Rep. Perriello: Coal Fraudster Impersonated Women’s And Seniors’ Groups As Well
Rep. Perriello: Coal Fraudster Impersonated Women’s And Seniors’ Groups As Well
The stack of forged letters opposing clean energy reform on behalf of the coal industry is growing. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) has revealed that he not only received forgeries purporting to come from black and hispanic groups, but also senior citizen and women’s advocacy organizations as well.
Yesterday, Perriello’s office told reporters that in addition to the five NAACP letters and one Creciendo Juntos letter forged on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), “two other letters were forged to appear as if they had been sent by the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, a Charlottesville agency, and the American Association of University Women.” Perriello, who cast his vote in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act despite this fraud, discussed the scandal on Rachel Maddow:
Obviously, anything like this, where someone is claiming your letterhead and then claiming your position is just outrageous. They also did JABA, the Jefferson Area Board for the Aging, which is one of these great service organizations in our community that helps our seniors. And for them to get dragged into something like this really is, I think, a blow to folks in the area. But it’s also just a turn-off again to these sorts of corporate-lobbying tactics.
Watch it:
Neither JABA nor the American Association of University Women did any lobbying on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and both organizations first learned about the fraud today. Since the scandal broke last Friday, ACCCE has placed the blame on its contractors, the Astroturf specialists Hawthorn Group and Bonner & Associates. However, ACCCE has known and kept silent about the fraudulent campaign against the clean energy legislation since June, even as the two other members known to have received fraudulent letters, Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA) and Chris Carney (D-PA), voted against the bill.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the chair of the Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, today sent a letter to ACCCE requesting information about its role in the affair, including the full details of all of the fraudulent letters sent on its behalf:
The deliberate inaction prior to the House vote and the extended silence after the vote — some 40 days after ACCCE knew what had happened — raises serious concerns.
Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.
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Righties never win fair fights.
That’s why they’re always lying and cheating.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:31 pmNot that the DOJ does stuff about things anymore or anything, but is this not unlawful in some respect?
August 5th, 2009 at 7:31 pmLegality aside, is it not pathetic that these freaks have resorted to forgery in an attempt to legitimize their idiocy. The psychotic break of the Reichwing movement continues another day.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:35 pmI asked TPM about this and heard back from them that the Sierra Club has asked the Justice Department to look into these forgeries, stolen letterhead and mail fraud. Investigations have begun and indictments will follow. I’d like to see more than the Sierra Club move on this and I’m surprise CREW hasn’t gotten into the mix yet.
Turf away, I say. Put them all out of business right now before they can do any more damage.
PEACE
August 5th, 2009 at 7:36 pmThe more people dig, the more we find dirty tricks by the Republicans and their lobbyists. They don’t get it. People will associate the Republicans with all of these dirty tricks just like Nixon and his cronies which ended in Watergate.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:38 pm“Obviously, anything like this, where someone is claiming your letterhead and then claiming your position is just outrageous. ”
Actually, I believe it is called mail fraud and is a federal offense.
They have no shame, they’re Republicans.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:43 pmToo bad this isn’t getting any traction in the MSM. At least not yet. The fact it hasn’t is kind of suspicious.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:49 pmIf Conservatives and Republicans are involved you can guarantee that crimes have been committed….
…no matter what small thing they are involved in…
….they have the morals and ethics of snakes….
….sorry snakes to bring you into this.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:50 pmWhat on Earth would senior citizens have against clean energy?
Or special interest groups of blacks or Hispanics?
??????
August 5th, 2009 at 7:54 pm…and to think, this is just one of a hundred ways republicanz have infested society! Just C-Street is scary all by itself – then add Rethug murder, torture, and war profiteering.
Mail Fraud is a part of a giant reThuglican elephant in the room!
August 5th, 2009 at 7:55 pmI look forward to seeing Bonner getting investigated and charged with fraud.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:56 pmThis evil brought to you in the name of Jeeezus from the ones chosen by GAWD!!! AMEN!
August 5th, 2009 at 7:58 pmNobody ever said extinction was going to be easy. They need to man-up and diversify.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:01 pmpags2 says: The more people dig, the more we find dirty tricks by the Republicans and their lobbyists. They don’t get it. People will associate the Republicans with all of these dirty tricks just like Nixon and his cronies which ended in Watergate.
errr… if you think this dirty tricks is going to dmamage the Republicans in any way, think again.
When Reagan got caught selling weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages, FOR PROFIT, and then used those profits to sell weapons (in exchange for cocaine) to the Contras who killed American citizens and toppled the democratically elected Sandanista government–and Congress let Reagan get away with “gee I don’t remember doing any of that stuff, but if you say so….okay sure. whatever you say”.
And then George Bush ‘pardoned’ Cap Weinberger BEFORE he was even indicted, let alone found guilty of breaking dozens of laws. and Congress let Bush get away with THAT!
But they HAD to impeach Clinton for a blowjob.
And then the election was stolen in 2000. and the Iowa result of 2004 was stolen too.
So… don’t hold your breath. This is business as usual and it will all be forgotten by 2010 ( in part because the media will ignore it as well) .
August 5th, 2009 at 8:01 pmWhy is this not mail fraud?
August 5th, 2009 at 8:05 pmWhoops…missed Spencer’s Mom’s comment. Sorry!
Get the postal inspector involved! Those people take no prisoners.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:08 pmHey 5th Estate – I remember the trials with Oliver North too! The Iran-Contra affair.
In fact, I never could understand why the GOP adored Reagan as much as they do. All I could remember was the scandal!
They were ready to destroy Clinton for getting a BJ – My goodness!
I think this is what Bush & Cheney is counting on – America going on forgetting about the past – business as usual!
August 5th, 2009 at 8:08 pmAs someone who lives in Perriello’s district, I am insulted this is happening not just to him but to our democracy. It’s exactly because of this shameful cowardice that we need reform to replace groups only interested in profit and power with those that value people and progress!
August 5th, 2009 at 8:08 pmLets face it when it comes to forgery`s the repugs and their wingnut followers are not very good at it. I think a good example would be President Obamas BC from Kenya.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:10 pmIs there anything out there immoral these freaks have NOT done?
And watch, they will once again run of being the ones of the high moral fiber.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:15 pmIt is time to begin rounding up Republicans and prosecuting them for all the crimes we have watched them commit over and over.
Why aren’t any of the Republicans going to prison yet? It is time for the wingnut roundup to begin! I can’t think of a better use for Gitmo.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:28 pmEver so slightly O/T: Cash for Republican Clunkers? Oh, sorry, they have already been paid for by insurance companies, pharma corporations and HMOs. No worries, mate…
August 5th, 2009 at 8:33 pm5th Estate,
Like everything you say, but the big steal of 2004 was Ohio. The exit polls should have been extremely accurate since there were about 20,000 respondents given a very empirical question: “Who did you just vote for President?”. It is totally impossible for them to be off a full 3.0%, as the official results must say. When an everyday, not so empirical, poll goes from the normal 1,000 respondents to 2,000—the polling service says the margin of error becomes 1.5%.
One Republican computer tabulation expert (Stephen Spoonamore) says Ohio MUST have been stolen.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=spoonamore&aq=0&oq=spoona&aqi=g5g-s2g2g-s1
August 5th, 2009 at 8:41 pmThe Republicans will get away with this and much more because the Democrats are scared to go after them and be accused of partisan politics.
Until the Democrats develop a collective spine and go after this type of fraud and corruption, the Republicans will continue to do it BECAUSE IT WORKS.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:56 pm*
you really need to check out rachel’s opening segment tonight…
“INTIMINATION”
about all the teabagger sponsors…
wow.
recessrally.com
(which is unavailable at this time since she invited viewers to go there)
go rachel!
August 5th, 2009 at 9:14 pmIn response to #22’s, ever so slightly O/T:
Where has the Republican outrage been, when in 2006, the alternative fuel tax credit (for cars) was enacted?
I had to buy a new car in January because my beloved ‘04 Jetta TDi Wagon was totalled (through no fault of my own: was rear ended by a Ford Exploder: he was doing 65, I was stopped). I turned around (after my broken ribs healed; and no health insurance) and purchased a new 2009 Jetta TDi sedan. I get a $1300 tax credit for purchasing an alternative fuel car, plus there’s some other credit absolving me of some of my sales tax… don’t know if that applies to a VW though… might only apply to US cars… Will find out when I do my taxes in January.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:15 pmKeith
You are correct,Ohio was the big steal.
My mistake comes from a joke my mother told me once.
A business cocktail cocktail party in Chicago (my mothers home town) to which some of the salespeople and spouses of more rural branches have been invited.
The sophisticate bosses wife sees a rather parochially dressed woman looking rather alone and decides to make conversation.
“And where are you from?” asks the elegant hostess.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:22 pm“Ohio” replies the the woman.
“Oh my dear” responds the hostess in a conspiratorial and condescending whipser, “around here, we call it Iowa.”
hormiga brava chavez
Yeah, those trials were the first political TV “theater” I’d ever seen. I was on vacation (only in PA, but the first I’d had in five years) and I watched every damn minute. It was riveting stuff.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:26 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Meanwhile, the minions of Satan continue to attack ACORN. While these fracking bloodsuckers can’t even see their own reflection in the mirror.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:57 pmthe_kettle,
None of the things you have listed come close to the war crimes of the Bush administration. Virtually every fascist theocrat Republican is guilty of taking massive quantities of money from oil companies, healthcare companies, insurance companies and pharma companies. Accepting money from companies, as a bribe, is treason and every Republicans that has done it deserves to hang.
I realize you fascist theocrat Republicans do not know the difference between right and wrong, so America is going to continue explaining it to you at the polls.
With luck, we will eventually get an attorney general that will want to restore the rule of law and put your fascist theocratic a$$es in prison.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:00 pmIf a Republican isn’t lying, they are mute.
If a Republican isn’t cheating, they aren’t playing.
If a Republican isn’t frightened, they’re dead.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:12 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Katy @25,thanks for the link. Its really sad that the people who go to the town hall meetings to disrupt them because they listen to the BS propaganda fed to them is a shame.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:22 pmI dont know if we should feel sorry for these people or call them what they truly are. Idiots, they are protesting against
the things that Obama is trying to put into place that will benifit them and their famaly`s. I was so proud on 1/20/09 watching the first black president being sworn in.
Then again I guess im an idiot too. I really thought that having Obama as our president was going to do alot of good towards race relations in our country. Was I ever wrong.
How fcking sad.
the_kettle,
The truth does not matter to fascist theocrat Republicans. You only defend them because you are one of them. No patriotic American would ever defend the disgusting behavior of the Republican Party.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:26 pmImpersonating organizations or individuals? Hmmm, could not that be considered identity theft?
August 5th, 2009 at 10:39 pmISN’T FORGERY A CRIME ???
August 5th, 2009 at 10:42 pmIOKIYAR
August 5th, 2009 at 10:46 pmSalmon Dave says:
ISN’T FORGERY A CRIME ???
Yes, it is.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:48 pmBut then again so is torture.
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
someone call whine wun wun
kettle kid needs a waaambulance
August 5th, 2009 at 10:57 pmYou know, with all the crimes being committed by Republicans, it would be so easy to just round them up. I don’t know why Holder is afraid to do his job. I guess the rule of law doesn’t matter.
I guess there is so much criminal activity being committed by Republicans that if you arrested them all, they could cry it is all partisan politics. I guess at this point, who cares what they cry? Without the rule of law, we are not a nation.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:58 pmThe Republicans made it quite clear under the Bush presidency. You are either with us, or you are against us. You defend Republican crimes by listing crimes committed by Democrats. That makes you one of them.
I never made any effort to defend the crimes of Republicans or Democrats, you did. If you don’t want to admit your affiliation with a fascist theocratic political party, I can certainly understand. After all, spending the rest of your life in prison is going to suck.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Fake fascist fearmongers!
The Republican Party must be destroyed.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:30 pmthe_kettle says:
Try to vote down a punkass troll trying to derail a thread.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:12 amthe_kettle says:
You voted Democrat? So you voted Democrat. Though you are too stupid to even know the NAME of the DemocratIC party and show your Limborg programming with your petty and VERY stupid derisive nickname FOR the Democratic party. You may have voted for A Democrat but you didnt vote Democrat since there is a DemocratIC primary but there is no DEMOCRAT party or primary. I think you are a liar and I KNOW you are a moron.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:15 amSo, at least they’re an equal opportunity fraudulent forger…
August 6th, 2009 at 12:44 amDoesn’t that count for something?
Like and extra week in hell?
Me ? Wrong , dung.
Athiest and former registered Democrat.
Well that’s new…someone claiming to be an atheist and then carrying the water for the GOP…you know the GOP hates people like you, right?
August 6th, 2009 at 1:09 amkettle, pardon me if I’ve misjudged you, but the very fact that you seemed to revel in that list you provided makes us skeptical of your intentions…
August 6th, 2009 at 1:11 ammail enhancement?
August 6th, 2009 at 1:49 am5th Estate says:
errr… if you think this dirty tricks is going to dmamage the Republicans in any way, think again.
I believe that as public learns of these dirty tricks, that eventually, the Republicans turn people off. These dirty tricks will get out of control, just like these protesters. The public is tired of slash and burn politics by the Republicans and that is going to affect their reelections in 2010. Some people do not like the idea that the Dems are not doing the same dirty tricks, but that works in their favor. People vote based on their pocketbook, but in Watergate, the backlash was severe so much so that the Republican party could have gone out of existence. It would seem to be that the Republicans would not want to get that far involved with these dirty tricks because if the next presidential election is close, then the voters who are ticked about the slash and burn politics will vote against them. Or one of these dirty tricks will blow up in a big way enough to damage their election chances.
August 6th, 2009 at 2:01 amwell, it’s not like they’re trying to steal an election….
August 6th, 2009 at 3:49 amYes indeed.
The Repubs have been practising their dirty politics for 20-30 years, and there are more Democrats than ever.
If they keep it up, America will be voting communist within a few years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HizNRKUe3A
August 6th, 2009 at 6:23 amI would think that this group would face legal liability for something like this and I hope they get sued big time for their efforts. This is just another example of the complete moral breakdown of the right coming from the very people that loudly like to claim moral superority. Sue baby sue!
August 6th, 2009 at 7:54 amWingnuts, when you need someone to talk to…call Dial A Prayer and then waste yourselves but don’t take anyone else, who had nothing to do with your pathetic existence, out with you.
August 6th, 2009 at 7:59 am1Watt says:
well, it’s not like they’re trying to steal an election….
Actually…it’s pretty close to that. They’re trying to rig a vote.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:16 amThe Repugs are bringing themselves down. Forgery? So it ain’t so? Orly Taitz is the latest Wing-nut proven to be liar and a fraud. The last I saw of her was her disasterous apperance on MSNBC. Already the Progressives and Democrats are mobilizing to counter the Righties efforts to turn Town-Halls into mob scenes. In Texas, the ‘Tea-Baggers’ backed down because they realized that they were the minority. All Dems and Progressives have to do is mobilize and SHOW UP. These Righties are basically cowards. Oh sure, they feel powerful when they are in Mob Mentality. But they have no insightful arguments to back up their claims. So when large numbers os the oppostion show-up, they are powerless. And that is just the way I like them. Poewerless and defeated.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:28 amWingnuts, what did you actually accomplish with it all? Yeah, you were able to kill alot of people overseas but other than that, what? OK, you were able to enrich alot of corporate CEOs and right-wing pundits but not yourselves. You were used. In Obama’s next 8 years, he’s sure to appoint 2 or 3 judges to the SCOTUS. Maybe more. Democrats are stronger than ever and we’re going to have national healthcare and soon equal rights for all Americans. Your party is finished. We’re going to evacuate more repukes from office in 10 and DINOs after that in 12. You caught us asleep in 2000 but never again. What was it worth?
August 6th, 2009 at 8:32 amAlready MSM is calling Obama a Failure. They suppositly back it up with the latest poll. (I’m not sure which one) But a remarkable thing MSM doesn’t mention, is that Obama is getting high ratings in BLUE states. Taking as a whole, there are a Hell of a lot more Blue States than Red. And by the way, when did MSM ever obssess over Georgie’s ratings? Ever since Obama got in, it has been one poll after another. When Georgie was in, we were inudated with celebrity bullsh*t about Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Ahh.. the good old days.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:40 amCheck out this video of coal thugs disrupting a picnic over the 4th of July in West Virginia,2nd video in article:
dailykos.com/west-virginia-coal-thugs_b_226979.html
August 6th, 2009 at 9:26 amIt should of read:
August 6th, 2009 at 9:27 amdailykos.com/dave-cooper/west-virginia-coal-thugs_b_226979.html
this is mail fraud… how much anyone wish to bet that this will never be treated as such NOR prosecuted…
August 6th, 2009 at 9:54 amSurely a crime has been committed. I would think that some of the identity theft statues might come into play or that a civil case could be brought against the lobbyists for misrepresenting the views of their unpaid “clients”. It feels like a form of defamation if nothing else.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:42 pmOn behalf of AAUW, we resent the act of fraud perpetrated against this esteemed, 128-year-old charitable membership organization. AAUW has worked a long time to build our good reputation and keep our name untarnished. Our members have used their collective voices to break through barriers for women and girls. The notion that someone would come along and co-opt that name, or attempt to harness that collective voice under false lights, is a breathtaking deceit. Here’s our response.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:49 pm