Hiroshima Day seems as good a day as any to drop a bomb. [Note: written on August 6.]

James and Eric O’Keefe, from the Right Online 2011 Dinner in Minneapolis (the
competing “convention” to the Netroots Nation — formerly Daily Kos — Convention
that Andrew Breitbart crashed in Mid-June, at the height of his ‘Weiner Attack.’
(via Gateway Pundit, who states “no relation.”)

Thanks to Truthout, we have this little item from yesterday (and I urge you to read the full, short post) [emphasis added]:

According to the hub web site, watchdog.org is the brainchild of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a 5o1(c)3 non-profit organization “dedicated to promoting new media journalism.”

However, those “journalism” credentials have been called into question by groups like the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which rates watchdog.org as being “highly ideological” and “somewhat transparent.” The site has one editor, Steven Allen Adams, a stringer for Reuters and a contributor to a West Virginia entertainment news web site called Kanawha Valley Live that, sadly, closed operations in April.

The Franklin Center has well-established ties to right-wing groups, including the Sam Adams Alliance (SAA), which originally funded the organization. In addition to running partisan web sites, Franklin Center also funds partisan polls.

SAA, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, also has a litany of tries to the Kochs to the extent that the two groups function with a singular purpose. CEO Eric O’Keefe helped create American Majority, a Tea Party-candidate training organization. O’Keefe has attempted to take credit for being the architect of the entire Tea Party movement, and he once worked for Citizens for Congressional Reform, a project of David Koch’s Citizens for a Sound Economy….

Eric O’Keefe and John Fund at the Sammies

Regular readers will know that I’ve tracked the Sam Adams Alliance from its early days in October of 2006, when the Americans for Limited Government’s “board” moved, en masse to the mysterious “Sam Adams Alliance” and cut all ties to ALG — which had been exposed as the money behind dozens of initiative drives in dozens of states, all funded by three mysterious donors. Through their “internet trainings” and the “Sammies” and their bobble-head giveaways at CPAC. How former ALG President, then SAA President John Tillman became the President of Golf, Illinois and the principal at the “Illinois Policy Institute” which was purchased and tenfold refunded, with the original founder dropping out and forming his own, new policy institute.

The Lucy Burns Institute in Madison, Wisconsin

I will go much further into the media machine that the Sam Adams Alliance has built SINCE that day in 2006, but for today, I want to focus on how the Kochtopus strikes at a target, and I will tell you something about Eric O’Keefe and his wife that explains a lot.

The Sam Adams Alliance 990 (the publicly available IRS tax return) has this interesting explanation on page 29 of the return:

Schedule 0 (Form 990) 2009 Page 2

Name of the organization THE SAM ADAMS ALLIANCE

ON JULY 1, 2009, THE SAM ADAMS ALLIANCE(SAMIS) ENTERED INTO A CONTRACT WITH LUCY BURNS INSTITUTE (LBI) WHICH PROVIDED LBI WITH SPONSORSHIP OF BALLOTPEDIA AND JUDGEPEDIA. THESE WIKIS EVOLVED INTO RICH PLATFORMS WHICH NO LONGER FIT WITH SAM’S CORE AREAS OF EXPERTISE, AND ALLOWED LBI TO EXPAND ITS SPECIALIST INTEREST IN ORGANIZING AND PRESENTING INFORMATION ABOUT STATE GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND LAWS USING A WIKI FORMAT. ERIC O’KEEFE IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE SAM ADAMS ALLIANCE. HE IS MARRIED TO LESLIE GRAVES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE LUCY BURNS INSTITUTE. ERIC O’KEEFE RECEIVES NO FINANCIAL BENEFITS OR SALARY FROM HIS ASSOCIATION WITH THE SAM ADAM ALLIANCE AND HE DID NOT RECIEVE ANY FINANCIAL BENEFITS OR SALARY RELATED TO THE TRANSFER OF SPONSORSHIP. LESLIE GRAVES RECEIVED NO FINANCIAL BENEFITS OR SALARY FROM THE LUCY BURNS INSTITUTE IN 2009 AND RECEIVED NO FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF ANY KIND FROM THE TRANSFER OF SPONSORSHIP OF BALLOTPEDIA AND JUDGEPEDIA TO THE LUCY BURNS INSTITUTE.

Translated into standard Upper and Lowercase, it says:

Schedule 0 (Form 990) 2009 Page 2

Name of the organization THE SAM ADAMS ALLIANCE

On July 1, 2009, the Sam Adams Alliance (SAM’S)[sic] entered into a contract with Lucy Burns Institute (LBI) which provided LBI with sponsorship of Ballotpedia and Judgepedia. These wikis evolved into rich platforms which no longer fit with SAM’S [sic] core areas of expertise, and allowed LBI to expand its specialist interest in organizing and presenting information about state government policies and laws using a wiki format. Eric O’Keefe is the president of the Sam Adams Alliance. He is married to Leslie Graves, the president of the Lucy Burns Institute. Eric O’Keefe receives no financial benefits or salary from his association with the Sam Adam [sic] Alliance and he did not recieve any financial benefits or salary related to the transfer of sponsorship. Leslie Graves received no financial benefits or salary from the Lucy Burns Institute in 2009 and received no financial benefits of any kind from the transfer of sponsorship of Ballotpedia and Judgepedia to the Lucy Burns Institute.

Glad to know THAT. (You might recall that Eric O’Keefe is also one of three board members and founders of Club for Growth, Wisconsin, etc. See “Who Is Behind Wisconsin Club For Growth?“)

Leslie Graves from LinkedIn

And, of course, on page 31, it says this:

Form 990 – Federal General Footnote
Description
FORM 990, SCHEDULE B
TAX YEAR 2009
PART I – STATEMENT OF CONTRIBUTORS

THE ORGANIZATION DECLINES TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON ITS DONORS ON THE GROUNDS THAT SUCH DISCLOSURE MAY CHILL THE DONORS’ FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO ASSOCIATE IN PRIVATE WITH THE ORGANIZATION. NAACP v. ALABAMA, 357 U.S. 449 (1958); INTERNATIONAL UNION UAW v. NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK, 590 F. 2D 1139, 1152 (D.C. CIR. 1978). WHILE THE OTHER REQUIRED INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED ON THIS SCHEDULE B, ACTUAL IDENTITIES HAVE BEEN PROTECTED BY ASSIGNING A NUMBER TO EACH DONOR LISTED.

Now, it’s also interesting that even though Eric O’Keefe and Leslie Graves live in Spring Green, Wisconsin, her “Institute” is in Madison, Wisconsin, and his “Alliance” is in Chicago, Illinois.

And, there’s a reason that I can only get as recent as 2009, which is that universally (and seemingly intentionally) all of these related organizations file their tax returns in November of the following year, which is the maximum amount that a “charity” can ask for without very good reason. 2010’s SAA return probably won’t be filed until November of 2010.

Note how the 2009 return wasn’t filed until November 15, 2010

This is very advantageous when you’re contributing to political causes (the election is a year later by the time the return is filed).

Highlighted from page 19 in the .pdf of the 2009 return
Note that the “lobbying” cash isn’t necessarily the money
spent in support of a “Terms Limit” initiative in Oklahoma.

O’Keefe hasn’t been a board member of US Term Limits, but in 2006 old pal Paul Jacob was President of USTL (page 8), and the offices were located exactly where the Sam  Adams Alliance’s offices were in 2008.

Sam Adams Alliance 2008 address

USTL 2006 address

But then, Sam Adams Foundation (not to be confused with the “alliance” which is at the same address, officers, phones, etc.) completely bought all the U.S. Term Limits Foundation (ditto) office furniture and fixtures:

Yeah, they gave $172,319 worth of fixtures to Sam Adams, and took a $5,125 loss

They must have tossed in Paul Jacob with the deal, because, in 2008, the Sam Adams Alliance paid Paul Jacob $106,500 (page 7):

Paul Jacob, $106,500 as an employee of Sam Adams Alliance in 2008
Oh, and here’s some fun trivia: Joe Lehman is President of
the Mackinac Institute in Michigan. Google the other names for surprises!

And, in that same return, the Sam Adams Alliance paid Leslie Graves $60,000 (page 25):

“E&L Corporation” = “Eric” and “Leslie.” How Sweet.

This is interesting, of course. But what is more interesting is the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity located in Bismarck,  North Dakota. As Truthout notes, “sponsored” (i.e. set up) by the Sam Adams Alliance. Because, after that long-winded denial of financial interest, etc. in the 2009 Franklin Center tax return (the only return filed, thus far), we find these “grants” (passed along from the mysterious funders) to various state “media” startups:

Sam to Franklin to Lucy! How Sweet!

“The Lucy Burns Institute is non-profit and non-partisan, and was founded in December 2006. We’re based in Madison, Wisconsin,” chirps their website.

Interesting to watch the money flow from Eric O’Keefe’s Chicago SAA to Bismarck, North Dakota and back to Leslie Graves’ Madison LBI, when they could just as easily have passed it across the bedroom, from one night stand to the other.

Now this isn’t the first time I’ve caught these two running money across the bed via very circuitous routes. In 2006, I caught them running Americans for Limited Government money through a group in Idaho/Montana “America At Its Best” back to pay for Nebraska petition circulators run by a company running out of an Omaha, Nebraska mailbox. As I reported and the Omaha World Herald Confirmed, the “petition gathering company” was owned and operated by Leslie Graves, wife of then ALG Board Chair Eric O’Keefe. See:

• Part 8: America At Its Worst (i) 28 July 2006
• Part 8: America At Its Worst (ii) 30 July 2006

Remember what Truthout said about Eric O’Keefe?

O’Keefe helped create American Majority, a Tea Party-candidate training organization. O’Keefe has attempted to take credit for being the architect of the entire Tea Party movement

Eric O’Keefe (Mr. Leslie Graves) speaking at this
spring’s Phoenix, Arizona Tea Party Nation

Why now he’s the head of yet ANOTHER group, the “Health Care Compact” (which he’ll explain to you via YouTube).

click to view in a new window

Busy guy.

Here’s the Headline of the Omaha World-Herald‘s story on August 27, 2006 (nearly a month later), and the pertinent excerpt:

Petition’s origins tied to at least nine states
BY NICHOLE AKSAMIT AND PAUL GOODSELL
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS

[…]

Wisconsin

Leslie Graves, who is married to [Eric] O’Keefe, started Renewal Voter Outreach, the company that was paid $1.4 million to gather signatures on the Nebraska petitions.

Graves is no stranger to petition drives. The Spring Green, Wis., woman ran signature-collecting efforts to put third-party candidates on the ballot in the 1970s and 1980s, including Libertarian Ed Clark for president in Nebraska….

(She started RVO in the spring of that year.)

The money had gone from New York to Chicago, to Montana, to Nebraska, and back to Leslie Graves in Spring Green, Wisconsin. $1.4 million worth. So $43,412.56 is probably just chicken feed to her. But it is a disquieting political pattern

And, just to keep it all in the family, the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program supplies paid personnel to pretty much everyone discussed herein. Here’s who’s listed at the Koch program webpage:

• Lucy Burns Institute
• Sam Adams Alliance
• Americans for Limited Government
• Illinois Policy Institute
• Mackinac Center for Public Policy

HART WILLIAMS, TMV Columnist

A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog, His Vorpal Sword (no spaces) dot com.

www.hisvorpalsword.com