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Abramoff, Norquist & Pay for Play PR The Congressional investigation of the Abramoff corruption case exposed how so-called "think tanks" have been utilized for stealth public relations work. The Minority Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Investigation of Jack Abramoff's use of Tax-Exempt Organizations published in 2006 (download 600-page report here) introduces its work by beginning with the abuses discovered previously: The role tax-exempt organizations played in Mr. Abramoff’s client relationships first came to light during an investigation by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. In that investigation, e-mails from and to Mr. Abramoff showed that he furthered his lobbying enterprise with the help of several tax-exempt organizations, which took contributions arranged by Mr. Abramoff and undertook actions on Mr. Abramoff’s clients’ behalf. In the final report on its investigation, the Committee on Indian Affairs observed that tax-exempt organizations were apparently ‘‘serving or being used as extensions of for-profit lobbying operations.’’ The report looks into how not-for-profit organizations including Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, National Center for Public Policy research, Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, and Citizens Against Government Waste, appeared to have been "willing to provide certain services for Mr. Abramoff's clients in exchange for payments". In other words, they generated public relations "spin", distributed it under the guise of public policy analysis, and received tax-deductible "contributions" as payment for these services. Check how this pay-for-play PR scheme worked with Norquist aiding Abramoff's lobbying for Channel One. The Minority staff findings conclude that such abuses of tax-exempt status amounts to a fraudulent scheme that victimizes taxpayers: This type of activity indicates that these tax-exempt organizations engaged in what amounted to profit-seeking and private benefit behavior inconsistent with their tax-exempt status. And by virtue of the tax benefits, other taxpayers implicitly subsidized this behavior. Thus, these tax-exempt organizations appear to have perpetrated a fraud on other taxpayers. As of July, 2007, new revelations may soon be forthcoming. Italia Federici, president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, will be giving new insight into these dealings. According to a story in the Washington Post on June 7, "Federici has agreed to cooperate in the wide-ranging public corruption investigation arising from Abramoff's lobbying activities" as part of a plea bargain to "charges of tax evasion and obstructing a congressional investigation." *** |
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