Liberal Forum

THE GOP'S ACORNRNC Asked Nathan Sproul to Create Shell Companies to Mask PaymentsDon't you just love The Google? Especially the Archives tab in Google News? If you go back in time like I did, you will find an article dated July 5, 2005. It is it juicy and begins:In the months before the 2004 presidential election, a firm called Sproul & Associates launched voter registration drives in at least eight states, most of them swing states. The group--run by Nathan Sproul, former head of the Arizona Christian Coalition and the Arizona Republican Party--had been hired by the Republican National Committee. Sproul got into a bit of trouble last fall when, in certain states, it came out that the firm was playing dirty tricks in order to suppress the Democratic vote: concealing their partisan agenda, tricking Democrats into registering as Republicans, surreptitiously re-registering Democrats and Independents as Republicans, and shredding Democratic registration forms. Team Bush Paid Millions to Nathan Sprouland Tried to Hide ItThe article goes on to explain that the scandal didn't receive much attention before 2004 presidential election. Once the election was over, anybody who brought up Sproul's name and the scandal was brushed off as a conspiracy theorist. And yet the article goes on to do some arithmetic and figures out that the math doesn't add up. It also provides a timeline of how all the information was revealed.Moreover, there are some big surprises buried in the paperwork. It turned out that the RNC paid Sproul not only for their pre-election work, but also paid them for work after the election. According to their Year-End Report, filed on Jan. 28, 2005, the RNC paid Sproul for "Political Consulting" in December--long after all the voter registration drives had ended. (snip) As to why Sproul was being paid in December, and why the dates were changed, one can only speculate. But it may be worth noting that the Ohio recount took place from Dec. 13 through Dec. 28. Team Bush Paid Millions to Nathan Sprouland Tried to Hide ItNothing to see here. Just a conspiracy theory? That was then and this is now. An article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday revealed:Sproul said he created Strategic Allied Consulting at the RNC's request because the party wanted to avoid being publicly linked to the past allegations. The firm was set up at a Virginia address, and Sproul does not show up on the corporate paperwork. "In order to be able to do the job that the state parties were hiring us to do, the [RNC] asked us to do it with a different company's name, so as to not be a distraction from the false information put out in the Internet," Sproul said. The RNC's rapid decision to distance itself comes as Republicans around the country have sought to make voter fraud an issue, in part by pressing for voter identification laws. RNC cuts ties with voter-drive firm accused of fraudIf you go back and read the first article, is it a the conspiracy theory to conclude that in 2005 investigative reporters went back and looked at all the payments to Sproul & Associates for the 2004 election, and learning from past mistakes the RNC decided not to make the same mistake in 2012? There has been a lot of reporting about the company called Strategic Allied Consulting, but perhaps we should dig deeper like Lee Fang at The Nation did.It appears that the Republican Party of California might have its own deal with Sproul, and is also attempting to hide it from the public. As I noted in an update to my post on Wednesday, the California Republican Party has made $430,840 in payments to Grassroots Outreach, LLC this cycle for voter registration. Is this another Sproul shell group? And are they up to the same tactics as before? Lance Williams at California Watch reports that a recent complaint in Riverside County details a number of allegations that someone affiliated with the GOP is deceiving voters to re-register them as Republicans and offering free cigarettes for signatures. Theyre reportedly targeting minorities:One voter complained that his registration was changed to Republican after he signed what he thought was a petition to legalize marijuana. Another said he was told he was signing a petition to lower the price of gasoline, according to the affidavits. Others said they were offered free cigarettes or a job at the polls if they signed some paperwork. Also among the Democrats who said they were involuntarily re-registered as Republicans: two aides to retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Roth, a Democrat locked in a tight race with Republican Assemblyman Jeff Miller for a state Senate seat. Many of the complainants were Latino or African American. [Emphasis added.]According to this disclosure, Grassroots Outreach shares the same address as Sprouls office in Tempe, Arizona. Craigslist job postings in California use identical language as Sprouls shell company, Strategic Allied Consulting.GOP Fires Controversial Voter Suppression Operative, but Is He Still Playing Dirty Tricks In California?Something tells me that once somebody starts taking the time to search business records, state by state, and look for companies with that same Tempe, Arizona, address, this story is going to become and even bigger headache for Republicans and the RNC.Does this increase the chances of Democrats retaining control of the presidency, the Senate, and more importantly winning back control of the House of Representatives? Remember our new motto: Don't agonize; organize.Link