Team WIN THE MORNING commits acts of investigative journalism for once, and guess which major right-wing political donors are so wealthy and powerful that they have their own 25-person strong in-house intelligence gathering agency to spy on liberals with?
The competitive intelligence effort, reported here for the first time, also hints at the audaciousness of the Koch network’s mission. While the Republican Party focuses on winning elections, the Kochs want to realign American politics, government and society around free enterprise philosophies that they hope to spread more broadly.
A key to accomplishing the mission, from the Kochs’ perspective, is countering super PACs and other big-money groups funded by rich liberals, as well as allied public sector unions and academic and media elites. The Kochs’ allies feel that those forces have worked together for decades with Democratic politicians and government bureaucrats to institutionalize the philosophy that heavy regulation and taxation of business is the only way to ensure an equitable society.
The Kochs concluded that defeating this well-funded left-wing infrastructure requires tracking the professional left in real time ― a capability they realized they lacked after the 2012 election. In the run-up to that election, the Koch network spent $400-million-plus attacking Democratic politicians and policies, only to see President Barack Obama win re-election and his party maintain control of the Senate. A forensic audit of the network’s efforts concluded the Kochs had been out-maneuvered by the left on the airwaves, in the data war and on the ground. Vowing not to let that happen again, the network began investing in the competitive intelligence team and other efforts to keep tabs on the left.
To be sure, the Kochs’ operation isn’t the only one focused on pulling back the curtain on its opponents. In fact, liberal activists and groups have frequently worked to expose the activities of the Koch brothers and their network. But the competitive intelligence team, like so many other Koch-backed programs, appears to be unique in its scale and its thoroughly methodological approach.
The outfit is run by a former CIA operative named Mike Roman, and from all indications it’s a very professional deal. Keep in mind that if it was a left-wing business group that had its own intelligence group tracking conservatives in real-time, there would be congressional hearings, subpoenas , endless breaking news stories, and conservatives screaming that American take up armed resistance to overthrow “tyrant” Obama’s network of spies. Hell, those attacks on the “Dems” private Stasi” would be coming from the right and the civil libertarian left.
But it’s the Koch Brothers, so it’s okay. And of course, the paranoid style runs deep.
In addition to delving into the left, the competitive intelligence team also monitors potential Koch network threats, according to sources familiar with it. It tracks people deemed suspicious outside the offices of Koch network groups, circulating be-on-the-lookout photos to internal network email lists, while keeping an eye on the network’s own ranks for possible leakers or disloyal employees.
One former network executive remembers an email containing a photo of a man identified as an operative with the environmental group Greenpeace who allegedly had been spotted taking his own photos outside the network’s cluster of offices in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington.
Connor Gibson, a Greenpeace researcher who focuses on the Koch network, said he visits its component groups’ offices once a year to pick up their tax filings, and he speculated he could have been the operative photographed by the competitive intelligence unit. While he said he’s never sought to conceal his identity during such visits, he added “If the Kochs consider me an opponent, I’m flattered.”
In another instance, sources say, Roman’s team set out to identify an IT contractor who was working for one of the network’s groups and was posting anonymous messages to Reddit, proclaiming that he worked for the Koch brothers but despised their stances. Within 48 hours, the team had sleuthed out the offender and his contract was terminated.
“They were scared to death of moles,” said the former executive.
A separate source ― an organizer who’s worked with the unit ― described it as “a full opposition research operation, only at about 10-times the level of any political campaign.” The organizer added “my guess is that most people inside the network don’t even know about it.”
Understand that this is the logical endpoint of believing your political opponents as an enemy that needs to be ferreted out and destroyed, to spy on them, track them, identify them, and to conduct counter-espionage against, all in the name of controlling the country’s politics. And they have access to billions in resources in order to do it.
The Kochs see liberals — fellow Americans, mind you — as people who must be tracked in real-time.
This is who controls American politics.
Belafon
And they can’t even get that right. I don’t believe businesses should have free rein (or reign), and I’d lower the tax rate on businesses if I could cut out the ability for a profitable large company to get money back from the government. But it’s actually higher taxes on the wealthy that will help lead to a more equitable society.
Benw
On first reading this seems less like a threat to democracy and more an enormously stupid waste of money.
japa21
I don’t think the fact they are doing this comes as much of a surprise, although the extent of it is somewhat breathtaking. I do wonder how much of these activities are on the wrong side of the law.
And of course, the paranoia evidenced by this is extreme and apparently based upon some very false assumptions. For example it implies they think the left infrastructure is better funded than the right, which is so ridiculous that it is almost laughable, as is the assertion that the left overpowers the right on the air waves.
And yes, if a Soros funded organization did this to this extent it would be blasted all over the place.
Redshift
I am actually somewhat encouraged that despite being major players in maintaining the conservative bubble, the Kochs apparently fully buy into the bubble’s certainty that the majority of Americans support radical conservatives polices, and the only reason liberals win is because they cheat somehow. Yes, their resources are massive, but if they refuse to deal with actual reality, most of it will be wasted.
rikyrah
uh uh uh
Existing While Black is REAL.
……………………
My white neighbor thought I was breaking into my own apartment. Nineteen cops showed up.
By Fay Wells November 18 at 6:00 AM
On Sept. 6, I locked myself out of my apartment in Santa Monica, Calif. I was in a rush to get to my weekly soccer game, so I decided to go enjoy the game and deal with the lock afterward.
A few hours and a visit from a locksmith later, I was inside my apartment and slipping off my shoes when I heard a man’s voice and what sounded like a small dog whimpering outside, near my front window. I imagined a loiterer and opened the door to move him along. I was surprised to see a large dog halfway up the staircase to my door. I stepped back inside, closed the door and locked it.
I heard barking. I approached my front window and loudly asked what was going on. Peering through my blinds, I saw a gun. A man stood at the bottom of the stairs, pointing it at me. I stepped back and heard: “Come outside with your hands up.” I thought: This man has a gun and will kill me if I don’t come outside. At the same time, I thought: I’ve heard this line from policemen in movies. Although he didn’t identify himself, perhaps he’s an officer.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/11/18/my-white-neighbor-thought-i-was-breaking-into-my-own-apartment-nineteen-cops-showed-up/?tid=ss_tw
JGabriel
This sounds like the kind of thing Anonymous should be targeting.
rikyrah
I always say…if you’re gonna be a thief…
BE A
T-H-I-E-F!!!
…………….
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the arrest of his predecessor’s security adviser, for allegedly stealing some $2bn (£1.3bn).
Sambo Dasuki is accused of awarding phantom contracts to buy 12 helicopters, four fighter jets and ammunition. He denies the allegations.
The equipment was meant for the fight against Boko Haram Islamist militants.
Soldiers have complained that despite the military’s huge budget, they were ill-equipped to fight.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34855695
rikyrah
Zandar,
thanks for bringing us stuff like this. SHould be front page on every paper and newscast…
but, of course, it’s not.
rikyrah
But but but…the NSA and all….
What say you, Dudebros?
rikyrah
Trump, Clinton Seen as Best at Handling Terrorism
November 17, 2015
A new Reuters poll finds that American voters are evenly split between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as their top choice to address the issue of terrorism following the Paris attacks.
“Given Clinton’s background as a former secretary of state it is perhaps not surprising that she did reasonably well in the poll. However, Trump’s good showing upends an emerging narrative that the Paris shootings and suicide bombings would prompt voters to rethink their support for the real estate billionaire, who leads the field of Republican presidential candidates.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/17/us-france-shooting-usa-poll-idUSKCN0T62DO20151117#7OXDm4zxm8HRvFRB.99
Belafon
In another sign of the apocalypse, SE Cupp said this:
rikyrah
A Long Path to a Dream of Being a Nun
Once denied because of her race, Sister Jannette decided to take vows after her children were grown
By Clare Ansberry
Nov. 17, 2015 5:00 p.m. ET
Jannette Marie Pruitt is a mother of three, grandmother of seven,
great-grandmother of two, and one of two black Catholic nuns in the
otherwise white order of the Sisters of St. Francis.
“I thought I was crazy,” says Sister Jannette, 66, recalling her decision to join the Franciscan Sisters in Oldenburg, Ind., an order with 199 sisters. She was 47 at the time, and liked nice clothes, spoiling her grandkids and coming and going as she pleased. Growing up in Mississippi in the mid-1950s, she had wanted to be a nun, but was discouraged because she was black. The church has changed since then.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-long-path-to-a-dream-of-being-a-nun-1447797634
EZSmirkzz
Sounds to me like the Karma Sutra of public political masturbation.
And to think, some people have the temerity to say we live in the stupidest country on Earth.
Also too, “you either believe in democracy or you don’t “- Anonymous loser ca 2000 Gore v Bush
rikyrah
They can miss me with the ‘tone’ bullshyt.
……………………..
Obama comes under criticism from Dems over Paris rhetoric
11/17/15 04:56 PM EST
President Obama is coming under criticism from some in his own party over his comments Monday about last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
Influential liberal columnists and Democratic strategists say Obama came off as condescending and scornful during his press conference in Antalya, Turkey — missing an opportunity to show strength and leadership in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“I don’t want him shooting from the hip and making empty threats, but I think he could have done a better job in articulating the anger that many people feel toward what happened in not only Paris but Beirut as well,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley, a former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
“What happened in Paris and in Beirut is going to require an aggressive response.”
Those comments echoed Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson’s assessment that Obama’s tone “was all wrong” in addressing the Paris attacks.
Typically an Obama ally, Robinson in a column published on Tuesday wrote that “at times he was patronizing, at other times he seemed annoyed and almost dismissive.”
“That’s not the tone you want to strike to the public, that’s not the tone you want to send to our allies and enemies,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/260479-obama-comes-under-criticism-from-dems-over-paris-rhetoric
elmo
@Benw: Yep, that’s my take on it too. And it makes me giggle.
Chris
The outfit is run by a former CIA operative named Mike Roman, and from all indications it’s a very professional deal.
This made me cringe given the history of politicization in the country’s intelligence and security agencies and their being deployed in a domestic political context.
Emma
@rikyrah: Don’t read the comments in that story. Don’t read the comments. Don’t. Read.The. Comments. DON’T. READ.THE.COMMENTS. AAAAIIIIYYYYEEE!!!!
Pee Cee
@Emma:
I read the comments. I was immediately reminded why I should never, ever read the comments on newspaper sites.
Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right!
Peale
@rikyrah: I’m glad that there is a new government in place (although who knows, it could be just as corrupt). But while I feel sorry for Nigerians who are subject to massacres from separatist freaks, I really don’t want to hear about how the US needs to do more to combat Boko Haram until the Nigerian government shows that it actually wants to do something. I suppose its better than buying the helicopters and then surrendering them, but not by much.
bemused
@rikyrah:
I am so fed up with the fear/hate culture in this country. The utter stupidity of Republicans on the Syrian refugee issue is driving me around the bend. Then I read this story. I am so ashamed of this crap, it makes me sick.
I’m going on some errands and taking a needed break from the internet. I’m white so I get to relax while shopping and not have clerks’ eyeballs on me and following me around. I just hope nobody talks to me because I’m ready to snap someone’s head off.
Mike in NC
The Kochs will continue as regular guests on Morning Joe, where Squint will fluff their pillows and Mika serve them coffee and pastry.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I wish I could say that is unbelievable but the list of things POC cannot safely do is never ending. I’ve gone through my own window when I’ve locked myself out of my house. I hope she sues those jerks.
MomSense
@Emma: @Pee Cee:
I was so pissed after reading the story that I knew my blood pressure couldn’t handle the comments.
Good dog there are some nasty people in this world.
C.V. Danes
@Emma: Seriously! Anyone who claims we live in a post-racial Ameria should be forced to read that comments section.
kindness
Everyone knew (or figured) the Kochs & their peeps did this on some scale. I just didn’t think they did this on this scale. I’m lacking a bit of understanding. The Kochs have to know this doesn’t end well. There is no scenerio where violence doesn’t eventually occur. The Kochs will be surprised they aren’t as insulated from their schemes as they apparently believe they are.
jeffreyw
The Kochs are just maintaining an old tradition.
Southern Beale
I feel pretty confident that this, like every other free-market, Koch-related enterprise, will revert to type and disintegrate into a morass of grift and ineptitude.
They’re just not good at this stuff, you guys. But anything that wastes Koch money.
Citizen_X
A private secret police? Just fucking great. Good thing they seem to be hopelessly paranoid–makes them ripe for trolling. And Anonymous action, too.
JGabriel
S.E. Cupp via Belafon:
It would at least have the virtue of giving them the correct impression, since the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world by a wide margin.
Frankensteinbeck
The second quote is why I’m not afraid of the first quote. The Kochs are nutcases, and like master, like servant. They’ve built a group dedicated to paranoia that spends its efforts assembling the best tinfoil hat and crucifying itself rather than actual opposition research.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Benw: I’m with you. I mean, where does this get actual votes for conservative candidates or against democrats – i.e. influence who gets elected? I guess they may expose some improprieties that probably would have been exposed anyway, but it seems mostly like a huge waste of time and money. Better they do this than fund super-PACs for dangerous candidates, IMO. They got outmaneuvered by Democrats in 2012 because people didn’t like what the Republicans were selling and because the Dems had a much better GOTV operation. Investigating their own network for moles and Democrats for political purposes won’t change that, but please, waste more of your money following the wrong path.
Poopyman
@Frankensteinbeck: Living in the DC area, I’ve gotten to meet a fair share of (mostly former) CIA people. You find that these people are invariably paranoid – maybe a requirement for the job, maybe a side effect of being there for years. In any case, my first thought when I read the OP describing the leader as ex-CIA is that paranoia is going to be a major part of that organization’s culture – directed internally. Would be fun to watch at a safe distance.
Stella B
“Understand that this is the logical endpoint of believing your political opponents as an enemy that needs to be ferreted out and destroyed, to spy on them, track them, identify them, and to conduct counter-espionage against, all in the name of controlling the country’s politics.”
This is what makes me sad. I’m white, I’m rich, I live in Richistan, and people assume that I’m Republican and will say the most amazing things to me. I always tell them that if I believed the things that they hear on Fox, I’d hate me too. The spittle-flecked hatred that they direct at people who have a modestly different view of tax policy is just so disturbingly disproportionate.
Also, too, I wish that those private-property loving Republicans had not keyed my car in response to my very mildly critical bumper sticker.
Iowa Old Lady
This is yet another sign that concentration of wealth is bad for democracy.
D58826
@Citizen_X: I will sleep better at nights( yes snark) knowing that the Koch brothers are protecting me from liberals. JEB! in the meantime will will announce today that in order to fight global Jihad he wants to step up production of submarines. I guess that all fits together somehow but I haven’t quite figured it out yet
rikyrah
uh huh
uh huh
14 Groups Getting Koch Brothers Dark Money To Turn America Into A Right-Wing Playground
AUTHOR: OLIVER WILLIS NOVEMBER 17, 2015 8:54 PM
The billionaire Koch brothers – industrialists Charles and David from Koch Industries – like to say they aren’t involved in “politics” much. But like everything surrounding the right-wing brothers, that’s a lot of smoke and mirrors.
While the Kochs don’t necessarily directly involve themselves in the nitty gritty of electoral politics all the time through direct donations to candidates and parties, they keep themselves in the loop by funding a variety of pressure groups, advocacy organizations and non-profits that push a right wing ideology on a constant basis. These groups don’t wait for election years to be active, and are in the trenches at a micro-local level promoting a spectrum of causes that often happen to fatten the pockets of the brothers.
One such vehicle used by the Kochs is the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(6) trade association (the Kochs also operate Freedom Partners Action Fund, which directly injects money in political races). In 2014 this group took in $126 million, spent about $41 million on overhead and poured the remaining cash on outside groups. Here they are:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/11/17/14-groups-getting-koch-brothers-dark-money-to-turn-america-into-a-right-wing-playground/
Chris
@Stella B:
This is what makes me sad. I’m white, I’m rich, I live in Richistan, and people assume that I’m Republican and will say the most amazing things to me.
I’m not rich, but simply being white and male often produces a similar effect.
catclub
@Chris: Yeah, but Ben Carson is getting advice from Duane Clarridge
(ex-CIA, disgraced, except in the eyes of Ollie North and Glenn Beck).
catclub
@Poopyman:
Orbit around a different planet?
catclub
@Belafon: I have now read two (2) consecutive articles by Megan McArdle that were not mind bogglingly stupid. Only one was about cooking. Signs of the Apocalypse.
sparrow
@Emma: Yeah, I made that mistake. I really hate white people sometimes. Jesus christ, use your imagination people and think about what 19 dudes with guns pointed at you feels like. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS GETTING A TRAFFIC TICKET, FFS.
Woodrowfan
@Chris: I tend to avoid other white males of a certain age because of that, even here in Democratic- Northern Virginia.
Tommy
@Stella B:
Oh how I know this. I am that guy. At times it is painful.
Mike J
Anybody remember the 1992 America’s Cup campaign? Koch hired spies to find out about Conner’s boat, going so far as to have divers infiltrate their pen.
Tommy
You know I am always late to the game but binge watching the Hunger Games. Got to Mockingjay Part I and looking to see some bad ass shit before it is done. Question how are the books? Anybody read them.They are on a huge discount on Google Play as we speak.
Tripod
Love this dynamic. Consultancy comes in, does study that tells decision makers what they want to hear, and offer up a costly solution. Hilarity ensues.
That forensic audit isn’t worth a shit. They gave them results that were expected. A really expensive exercise in unskewing the polls.
It is rather amusing that they fixate on taxes and regulatory environment, while ignoring the crazy invoices they get from the private sector.
I am a mole in the Koch network.
MomSense
@Tommy:
Books are great. The second book was actually my favorite.
Tommy
@Tripod: Yes it is crazy. I often note here about my parents, not the most liberal people you can find. They are in town for this week. I didn’t even bring up politics with them, they did. As converts to our party, after about 60 years voting for the enemy, they are confused.
They are a CNN household. They came to my house and turned on CNN and said watch this shit. I am like I don’t need to. How a cable channel and a party pissed off rich, white, older people should be something they are thinking about more than a little.
Botsplainer
@Emma:
Christ on a stick.
I read the comments.
Woodrowfan
@Botsplainer:
oh, I am so sorry.
Paul in KY
@japa21: I’m sure they don’t think that, it’s just that is a convenient reason for spending what they do on their operation.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: That poor woman. Hope she gets some answers.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: I think I would defer to Pres. Obama’s political instincts here.
Paul in KY
@catclub: maybe not anymore. Mr. Claridge had some interesting quotes about how hard it has been to get Brave Sir. Ben to learn about Mideast realities. Ben’s spokesacolyte then distanced our paladin from him.
Paul in KY
@Mike J: And that was the ‘good’ Koch brother!!!
Cervantes
Mike Roman is a known quantity. He’s been playing these stupid games for years. See here, and here, for example.
Paul in KY
@Tommy: I enjoyed the books. Written for young adults, though.
catclub
@Cervantes: CP Pierce gave Carson an upvote for possibly ignoring Claridge.
Karen
And just what happens to the liberals they ferret out? Do they start telling the liberal’s neighbors and co-workers who may not have known the guy or girl was liberal ensuring that they can shoot them and keep Koch & Co’s hands clean? Remember the word “liberal” is a dogwhistle for the word “communist” (which is still a hot button word) which was a dogwhistle in the 50s for the word “Jewish.”
PIGL
If the United States of America had an effective counterintelligence service, instead of a Stasi-in-waiting, the Kochs and their more shadowy ilk would have been shut down very forcefully long, long before their names had become familiar.
Canada does not have such a service, either.
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: paywalled, dammit
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@rikyrah:
I wish I could be surprised that it happened in Santa Monica, but, yeah, not surprised at all. It’s one of those independent cities within LA that prides itself on being very liberal … as long as you’re white.
And while LAPD is slowly, slowly improving and turning the Titanic around, Santa Monica has its own police force, who are clearly still stuck in the Darryl Gates mindset.
Steeplejack
@Another Holocene Human:
Hmm, if you search for the article title on Google, you get the exact same link, but if you click it from there you get the entire article. At least that’s what happened for me.