ROPE Report Short - What Are The Election Influences In Your Neighborhood?

Jenni and Michael talked about Dark Money and other election influences during their March 27th edition of ROPE Report Live. Jenni has talked a lot about dark money over the last couple years, but there are so many other things that influence our elections today - not only is dark money paying for push cards/mailers, television, radio and social media, but also text messaged "push" polls, which attempt to "push" you into voting for a candidate based on poll questions, text messages asking you to "thank" candidates who are also running for Senate Pro Temp and individuals and organizations spending multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars on candidates across all kinds of elections. 

In this clip, Jenni talks a bit about the federal law that prevents the use of foreign money in elections. We have a huge marijuana industry now in Oklahoma - and in fact, we're the number one state in terms of illegal exportation of marijuana. Where is that money going? Could it be funding dark money social welfare organizations? How do we know dark money isn't coming from foreign sources? Shouldn't we care?

Karmin Grider; Senator Greg McCortney's Campaign Donations

Over the course of his tenure in the Senate, Greg McCortney has pulled over 700 thousand dollars through his campaign account. By our calculations, only about 85K of that has come from his district across all his years of service. So, who is he serving; his district, or his out of district donors?

Five Things Joy Hofmeister Did Which Were Illegal And/Or Unethical According To The Affidavit Of Probable Cause In The Joy Hofmeister Dark Money Independent Expenditure Case Filed In 2016

 

For this piece, I'll use numerous excerpts from the 2016 Affidavit of Probable Cause presented to Oklahoma County DA David Prater's office following the arrest of Chad Alexander whose two cell phones were searched via warrant and incriminating text message evidence collected.

The Corruption Belt - Diagramming Oklahoma's Dark Money Web - Political Consultants and PAC Treasurers

After many weeks of study, I was able to put together an initial diagram of Dark Money and how it flows among and between various 501c4 and PAC organizations influencing Oklahoma elections.

The Corruption Belt: SPECIAL ELECTION STEAL ALERT: UNKNOWN Group Runs Ads Against Candidates Opposing Fount Holland (CAMP) Clients In The August 23rd Run-Off

Conservative Policy Network is yet another group in a long line of groups which is using money from who knows where (Dark Money) to influence Oklahoma elections.

The Corruption Belt: Out Of State Dark Money Ads Against SAI Cindy Byrd Tout Unlicensed Candidate With Two Bankruptcies

 
Suddenly, dishonest and disingenuous mailers are being sent out state-wide against current state auditor Cindy Byrd.  According to Nolan Clay of The Oklahoman, candidate McQuillen has filed bankruptcy twice and is not a licensed accountant - unlike Byrd.  

Part 1: Jake Merrick Supported, Then Worked Against By Oklahoma Council For Public Affairs (OCPA) Dark Money Groups

               

Jake Merrick won a special election for now-Congresswoman Stephanie Bice's open Senate seat last year.  Jake is a Conservative, pro-life, pro-2nd amendment, small business owner who has served Oklahoma well since his special election.  Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs (OCPA) dark money helped him in his first election.  Here's the rub:  After voting YES in committee, he voted NO (on the Senate floor) on a bill to send public money to private schools (voucher - SB1647). This election cycle, OCPA is using many thousands of dollars to influence voters AGAINST HIM through a different dark money group.  

Vote No on 779 Because Dark Money Funders CCOSA/OEA Use Education/Teacher Funds For Politics Instead of Raises - PART 1

I spent my entire morning reading both the Affidavit for Search Warrant for Chad Alexander's cell phones (following his 2014 Controlled Dangerous Substance possession charge in May of 2014 - which led to the current charges against State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister and others) and all 32 pages of the Affidavit Of Probable Cause including the charges, the background, the investigation - all the way through to the summary.  I suggest you do as well.  It is very enlightening.