TPM: Lobby Firm Sent Forged Climate Change Letter To Congressman (other forged letters found, too!)

[mod mom]

Lobby Firm Sent Forged Climate Change Letter To Congressman
By Zachary Roth - July 31, 2009, 12:24PM
OK, this is a good one...

Freshman Democratic congressman Tom Perriello -- whose Virginia district leans Republican -- faced a tough decision last month over whether to support the climate change bill. As he was weighing the issue, he got a letter from a non-profit group in his district that focuses on issues of importance to Hispanics. The letter urged Perriello to oppose the bill because it could raise low-income members' utility bills. "Many of our members are on tight budgets and the sizes of their monthly utility bills are important expense items," it read in part.

But, reports the Charlottesville Daily Progress, the letter was a fake:

"They stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization," said Tim Freilich, who sits on the executive committee of Creciendo Juntos, a nonprofit network that tackles issues related to Charlottesville's Hispanic community. "It's this type of activity that undermines Americans' faith in democracy."
The faked letter from Creciendo Juntos was signed by "Marisse K. Acevado, Asst Member Coordinator," an identity and position at Creciendo Juntos that do not exist.

The letter -- subsequently obtained by TPMmuckraker -- had actually been sent by someone at the D.C. lobbying firm Bonner and Associates -- a pioneer in "strategic grassroots/grasstops" lobbying whose clients have included Citicorp, Aetna, PhRMA, Dow Chemical, AT&T, and General Motors, among others.

And Perriello staffers soon dug out five other forged letters -- also obtained by TPMmuckraker -- urging the congressman to oppose the bill -- all purportedly from the local branch of the NAACP, whose president says he's "appalled" at the scam.

The paper adds:
The fake NAACP letters were faxed to Perriello's office from the Arlington headquarters of a company called Professional Risk Management Services Inc. A representative of the company said she had no knowledge of why the fax would have been sent from her office, adding that at least 60 employees have access to the fax machine.

-snip
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/lobby_firm_sent_forged_climate_change_letter_to_c.php?ref=fpa

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. I'm glad this story is going farther. They should give more credit to the Daily Progress reporter

It was a bylined article with great reporting and writing and they don't even mention his name. Not sporting in my opinion.

[kestrel91316]

2. Isn't this wire fraud? Using fax lines to commit deception?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Nice, Kestrel! nt

[Spazito]

4. I was wondering the same...

It strikes me this goes well beyond 'astro-turfing' and into illegal actions on the part of the lobbying firm, Bonner and Associates.

[dmr]

7. That was the first thing that came to mind,

also, if lying to a Fed is illegal, then wouldn't it be illegal for this lobbying firm to lie to a Congressman?

This one looks like it came right out of Rove's playbook, because he did something similar years ago.

[starroute]

5. Bonner & Associates has a long record of this sort of thing

I checked the name out in my files and found this:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Political_Corruption/LobbyingMerchantsDeath.html

Northrop has twice retained that king of the "grassroots," Jack Bonner, to build public momentum for the B-2. In the early 1990s, when it appeared that the Cold War's end would lead to a collapse of congressional support for the B-2, Bonner's phoners helped turn the tide by prodding hundreds of organizations- representing seniors, minorities, religious groups, police chiefs, farmers and Rotary Club presidents-to send postcards to congress that called for continued production of the bomber.

In 1996, Northrop again hired Bonner after President Clinton decided to include no new money for the B-2 in the 1997 budget. Bonner & Associates sent a letter to Northrop employees and suppliers saying it was "absolutely vital" to inform President Clinton that his action would have a devastating impact "on you, on Califomia, and on the country." The letter provided a toll-free number to call, with operators standing by to take orders for telegrams to the White House. Though Northrop and Bonner did not succeed in freeing up more cash for the B-2, Clinton and Congress maintained funding for the bombers that had been previously ordered.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. I don't think the 1st Amendment covers fraud and identity theft.

From the TPM link:

When it was revealed that a letter opposing an effort to lower the cost of prescription drugs actually came from Bonner and Associates, rather than a group of African-American charities, Bonner told a reporter: "It's a great exercise in the First Amendment."

[KittyWampus]

8. Astroturfing corporate shills grow bolder.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. kick!

[crickets]

10. Busted. It's not just about bribery any more. K&R -nt