PDC Spotlights Moxie Media’s Illegal Activities On Behalf Of Democrats [WA scandal - Many races]

WA State Republican Party ^ | 10.28.2010 | WSRP Communications

[matt1234]

A vast web of deception involving the disgraced Democrat consulting firm Moxie Media and four incumbent Democrat State Senators, five incumbent Democrat State Representatives and four Democrats State House candidates has come to light because of an official investigation by the state’s Public Disclosure Commission.

Democrat State Senators Chris Marr, Claudia Kauffman, Eric Oemig and Randy Gordon have been the major benefactors of Moxie Media’s dishonest activity in the general election. Their ties to Moxie Media deserve an even more thorough investigation by local media and the Public Disclosure Commission.

In the House, incumbent Democrats Geoff Simpson, Tami Green, Tim Probst, Hans Dunshee and Roger Goodman, and Democrat candidates Carol Gregory, Luis Moscoso, Derek Stanford and Joe Fitzgibbon have received considerable support from Moxie-controlled front groups as well.

This issue came to light because Moxie Media, and its partners Lisa McLean and Henry Underhill, orchestrated a last-minute attack against Democrat Senator Jean Berkey in the August primary by posing as a Republican front group, though all their activities were designed to help an ultra-liberal Democrat. A recent investigation of Moxie’s activities by the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) uncovered multiple violations of the law.

Former Democratic Party Chair Paul Berendt described Moxie Media’s behavior as "outrageous" and added, "I think it's sleazy, I think it's a new low in politics."

All of the Democratic legislators and legislative candidates mentioned above have benefitted from Moxie Media’s vast network of shadow groups. They have gratefully accepted the help of a group that has engaged in practices that even the former head of the state Democratic Party describes as “outrageous.”

Personal injury lawyers, labor unions and liberal special interest groups have funneled $2.7 million through 40 shadow committees set up and directed by Moxie Media to support these Democrats and attack their Republican challengers. By moving the money through different committees, Moxie has deliberately and fraudulently misled voters as to who is paying for the ads.

“Democratic candidates who have benefitted from these sleazy shadow groups should publicly renounce their activities and condemn the outrageous behavior of Moxie Media,” said Washington State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser. “Rather than own up to their spend-and-tax agenda, these Democrats are hiding behind multiple Moxie Media-controlled front groups that leave voters in the dark about who is really pulling the strings in their campaigns. If these Democrats remain silent they will be complicit with the politics of sleaze and cynicism. Those Democrats who won’t condemn the Moxie Media shadow groups are merely hoping that all the tangled webs of deception won’t be unwound by the media and the PDC until after election day. The voters deserve better than that.”

The Public Disclosure Commission is hearing the case against Moxie Media today in Olympia.

Background:

Erik Smith, Washington State Wire: If it hadn’t been for the Jean Berkey case, one of the most astounding and secretive political programs in Washington state history might never have come to light. This year labor organizations and their allies have funneled as much as $2.7 million to independent campaigns for and against legislative candidates in this state. It’s all a little fuzzy – no doubt deliberately so. But it’s a whopping amount, and it doesn’t count the huge contributions the groups in the “progressive” coalition have made directly to candidates, nor does it count their big spending on this year’s ballot measures. Yet it’s really the mechanism that boggles the mind. All of it has been run through a single consulting firm, Moxie Media of Seattle. The company has created an astonishing 40 political action committees to funnel the money. It has used them to pay for independent campaigns in 16 legislative races and one Supreme Court race. In most cases the amounts haven’t been large enough to attract public attention. You have to add ‘em up before it looks big.

Austin Jenkins, Crosscut: What a web liberals wove in ousting conservative Democratic senator: "A Seattle-based political consultant allegedly shuffled campaign donations through several Political Action Committees (PACs) in an effort to conceal the backers - labor unions and trial lawyers - of a stealth "attack from the right" on Senator Jean Berkey during last August's primary election"

[matt1234]

This story broke yesterday about one race in Snohomish County: Senator Jean Berkey's race. However, research by the WA State Republican Party and Spokesman Review has revealed that Moxie Media has influenced many races around the state. Moxie Media attempted to settle the matter by offering $30,000. The Public Disclosure Commission refused and has asked the state Attorney General to launch an investigation. WA residents need to be made aware of these dirty/illegal tricks by Democrats.

[okie01]

WA residents need to be made aware of these dirty/illegal tricks by Democrats.

Thanks for posting the article. But it's poorly written.

It certainly sounds like Moxie Media and its contributors and clients have misbehaved in some terrible way.

But what the hell did they do, exactly?

[matt1234]

Thanks for posting the article. But it's poorly written.

It certainly sounds like Moxie Media and its contributors and clients have misbehaved in some terrible way.

But what the hell did they do, exactly?

I agree that the article is poorly written. The linked backgound article is better. Excerpt:

The PDC alleges MacLean concealed and failed to report $9,000 in contributions in violation of Washington campaign finance law. MacLean is also accused of registering Political Action Committees without using her own name.

The backgound article also explains how Moxie Media formed PACs to pose as conservative PACs, deliberately misleading voters. These PACs did robocalls and mailers posing as conservative PACs. This was an attempt by liberal dems to defeat a more conservative dem.

I posted this article to demonstrate that Moxie Media's tentacles extend far beyond the Berkey race to include many races around the state.

[epithermal]

I looked briefly for an article on the Spokesman review, but did not see it. Do you have a link?

[matt1234]

Here's the latest from The Spokesman Review:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/oct/29/democratic-strategist-faces-sanctions/

[epithermal]

Thanks, I must have missed it. I always have a hard time finding things on the Spokesman Review and have never liked their web page.

Although the Seattle Times has been carrying this story on the web, they are not making it a very prominent one. I wonder if the paper version is hiding it on page 12?

[Eva]

It is really confusing. I just heard it mentioned on the radio that the state attorney general had filed charges against someone in regard to this. The radio coverage was just as cryptic.

[The SISU kid]

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[SW6906]

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[sionnsar]

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[Eva]

That effort was supported by unions representing state employees, teachers and health care workers who donated close to $300,000,

What happened here is that the SEIU was spending money to defeat moderate Democrats in the primary and keep them out of the election. They tried to make it look like the attacks were coming from the right, in an effort to cover their tracks.

Randy Dorn, the state superintendent of schools was the state organizer for the SEIU before being elected. I have to wonder if Dorn was in any way connected to this scheme. Inquiring minds want to know.

[DennisR]

Call your local papers, radio stations, and television stations.

[matt1234]

The local media within the state has been pretty good about picking up this story. Even the Seattle Times and Seattle PI covered it. Unfortunately, with our vote-by-mail system, many ballots had been cast before the story broke.

[Zarro]

Spokesman-Review? Gag. If THEY are printing this, then it must really be bad, as the S-R is as lefty leaning as anything you could pick up in the Seattle area.

Makes me wonder if/where they ran this in the print version? (I unsubscribed YEARS ago, after tiring of the constant opinion fluff pieces and the attacks on Bush 43. Oh, and just the overall slant, in which they ran what they wanted. They used to love front-page features of how many military casualties we had that week. I notice they rarely run them now. How odd, no?)