This is the seventh story in an
exclusive series about the funding behind politically active tax-exempt
organizations that don't disclose their donors. You can read the other
stories in the series here.A secretive, well-funded group whose name gives the misleading impression that it is solely concerned about health care gave more than $44 million in 2010 to other tax-exempt groups, many of which spent millions on TV ads attacking Democrats running for the House and Senate and have begun spending for the same purpose this year.
None of the groups -- including eight of the most politically active nonprofits in 2010 -- disclose their donors, and the role of the Center to Protect Patients' Rights (CPPR) in funding them has not previously been reported.
Based in Arizona, CPPR provided large grants to a cluster of well-known conservative organizations that operate under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which classifies them as "social welfare" groups and allows them to keep their funding sources from public view. Politics is not supposed to be their primary purpose, although critics say many of the organizations have stretched the rules too far.
American Future Fund received the largest grant from CPPR, a total of $11.7 million for "general support." That amount exceeded the nearly $10 million
the group told the Federal Election Commission it spent supporting or
opposing Democratic candidates in ads in the midterm elections
("independent expenditures") or broadcasting slightly less explicit
appeals close to election day ("electioneering communications"). In
fact, the gift was more than half of the $23.3 million the group raised
all year. American Future, which is based in Iowa, ran a series of hard-hitting ads against Democratic candidates around the country in 2010 that left little doubt where the group stood, even when the ads didn't refer to the election. "With the biggest tax cut in American history looming, [Bruce] Braley was the deciding vote to adjourn the house. Instead of fighting for lower taxes, Braley went home," one ad, which ran in October 2010, said of the Iowa Democrat. "Tell Braley: Don't vote to raise taxes on Iowa families."
The donors to the Center to Protect Patient Rights are almost entirely unknown. Such tax-exempt organizations must detail the groups to whom they gave grants, but not the sources of their own funds. A small grant of $200,000 came to CPPR from American Action Network, yet another 501(c)(4), according to the Form 990 tax return that American Action filed with the Internal Revenue Service this week.
And if its donors are unknown, so is much else about CPPR. According to its own 2010 tax return, which was filed last November, it is run by Sean Noble, who is listed as its director, president and executive director. Noble describes himself on his Twitter account as a "PR/Political consultant, conservative strategist/operative, former GOP Hill chief of staff, blogger, proud father, fighting for liberty." Noble was chief-of-staff to former Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, for whom he worked for 13 years, and since then has worked as a political consultant and in public relations.
Noble took no salary from CPPR, but his firm, Noble Associates, was paid $340,000 by the group for "management services." Noble was also paid $10,000 to lobby for the group.
He is currently managing partner of DC London Inc., a political consulting firm that offers robo-calling and other services. CPPR's other director and secretary is Courtney Koshar, an anesthesiologist in the Phoenix area.
The organization's mission, as listed on the tax form, is "Building a coalition of like-minded organizations and individuals, and educating the public on issues related to health care with an emphasis on patients rights. Engaging in issue advocacy and activities to influence legislation related to health care."
Noble did not return our calls seeking comment. But in a piece last year, Politico described Noble as a "Koch operative," referring to the wealthy conservative brothers from Koch Industries who have been instrumental in funding a conservative network of groups. OpenSecrets Blog has been unable to confirm the Koch connection independently.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that CPPR's name is almost exactly the same as that of another group, the Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights, a group that organized lobbying efforts against health care overhaul proposals being debated in Congress in 2009. And CPPR gave the Coalition $205,000 in 2010. Further, the records for both groups were listed as being stored at the same Glendale, Ariz., address by a woman who describes herself as an employee of DCI Group, a lobbying firm practiced in manufacturing "grassroots" campaigns for the tobacco industry and others that has handled public relations for the Coalition.
But the Coalition's spokesman, physician and lawyer, Donald Palmisano, told OpenSecrets Blog he'd never heard of the other group, as did a publicist with DCI Group.
The second-largest grant from CPPR, $5.6 million, went to Americans for Limited Government, also for "general support," as were all the CPPR gifts. That amounted to more than half the group's $9 million budget for 2010. The creation of libertarian real estate mogul Howard Rich, Americans for Limited Government distributes money to its own large network of 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations. One such group, Colorado at Its Best, in turn funded a group called Clean Government Colorado in 2008, which backed a ballot initiative that critics said would limit the ability of public employees' unions to make political contributions. In 2010, ALG funded a group called Alaskans for Open Government, which in turn provided money to another group backing an "anti-corruption" ballot initiative. The Alaska group eventually ran into trouble over failing to disclose its own sources of funding.
Americans for Job Security received $4.8 million from CPPR. That group, which is a 501(c)(6) business association under the tax code, spent about $9 million in the 2010 elections expressly attacking Democrats and running electioneering ads, according to Center for Responsive Politics figures. It has a history of running attacks on Democrats dating back to the late 1990s. Finish reading @Source