Replies

Center for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington

www.citizensforethics.org

From http://www.citizensforethics.org/about/index.php
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington targets government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests. We will help Americans use litigation to shine a light on those who betray the public trust:
If a public official misuses his position to demand campaign contributions, CREW will find creative ways to seek civil remedies.
If a witness is threatened or punished because she reported official misconduct, CREW will fight back on behalf of the witness — including representing that individual in court if necessary.
If a government agency withholds information to which the public is entitled, CREW will go to court to enforce legal rules regarding disclosure.
If a group libels an honest public servant, CREW will help the victim defend his reputation.
CREW will seize opportunities like these, bringing high-impact legal actions. The majority of our cases will focus on real people and their stories about the lack of government integrity. Not only do these people need and deserve our support, their stories can serve as powerful tools to seize public attention and move public opinion. CREW will work with the press, government investigators, and other public interest groups to make sure that these peoples' stories are heard. In the process, CREW will build a non-partisan investigative alliance that transcends specific issues. Our aim is to encourage officials to be open about their values and to act based upon their honest and best assessment of the public interest.
As we do this, over time CREW will develop a network of public interest groups, sympathetic government investigators and media contacts — a broader, more mainstream version of the conservative coalition that was so effective in the 90's. We will work with that network to focus public attention on government integrity and to educate the public about dishonest or disingenuous government officials. If the past decade is any indication, this network can have a substantial impact on public opinion.

KEY STAFF

Melanie Sloan
From SourceWatch
Melanie Sloan is Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
According to her CREW profile (http://www.citizensforethics.org/about/whoweare.php), "Prior to accepting this position, Ms. Sloan served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia, where, from 1998- early 2003, she successfully tried cases before dozens of judges and juries. Before becoming a prosecutor, Ms. Sloan was Minority Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 1998. She worked directly with the Honorable John Conyers, the ranking member of the Committee, specializing in criminal enforcement issues, including the Independent Counsel law. Her responsibilities included drafting legislation and committee reports (minority views), writing speeches, and working with interest groups. She also assisted a working group of Members of Congress in developing and drafting a Democratic alternative to the Republican juvenile justice bill.
"In 1994, Ms. Sloan was Counsel for the Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, working for then Representative Charles Schumer. There, she drafted portions of the 1994 Crime Bill, including the Violence Against Women Act, and worked on issues including the death penalty, mandatory minimum sentencing, and habeas corpus. In 1993, Ms. Sloan served as Nominations Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, under then Chairman, Senator Joe Biden, where she researched the backgrounds of nominees to high level Department of Justice positions and to the federal courts. Prior to serving Congress, she was an associate at Howrey and Simon in Washington, D.C. and at Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal in Los Angeles, California. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago and has published in the Yale Law and Policy Review, the Legal Times, and the Washington Post."
Retrieved from "http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Melanie_Sloan"

Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloan is the Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
[edit]
Career
· 1998 - 2003: Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia
· 1995 - 1998: Minority Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee with John Conyers
· 1994: Counsel for the Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee for Charles Schumer
· 1993: Nominations Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee under Joe Biden
· associate, Howrey and Simon, Washington, D.C.
· associate, Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal, Los Angeles, California
BuzzFlash > Interviews > Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloan's Team of Watch Dogs Is Taking the Crooks To Court ... It takes an exceptional leader like Melanie Sloan, and the fine team she has assembled, ...www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/01/int05003.html - 26k - Cached - Similar pages
American Prospect Online - ViewPrint
Meet rabble-rouser Melanie Sloan. The Republicans don’t like her. The Democrats are leery of her. She’s exactly what this town needs. By Sam Rosenfeld ...www.prospect.org/web/view-print.ww?id=10471 - 26k - Cached - Similar pages Melanie Sloan - Guest Blogger's blog | The Al Franken Show | Air ... Melanie Sloan: File Ethics Complaints Against Corrupt Congressmen ... Guest Blogger Melanie Sloan is the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility ...www.airamerica.com/alfrankenshow/blog/344248 - 48k - Cached - Similar pages
USATODAY.com Melanie Sloan: Yes, he's being unethical, but he hasn't done anything criminal. The criminal code prohibits anybody with access to the information that a ...www.usatoday.com/community/chat_03/2003-10-01-sloan.htm - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Naomi Seligman
From SourceWatch
Naomi Seligman is Deputy Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Previously, she worked in the communications department at Media Matters for America. [1] (http://mediamatters.org/etc/about.html)
Seligman "has worked extensively as a communications professional developing and managing media strategies for campaigns, elected officials, and not-for-profit organizations. Most recently, Seligman was the communications director for the Violence Policy Center (VPC). She has also served as a press secretary in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and has functioned as director of outreach on the Small Business Committee." [2] (http://mediamatters.org/etc/about.html)

Anne L. Weisman is Staff Attorney for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
According to her CREW profile (http://www.citizensforethics.org/about/whoweare.php), Weisman "received her A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University in 1975, and her J.D. from the National Law Center, George Washington University, in 1979. After working in the Solicitor's Office of the U.S. Department of Labor for approximately 2 years, she joined the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division, Department of Justice, where she worked until the fall of 2002. From 1990 forward, Ms. Weismann served as an Assistant Branch Director with supervisory responsibility first over banking litigation, then housing litigation, and from 1995 until 2002, she supervised all government information litigation. This included litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, third party subpoenas, and statutes governing presidential records. From 2002 through 2004, Ms. Weismann served as Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission where she had responsibility for all of the Bureau's telecommunications matters."

OTHER KEY STAFFERS

Keith Ashdown, Research Director
Keith Ashdown serves as Research Director at CREW. He is a nationally recognized expert in tracking political paybacks and corruption, having investigated dozens of lawmakers and administration officials. He specializes in discovering how entrenched special interests benefit from federal legislation.
Mr. Ashdown also has led numerous initiatives and campaigns to eliminate special interest giveaways and coined the phrase, "Bridge to Nowhere." Prior to joining CREW, he was the Vice-President of Policy for Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan, national budget watchdog organization, leading their efforts on national security and earmark reform. He co-founded a Chicago-based public relations firm and has worked for several other non-profits, including a number of public health organizations. Mr. Ashdownâ€™s work has been profiled in the Anchorage Daily News and Roll Call. He received his B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

Sharon Y. Eubanks, Senior Counsel
Sharon Eubanks serves as Senior Counsel for CREW. Previously, she was a litigator at the Department of Justice, Civil Division for 22 years, appearing on behalf of the United States in federal court concentrating in complex civil litigation at both the trial and appellate level. Ms. Eubanks has briefed and argued over 100 appeals, tried over 40 civil cases, and in 2005, completed (as Director of the Tobacco Litigation Team and lead attorney for the United States) a nine-month trial in the largest civil case ever filed, United States v. Philip Morris, Inc., et. al (the federal tobacco litigation). In 1995 she became a member of the Senior Executive Service, and in 1995-1999, she was a Deputy Branch Director in the Civil Division of the Justice Department.
In addition to extensive pretrial and litigation experience, Ms. Eubanks has lectured extensively to a wide variety of groups on litigation and discovery matters. She also has been an adjunct professor of law at the National Law Center, George Washington University, teaching trial advocacy, and she is a member of the Advisory Committee, University of California San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control and Education. Immediately following law school, Ms. Eubanks was an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission, practicing antitrust law for three years. She received her B.A. from Mississippi State University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Tim Mooney, Senior Counsel
Tim Mooney serves as Senior Counsel for CREW, focusing on Internal Revenue Service and Federal Election issues. Over the course of the past decade, he has worked extensively on matters regarding nonprofit and political law. Prior to joining CREW, Mr. Mooney served as Senior Counsel for Alliance for Justice (AFJ), a nonprofit, national association of public interest groups that work to advance the cause of justice for all citizens. There he focused on federal tax and election laws' impact on nonprofit advocacy organizations. While at AFJ, Mr. Mooney also taught at legal seminars throughout the country and published several articles, including Best Supporting Actors: Public Charities' Important Role in the California Gubernatorial Recall and The Hiber-Nation of Public Charities. He was the co-founder and Counsel for Columbia Riverkeeper as well as the Chair of X-PAC's Young Voter Project in 2000. Mr. Mooney received his B.S from Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and his J.D. from Pace University School of Law.

Kimberly Perkins, Counsel
Kimberly Perkins serves as Counsel for CREW. Prior to joining the organization, she served as Assistant General Counsel for the National Office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where she led the NAACP's Voting Rights & Redistricting Project and Election Protection efforts across the country. Ms. Perkins has spent several years in private practice, focusing on employment and labor law issues and also has worked for the National Labor Relations Board. She received her B.A. from Howard University and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she served as a Member of the Moot Court Board.

Dan Roth, Counsel
Dan Roth joined CREW as Counsel and assists in all aspects of CREW's litigation practice. He previously served as the Dorot Judicial Selection Fellow at the Alliance for Justice (AFJ), a nonprofit, national association of public interest groups that work to advance the cause of justice for all citizens. There he researched and drafted reports on the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court and on a slate of other nominees to the federal bench. He also co-developed and co-hosted the "Supreme Court Watch" podcast for AFJ, building a base of regular listeners throughout the country. During law school, Mr. Roth served as chapter president of the American Constitution Society and vice president of the school's Public Interest Law Foundation. He co-founded the Coalition for Equality, a campus organization dedicated to the full enforcement of the law schoolâ€™s non-discrimination policy and was the 2004 recipient of both the Susan Grant DesMarais Award for Public Interest Leadership and the Service and the Drinan Fund Award, a public service scholarship. Mr. Roth, who first worked in Washington, D.C. as a John Glenn Fellow, received his B.A. summa cum laude from Ohio State University and his J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Melissa Cuerdon, Executive Assistant
Melissa Cuerdon serves as an Executive Assistant at CREW. Prior to joining the organization, she was the Membership Coordinator for the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics, a nonprofit, international association of pharmaceutical researchers. As Membership Coordinator, Ms. Cuerdon managed the day-to-day operations of the society, helped organize and run two international society meetings, and scheduled meetings and events for the ISSX Executive Committee. Ms. Cuerdon also has interned at the Sierra Club and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Miles Grant, Communications and Outreach Associate
Miles Grant is a Communications and Outreach Associate at CREW. Mr. Grant previously worked at the McLaughlin Group as a producer. He has spent years producing local and national news in Plattsburgh, NY and has covered dozens of breaking news stories, including the shuttle Columbia's breakup, the Washington, D.C. sniper shootings, and the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mr. Grant serves on the boards of Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment and Arlington County's Community Role Models program. He received his B.A. from Syracuse University.

Lida Masoudpour, Special Projects Associate
Lida Masoudpour serves as a Special Projects Associate at CREW. Prior to joining the organization, Ms. Masoudpour worked at the nonprofit, media watchdog group, Media Matters for America. There she assisted the president in implementing long-term strategic goals for the start-up organization and led short-term special projects in communications, research, and development. Ms. Masoudpour also served as an intern in the office of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and reported on Congress and the Supreme Court for Talk Radio News Service. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.

Robin Powers, Research Associate
Robin Powers serves as a Research Associate at CREW. Prior to joining the organization, Ms. Powers served as a Program Associate for Alliance for Justice, a nonprofit, national association of public interest groups that work to advance the cause of justice for all citizens. As Program Associate, she coordinated workshops and tracked legislation affecting the ability of the nonprofit community to engage in the public policy process. Ms. Powers also has interned with Vital Voices Global Partnership, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and various political campaigns. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa.

Mayanna Prak, Business Manager
Mayanna Prak serves as Business Manager for CREW. Prior to joining the organization, Ms. Prak assisted an ambassador in the operation of a foreign embassy and served as associate director at a social service agency. Ms. Prak also has provided financial analyses, legal assistance, and project management for several large companies. Ms. Prak is a graduate of the University of Illinois.

ACTIVITIES

A veritable dream list of leftist antics is here:

http://www.citizensforethics.org/activities/index.php

From Katrina to Valerie Plame, these folks don’t seem terribly interested in exposing the truth…..but rather creating the spin and the environment with a “fair” sounding organization driving it.

FOIA Requests

By far, one of the more formalized partisan activities for an organization…an entire department dedicated to FOIA requests:

http://www.citizensforethics.org/activities/foia.php

LEGAL ACTIONS

Pretty partisan legal actions…for a bipartisan non-profit:

http://www.citizensforethics.org/activities/legalaction.php

Grants to CREW totaling $145,000 2002-2005

Information from FoundationSearch.com

THE ARCA FOUNDATION Washington, Dist Of Columbia
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON
Washington, Dist Of Columbia Miscellaneous Philanthropy $50,000 2003
To promote good governance policies by exposing public officials who betray the public interest.

WALLACE GLOBAL FUND Washington, Dist Of Columbia
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON
Washington, Dist Of Columbia Miscellaneous Philanthropy $50,000 2004
General support

TIDES FOUNDATION San Francisco, California
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON
Washington, Dist Of Columbia Miscellaneous Philanthropy $25,000 2002

MAYBERG FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION Silver Spring, Maryland CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON
Washington, Dist Of Columbia Miscellaneous Philanthropy $10,000 2005
Support 501(3) organization programs

WOODBURY FUND INC Amherst, Massachusetts
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON
Washington, Dist Of Columbia Miscellaneous Philanthropy $5,000 2004
For community-based radio education, training and advocacy to advance reproductive and sexual health among indigenous women

THE DAVID GEFFEN FOUNDATION Los Angeles, California
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON
Washington, Dist Of Columbia Miscellaneous Philanthropy $5,000 2004
Educational assistance