and the National Journal, a weekly political magazine.

...included on the fundraisers list are Las Vegas moguls Stephen Wynn, CEO of Mirage Resorts Inc., and Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The meeting raises important questions:

1. Are groups Adelson is funding really independent from the McCain campaign?

2. Will Adelson use information provided to him by the McCain campaign in private strategy meetings to influence how Freedom's Watch and other groups he finances promote McCain and attack Obama?

More on Sheldon Adelson, the 12th richest person in the world, here.

Since I announced Friday the formation of Accountable America to educate the public about right-wing and business-oriented groups and their leaders and donors, some conservatives have reacted with outrage and asserted First Amendment issues.

These harsh reactions, though, have been isolated.  Americans across the country, still angered by the false and vicious Swift Boat attacks in 2004 and concerned about their new counterparts in 2008, have embraced the announcement, and since our launch we have raised tens of thousands of dollars over the Internet without spending a dime on advertising or email lists.

Nonetheless I want to expound on the rationale for engaging in this effort.  It is rooted in deeply-held views about democracy and elections.

First, it is my right.  Free speech like mine is especially protected when the information is of “legitimate concern to the public,” which I would argue is inherent in a political or public policy debate – as the Supreme Court declared 44 years ago in New York Times, Inc. v. Sullivan, there is “a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open.”

Conservative groups and their donors have the same rights, and I honor and respect them for exercising them.  And, part of public debate is having one’s speech and political activity met with other speech and political activity, including criticism and freely posed challenges to the credibility and interests of the messengers and their financiers.  Nobody, including Accountable America and me, is owed some sort of immunity from criticism, and certainly the principal funders of conservative groups are not exempt simply because they are rich, influential or prefer privacy despite their ventures into the public sphere.

(read full post...)

It's Day One at Accountable America and right-wing veterans of the Swift Boat effort are already on the attack:

Chris LaCivita, a Republican strategist who helped organize the Swift Boat effort, said Mr. Matzzie’s group was likely to have the opposite effect on potential donors, firing them up instead of discouraging them.

“They’re not going to be intimidated by some pipsqueak on the kooky left,” Mr. LaCivita said.

Stay tuned to this space for more squeaking.

Today, the right-wing group Freedom's Watch launched a new advertisement criticizing the Democratic leadership in Congress of being out of touch with working Americans. You can watch it here. The script of the ad begins:

Every day we get up and go to work.

And we'll do it tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

Because there are bills to pay. Mortgages to worry about. Credit cards. And the high cost of gas? It's a killer for all of us...

"Us" refers to you, me and Sheldon Adelson, the primary financial backer of Freedom's Watch. While we are all worried about bills, Mr. Adelson might be worried a bit less -- he's the 12th richest person in the world with a net worth of $26 billion.

His mortgage is to finance an $11 billion project to recreate the Las Vegas Strip in Macau, an administrative region of China.

Here's a photo of Mr. Adelson, trying to figure out how he's going to afford to fill up his tank:

To be fair, like many Americans, Adelson is struggling to meet some of his financial goals, including his desire "to pass Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world's richest man."

Another right-wing group that is spending plenty of money this cycle is Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future.

On its website the group contends that "action is needed from the bottom-up at all levels of society... to topple the current entrenched interests." The group's "vision" is "competence, substance, integrity, and transparency in government."

But mega-developer Mel Sembler, one of the group's top funders to the tune of at least $3 million, might have missed the memo. The Palm Beach Post recently reported that Mr. Sembler and his company are under federal investigation for a $100,000 payment allegedly used to grease the wheels of local government in Florida:

A developer paid a $100,000 fee to lobbyist Hugo Unruh after being told it would be hard to win county approval for a traffic-throttling shopping center without him.

The message came from Boynton Beach Mayor Jerry Taylor, who at the time was a trusted aide to Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty.

Now the fee and Taylor's role have drawn the attention of federal investigators.

...St. Petersburg-based Sembler is a national developer of shopping centers and residential communities. It was founded by Mel Sembler, a major state and national Republican Party fund-raiser who is especially friendly with the Bush presidential family.

McCarty said Sembler is a political acquaintance whom she bumped into recently at a White House affair.

Read the whole article HERE.

Welcome to Accountable America. We're working to stop the Right Wing special interest groups who are pushing lawmakers in Washington.

Accountable America works to stop the outrageous policies of right-wing and special interests in Washington especially in the areas of economic policy, energy policy, national security policy and government reform.

Our first project seeks to discourage groups and right-wing donors trying to "swiftboat" progressives. We aim to educate the public about the connections between these donors, many with unsavory business and personal stories, and lawmakers in Washington.

Accountable America is a non-partisan, non-profit corporation. We do not seek to elect or defeat candidates or endorse candidates for federal office.

Our funding comes over the Internet, from individuals and from unions and progressive political organizations.