Ghost Letters: Opponents Of Clean Energy Reform Send Fake Letters To Sen. Conrad
Ghost Letters: Opponents Of Clean Energy Reform Send Fake Letters To Sen. Conrad
Last week, ThinkProgress reported that a DC-based lobbying firm was caught forging letters to Rep. Tom Periello (D-VA) in opposition to the Waxman-Markey clean energy bill. The company, Bonner & Associates, has a decades-long history of “astroturfing” –- misrepresenting corporate-backed policy as a real grassroots movement. ThinkProgress just received a letter indicating that more anti-clean energy letter forgeries may be out there.
Joseph Richardson received a letter from Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) in reply to a letter that he never sent:
Richardson never wrote such a letter, and he never would. Calling himself a “vocal member” of the North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy, Richardson told ThinkProgress that he is an ACES supporter and even wrote a letter to Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) calling on the congressman to support clean energy reform.
The forged letter was likely a result of astroturfing. Conrad’s letter was delivered to an out-of-date address that Richardson hadn’t used for months. According to Richardson, Conrad’s office is currently in the process of tracking down the original letter they received. See the full letter Senator Conrad’s office sent to Richardson.
This latest news joins an evolving series of dishonest tactics from opponents of clean energy reform. On Friday, a former Bonner & Associates employee told Talking Points Memo that extreme managerial pressure at Bonner is par for the course, and inevitably leads to these desperate measures. According to the article:
[The former employee] portray[ed] Bonner and Associates as a place where ethical missteps were far from rare. “They just got caught this time,” he said.
A note to the astroturf groups: next time you decide to forge a letter, try doing a Google search to make sure your target hasn’t publicly stated their opposition to your agenda.
According to the spokesperson, Conrad's staff tracked down an email late tonight from Mr. Richardson. The Senate office mistakenly categorized Richardson's email as opposing clean energy reform. As a result, he received an incorrect form letter in response.
When Think Progress first contacted Mr. Richardson, he indicated that he had never sent a letter regarding ACES, but according to Senator Conrad's office, he now takes ownership over the original correspondence. Think Progress has requested a copy of the original email from the Senate office and will post it if it becomes available.
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A note to the astroturf groups: next time you decide to forge a letter, try doing a Google search to make sure your target hasn’t publicly stated their opposition to your agenda.
No tips for the ‘turfers, TP!
Let the internet remain a strange series of tubes to them… after all, nobody wants a surf’n ‘turfer, do they?
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:12 pmIsn’t fraud a felony under DC law? These people need to be prosecuted for this crap.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:14 pmamazing how the right wing relies on lies and deceptions to try and move their agenda
more amazing is that there are group of people out there who fall for it
most amazing of all, there are democrats who take them seriously and want to work with them
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:15 pmFraudsters, flamers, thieves, misinformed talking heads — the GOP has it all if you’re an aspiring con-artist or lemming.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:16 pmWhere is all that Soros money that’s supposed to be floating around here in such huge quantities that we can barely wade through all of it to reach our keyboards?
We could use that cash to counter-turf! Of course, doing so is both unethical and illegal. Which is why it’s a favored method of the GNOP.
Didn’t Mikey Steele ‘turf himself as an African American Democrat? Still lost, though, didn’t he?
PEACE
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:19 pmI agree it’s pathetic that the Republicrats have to resort to deception and lies to get their agenda passed. On the other hand, it also means that they know they can’t get their agenda considered without resorting to deception and lies.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:20 pmAnother reason why so few Americans identify with the Republican Party. Too many Republicans are still embracing the Machiavellian tactics championed by Atwater, Rove, and Cheney.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:21 pmchiroptera toasterhead says:
Isn’t fraud a felony under DC law? These people need to be prosecuted for this crap.
I know there are laws about dirty tricks during election campaigns but I am not sure if they cover this sort of activity. There may be state and federal mail criminal statutes that might apply, but I am not sure.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:26 pmThere are mail fraud laws that carry significant penalties.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:37 pmIt’s old hat to them. It shouldn’t be news to us.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:50 pmAnd here is the relevant section:
-CITE-
18 USC Sec. 1342 01/08/2008
-EXPCITE-
TITLE 18 – CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I – CRIMES
CHAPTER 63 – MAIL FRAUD
-HEAD-
Sec. 1342. Fictitious name or address
-STATUTE-
Whoever, for the purpose of conducting, promoting, or carrying on
by means of the Postal Service, any scheme or device mentioned in
section 1341 of this title or any other unlawful business, uses or
assumes, or requests to be addressed by, any fictitious, false, or
assumed title, name, or address or name other than his own proper
name, or takes or receives from any post office or authorized
depository of mail matter, any letter, postal card, package, or
other mail matter addressed to any such fictitious, false, or
assumed title, name, or address, or name other than his own proper
name, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than
five years, or both.
-SOURCE-
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 763; Pub. L. 91-375, Sec.
6(j)(12), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 778; Pub. L. 103-322, title
XXXIII, Sec. 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
-MISC1-
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 339 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch.
321, Sec. 216, 35 Stat. 1131).
The punishment language used in section 1341 of this title was
substituted in lieu of the reference to it in this section.
Minor changes in phraseology were made.
AMENDMENTS
1994 – Pub. L. 103-322 substituted “fined under this title” for
“fined not more than $1,000″.
1970 – Pub. L. 91-375 substituted “Postal Service” for “Post
Office Department of the United States”.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1970 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 91-375 effective within 1 year after Aug.
12, 1970, on date established therefor by Board of Governors of
United States Postal Service and published by it in Federal
Register, see section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91-375, set out as an
Effective Date note preceding section 101 of Title 39, Postal
Service.
-End-
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:51 pmThis is the same Bull-sh*t the Repugs are doing with the Town-Hall debates. MSM is reporting that these confrontations are just the people speaking out against Health-Care reform. Yeah Roght! These are tools who were told by the Repug smear machine to disrupt these meetings. You know it, I know it. I hope Joe Schmoo knows it.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:57 pmRepublicans are Nothing but a gang of Bandits!
Lying and cheating and slandering is what they do.
And yet they claim to have a large following of [lying cheating] supporters… I wonder how inflated the Greedy Old rePuglicans support really is these days.
TV is not your friend.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 pmRepublicanism is an illness.
OT tweedy is wrong about Cash for Clunkers.
tweedy and his ban of idiots are wrong again. The idiots!
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:10 pmLooks like somebody’s coming through and voting down every post without comment… coward.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:12 pmJust voted up every comment… just for you, whoever you are…
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:13 pmYeah…I voted up everyone who was not a recognizable troll, just to alleviate…
:|
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:15 pmGhost writers in the sky?
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:40 pmYou mean Conservatives would lie and cheat in order to get their way???
I’m shocked that this would come to light…LOL
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 pmMan…that’s like Barry saying he will not raise middle Americans taxes! Or Cap and Trade is somehow “Good” for the world? The only thing Barry has done is ride this country down in the dirt!
We can’t afford 3 & 1/2 more years of PeeBO. Please go back to Chicago and take all you’re thugs (Nazi) with you B.O.!
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:06 pmWhat we cannot afford is more wild spending Republicans. Fascist wingnuts like RealityCheck can pretend that Obama is spending a lot of money, but such propaganda is not based on reality.
We have removed Republicans from power in part because they spend money like drunken sailors while preaching fiscal conservatism and they preach family values while cheating on their wives.
American just don’t trust Republicans anymore, and we never again will.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:20 pmThese lobbyists are some dishonest propagandists…would Jesus approve of such dubious tactics?
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 pmNew reality show…winner take all game theory lobbyists compete against each other and the winner. Lie, cheat, steal, forge.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 pmAmerica, pay attention to what is going on. YOUR GOP has stepped over that invisible line between reality and blatant lies and forgery.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:23 amAre you going to allow the scare tactics to win AGAIN???
except no one used Mr. Richardson’s name to send an email, it appears he did send one. Unless of course Senator Conrad is lying…. this is projection. ACORN has been busing people to protests for a long time, and well, I guess you all think that is the way it HAS to be done. I’ve protested and NO ONE is paying me any money to do so. But, if you know of someone who is, let me know. Since I’m doing it anyway, I might as well get paid.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:14 pm