The independent expenditure ads against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray keep stacking up, as does the irony.
Murray is a co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act, legislation that would require the main funders of IEs (such as Wal-Mart or Goldman Sachs or the AFL-CIO) to identify themselves in ads just like politicians have to. The latest anti-Murray ad, an estimated $300,000 buy, is brought to you by a group called Truth in Politics, which sued the Federal Elections Commission, arguing that it shouldn’t have to disclose donors in its ads against Wall Street reform.
Murray’s DISCLOSE Act—supported by Democrats and opposed by Republicans—is a direct response to the controversial Citizen’s United US Supreme Court ruling, which said corporations can directly fund IEs, with no contribution limits (previously, IEs could only accept regulated contributions from individuals and PACs).
The first big irony, and IE, against Murray? A $750,000 TV spot—hit last month. It was done by a group called the American Action Network. All we know about the AAN is that it’s run by a group of longtime GOP operatives and bigwigs, including former Republican US Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN). But who’s paying for it? Who knows? They don’t have to disclose themselves in the ad.
And now this. The latest ad attacking Murray comes from a group called Truth in Politics. (It attacks Murray for the bailout bill and for the fact that lobbyists make up the biggest slice of Murray’s contributor base.) Here’s the irony: The group’s lawyer is James Bopp, a noted anti-disclosure advocate. Congressional Quarterly ID’d him as playing in major role in developing the Citizens United Case.
He was also the lead lawyer on the case to keep signatures on R-71, the anti-gay-marriage referendum, under wraps, and he was Rossi’s attorney when the state Public Disclosure Commission investigated Rossi for shielding the names of donors to Forward Washington, Rossi’s allegedly apolitical non-profit between gubernatorial runs, because of Forward Washington’s political bent.
The New York Times published a big article on Bopp earlier this year after his “biggest victory,” the Citizens United case.
