One of Colorado’s more shady political organizations had a good day at the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday–as the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News reports:
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision to allow unlimited corporate and union spending in federal elections, upheld Monday, also effectively wiped out similar prohibitions in 24 states.
Most states bowed to the original high court ruling, but Montana’s Supreme Court backed its own century-old law banning such expenditures in a 5-2 vote in December, thumbing its nose at the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday, the nation’s highest court hit back, reversing Montana’s law in a 5-4 vote, sending a clear message to the 23 other states that had similar bans in place at the time of the decision…
Montana passed the 1912 Corrupt Practices Act to rule out corporate contributions to candidates, as well as corporate independent spending to expressly support or oppose a candidate or political party.
…The state’s ban came under attack soon after the Citizens United decision was handed down.
In 2010, Western Tradition Partnership – a “free-market” organization “dedicated to fighting environmental extremism” – sued the state. The group, which changed its name to American Tradition Partnership in 2011, argued that Citizens United made the Montana ban on corporate spending unconstitutional.
…American Tradition Partnership has operated under growing scrutiny since its emergence in 2008. The group has changed its name several times since its founding, and has filed with the IRS as both a 501 (c)(4) and as a 527. The group’s IRS filings contain scant information and are signed by its first treasurer Scott Shire[s], a GOP operative who was fined for campaign violations in Colorado in 2008.
Yesterday, in an unusual 5-4 per curiam decision (meaning a decision that claims to speak “for the court,” but was in this case dissented), a slim majority on the Supreme Court found that Citizens United overrules most local limits on corporate contributions in addition to federal campaign law. Scott Shires, the original treasurer for Western Tradition Partnership and a longtime usual suspect on the shadier side of Colorado GOP politics, has been traced to numerous generically-named political groups that turn up in election years in support of GOP candidates. Prior to his election as Secretary of State, then-GOP attorney Scott Gessler’s firm represented a number of Shires-founded political advocacy organizations including WTP. WTP initiated legal challenges against campaign laws after running afoul of them.
And after Monday’s decision, Shires and his front groups can come in from the proverbial cold.
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Nice catch- job well done.
You must be one of the paid Pols staff – does Soros sign the check is there a layer of plausible deniability?
More likely a Polster who has run afoul of Scott Shires. Scott Shires has more than a few notches in his gun.
And kudos to WTP for fighting for free speech! A big win.
shorts my eat
In 2007, some unknown group (with no filed legal status), “Alliance for A Better Greeley,” attacked sitting Mayor Tom Selders, using the domain GreeleyReport.com. (cf. http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_7316291)
Research eventually connected this group back to Christian LeFer, a former Musgrave staffer, and current Montana Right-to-Work advocate. (cf. http://dootyandhonor.blogspot.com/2009/04/gods-tire-iron.html?zx=32573cff22ed4393)
LeFer, is involved, at some level with WTP and its successors. (cf. http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_72350f76-85ac-5d7d-917e-d769dd17d05a.html)
Greeley in 2007, it looks like, was simply a trial run, and led to some neferious behavior by WTP in Longmont municipal elections, in 2009, as documented by Kaye Fissinger. (cf. http://www.freerangelongmont.com/2010/02/12/who-benefited-from-outside-influence/)
These groups seem to operate inside, or outside of the law, depending on the legality of what they want to achieve. In 2007, it seems pretty clear that they ignored the law in Greeley, and again in 2009 in Longmont. That they are now at the heart of contesting Montana election law, is both un-surprising and somewhat humorous.
Given the past efforts these guys have engaged in, it think it reasonable to assume that had they lost the battle at SCOTUS, they would have simply kept doing what they were doing, and paid some fines, if and when someone unmasked them.
P.s.: It’s interesting to look at the Facebook friends list for LeFer, and to see the connections he has with local and national dirty tricksters. (cf. http://dootyandhonor.blogspot.com/2009/04/gods-tire-iron.html?zx=32573cff22ed4393)
P.p.s: It’s also kinda interesting that LeFer maintains a relationship with Greeley press-hound-gun-nut, and former School Board member, Brett Reese, whose wife was at the center of the other immigration dirty tricks in Greeley’s 2007 election. (cf. http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_7316291, http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=1011386623&targetid=profile)
Well not good-for-people good, but good-work good. I sometimes wish fraud fell under the purvey of the DEA, then there might be some heavy-handed enforcement.