MoveOn Asks DoJ To Launch Criminal Investigation Of Chamber's Funding

The Democratic Party's infrastructure responded with noticeable alarm on Tuesday to a report that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce may be funding its political efforts with foreign donations.

The story, broken by the liberal blog Think Progress, contained all the elements of a compelling election story -- a pro-business lobby, operating largely in the dark, supporting conservative, free-trade candidates with money that may be culled from international corporations. Somewhat lost in the discussion (though quite evident in the Think Progress report) was the possibility that the Chamber's actions pushed the legal limits for acceptable electioneering.

On Tuesday afternoon, the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org honed in on that element of the report, sending a letter to the Department of Justice's Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, urging him and the criminal division to launch an investigation into the matter.

"On behalf of the more than five million members of MoveOn.org Political Action across the nation, I am writing to request that the Department initiate an immediate criminal investigation into the use by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of contributions by foreign nationals to pay for advertising advocating the election or defeat of candidates for federal office. Information brought to light today by Think Progress, a project of the nonpartisan nonprofit organization Center for American Progress Action Fund, strongly implies that the Chamber has willfully violated federal campaign finance laws that outlaw the use of foreign cash in U.S. elections."

moveonchamber

MoveOn's pitch to DoJ contains an important bit of nuance. In addition to alleging that foreign contributors are funding the Chamber illegally, the group argues that the business lobby is also illegally recruiting these donations.

"[T]he Chamber," writes Justin Ruben, MoveOn's Executive Director, "has dispatched former Ambassador Frank Lavin to speak before foreign Chamber affiliates about what is at stake for business in the 2010 midterm elections. If, as it appears, the Chamber is soliciting contributions from foreign corporations and foreign nationals while communicating to them the importance of the U.S. elections, the Chamber is at least indirectly soliciting contributions from foreign nationals for use in connection with U.S. elections.

"[N]ot only unlawful for a foreign national to make such a contribution, directly or indirectly, it is also unlawful for anyone 'to solicit, accept or receive' such a contribution 'from a foreign national.'"

The DoJ's willingness to launch investigations into these types of allegations seems decidedly limited. The Chamber has insisted that they have established a filter to ensure that no foreign funds end up paying for their election activities. "No foreign money -- from AmChams of otherwise -- is used to fund political activities," said spokesman J.P. Fielder.

The Obama Justice Department -- on a very basic political level -- is also likely wary of the appearance that it is meddling into the internal affairs of the Republican Party's biggest funder.

That said, MoveOn.org is supplementing the formal push with a grassroots one, emailing its five million member a petition "asking for an immediate investigation to examine relevant records and stop the flow of illegal funds into American elections."

Comments

[FlyDiesel]

08:32 AM on 10/07/2010

Perhaps someone can help me. I read this article and the Think Progress piece, then the MoveOn letter, but I didn't see legitimate claims of proof, let alone the proof itself. There is the demand that Justice open up criminal investigation, but apparently based on unfounded allegations. Is that right? Can we really bring down a legal, 100-year-old American institution so easily?

[Zengaman]

10:11 AM on 10/10/2010

If these are unfounded allegations then it's safe to say the Dems just stuck their foot in their proverbial mouths, wouldn't it? All the Chamber has to do is release their foreign sources of funding and viola! That would be complete embarrassment for the President, the Unions, the progressive groups on down. Whiners! More fodder for major ad buys all over the country. But.....

It ain't gonna happen. And you know exactly why it won't. Funny thing about the truth....

[tunes59]

10:21 PM on 10/06/2010

Let’s put this in perspective. The Center for American Progress and MoveOn.org are front groups funded primarily by George Soros. Soros born “Schwartz György” in Hungary, worked for the Nazis during WWll helping them round up Jews. The public story is Soros made his billions through hedge fund trading. That’s right one of those evil Wall Street types. He was even convicted of insider trading in Europe. What you don’t find on Wikipedia is that most of his money came from selling arms, drugs, and human trafficking. So we have a foreign born, Nazi informant, gangster, billionaire who wants to destroy a 100 year old American institution using his two front groups. I think I will wait until the Chamber has had its day in court before convicting them.

[Zengaman]

10:14 AM on 10/10/2010

Talk about going off on a tangent.

[priscianusjr]

05:19 PM on 10/21/2010

Yeah, let's put this in perspective. Glenn Beck perspective. You know, fair and balanced.

[Will Ozier]

05:07 PM on 10/06/2010

The lie, cheat, and steal "right" will do anytthing to regain control of the levers of power for America! They are the Robber Barons of the 21st century, and will, if allowed by a complacent America, turn our republic into an oligopoly run by and for the privileged classes. This is naked class warfare revealed!

[Sundalecat]

01:38 PM on 10/06/2010

Throw these crooks in jail. Thats what they deserve as they sell us out.

[amaboss52]

01:22 PM on 10/06/2010

I hope they catch these pukes using foreign money and throw them in jail. I believe it is a Fed offense. These guys are prolific liars.

[Gatormouth]

12:41 PM on 10/06/2010

International Corporations are not human. They were originally useful creations of man that have assumed a life of their own. They can resist outside regulation or control, and have no will or intention to do other than satisfy their own appetite. They have loyalty or responsibility to no nation and seek only profit and control. They exist as analogous cancer cells in the body of life on earth. They do not grow, they metastasize. Without regulation, they have the ability to use their wealth to subvert the political and legal systems of a Nation for their own benefit.

The U. S. Chamber of Commerce is in a leadership position coordinating the efforts of many International corporations to complete our and other nations' conversion to corporate control and eventual colonial status. This is a Post National version of the National version of Fascism in Italy in the last century. A form that doesn't have a National dictator to limit its autonomy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-chamber9-2010mar09,0,4230154,full.story
http://www.uschamber.com/grc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_of_Fasci_and_Corporations

Corporatists influencing our world's governments today view ethnicity, national borders, religions and parties as irrelevant abstracts which are only useful when used to divide, control, and manipulate us. Corporations are not citizens of any nation. They're a Post National form of government. A federated Corporatist World Empire. Like a tramp steamer with "a flag of convenience" they owe allegiance to no nation.

[StopMakingSense2]

12:31 PM on 10/06/2010

Why shouldn't they fund their campaigns with foreign money? They let Australians tell them what to think 24/7 on Faux Nooz.. Real patriots?

[gilbskg]

12:22 PM on 10/06/2010

For all of the vitriol that Republicans spew about the "power of the unions," those unions pale in comparison of the power and political reach of the US Chamber of Commerce.

[sailor422]

12:13 PM on 10/06/2010

Government by the corporation, for the corporation. Where are all the teabagers on this "give me my country back" issue?

[Jim Krow]

12:06 PM on 10/06/2010

Karl Rove is a one man political party. Michael Steele is the public face of the Republican Party, but Rove is the "Hammer".

The ink hadn't dried on the Supreme Court ruling that gave corporations status as individuals before Rove and his co-conspirators at the Chamber had figured out how to use it to their advantage.

They formed a series of PACs in the U.S. and funneled donations through foreign chapters of the Chamber directly to the general fund of the Chamber in America to make huge media buys in favor of Republican candidates all over America.

While the RNC lags behind the DNC in fund raising, the Chamber is spending millions in foreign money to influence elections in America. These same companies that contribute to the foreign branches of the Chamber as dues are the ones that profit by outsourcing of American jobs and tax breaks for foreign subsidiaries of American companies.

The American political system has been totally corrupted by business interests.

[profitforless]

11:45 AM on 10/06/2010

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer slams 'foreign interference' in immigration lawsuit

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43199.html#ixzz11asfNJfG
hypocrisy thy name is GOP

[2garen]

11:10 AM on 10/06/2010

We can have the taliban donate to the elections,
We can have the drug dealers , and every group that wants to destroy our government donate with out impunity.
And there is no way to know who is donating.
Pathetic!

[Rangergirl]

11:01 AM on 10/06/2010

The Citizens United group puts our Countrys elections at risk for forgein governments, forgein corporations to affect our Elections. It is WRONG. There needs to be transparency in EVERY big donation that comes into these shadow groups.; All the rethuglican, Carl Rove, Dick Army groups need to be accountable. We need to SAVE democrocy...Not sell it to the highest bidder....Citizens United was a horrible outcome from a Bad bunch of
Conservative Supreme Court Judges..... Badly done...This needs to change.

[lindabear]

10:56 AM on 10/06/2010

Wow, where have I been. I never realized the Chamber was an all inclusive republican run organization. Makes me sad, I thought there were out to help everyone.

[amaboss52]

01:23 PM on 10/06/2010

Nope just themselves.

[seanparnell]

10:39 AM on 10/06/2010

Talk about much ado about nothing.

There is no evidence - none - that foreign funds are being used to fund the Chamber's political ads, or that foreign contributors are being solicited for that purpose. Gosh, a Chamber spokesperson is giving talks around the world about what is going on with U.S. elections? What a nefarious thing to do!

And of course the hysteria is only targeted at a pro-business, Republican-friendly entity that receives a tiny portion of its revenues from foreign sources. No mention, of course, that an awful lot of unions have foreign affiliates (the "International" in the Service Employees International Union isn't just for show) and presumably have identical issues to the Chamber.

Just another attempt to use campaign finance "reform" laws to harass political opposition, this time by initiating a criminal investigation of a group that MoveOn.org does not agree with.

Sean Parnell
President
Center for Competitive Politics
http://www.campaignfreedom.org
http://www.twitter.com/seanparnellccp