October 14, 2008 05:53 PM UTC

Endorsement Reopens "War Profiteer" Accusations

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: CMW responds to charges from Schaffer that they are ‘attacking Gold Star Mothers’ in a new statement (follows previous after the jump). Asks Director David Donnelly, “Did this lobbying firm, Russo, Marsh & Rogers, encourage Bob Schaffer and his company to seek oil deals in Iraq? Did the lobbying firm know that Schaffer’s company was developing a deal that contradicted U.S. foreign policy? Was it merely coincidence that members from this controversial group were also touring Kurdistan during the same month that Schaffer was there?”

Senate candidate Bob Schaffer’s handlers should have checked this endorsement out a little a lot more carefully, as the Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

A conservative political group scheduled to endorse Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer on Wednesday has ties to a public relations firm that worked in 2005 to attract international oil companies and other firms to do business in northern Iraq against U.S. policy at the time.

Sal Russo, chief strategist for the political arm of Move America Forward, said he and his California-based public relations firm, Russo, Marsh & Rogers, were involved in helping promote international business deals in Kurdistan, the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraq.

“We were trying to make people aware that there was a part of Iraq that is secular, safe, booming economically … and to encourage people to invest, because it is a booming economy,” Russo said Monday.

Move America Forward, a nonprofit, has advocated in favor of U.S. intervention in Iraq and veterans issues.

Schaffer, who is running against Democratic Congressman Mark Udall, was one of several executives from Denver-based Aspect Energy who laid the groundwork in November 2006 for an oil deal between the company and the regional government.

The U.S. State Department has cited the Aspect Energy deal and two dozen other similar deals as problematic for the fledgling democracy.

On the campaign trail this year, Schaffer said he never heard firsthand the U.S. government opposed international oil deals with the Kurds.

State Department correspondence, however, shows Aspect Energy finalized its oil production agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government in November 2007, long after the State Department had broadcast its stance on foreign oil deals, including in a May 1 letter to the man Schaffer hopes to succeed, U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.

Russo said there is no nexus between the Aspect Energy deal and the Schaffer endorsement…

The Rocky Mountain News reports Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams is extremely unhappy this endorsement is being questioned.

A Washington group called Campaign Money Watch on Monday noted that Move America Forward has ties to business enterprises in Kurdistan. Schaffer visited the region in northern Iraq in 2006 as part of an oil and gas trip that has come under fire in the campaign.

“All roads run through Kurdistan,” said David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch.

Schaffer’s campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, was livid at the attempt to make the endorsement a controversy.

“They’re attacking a group of women who lost their kids in Iraq? How much more despicable can you get than that?” he asked…

Ryan Gill, operations director for Move America Forward, said he had no idea that Schaffer had visited Kurdistan when he recommended that the group endorse him.

Indeed. But who is hiding behind whom? The Sentinel has the Kurdistan lobbyist in question, Sal Russo, denying he even knew that Schaffer was being endorsed by the MAF at all. But Source Watch lists Russo as Move America Forward’s “chief strategist” — are we seriously to believe he did know who the group is endorsing? Even more telling, MAF’s original listed address is the office of Russo’s lobbying firm, as is the domain name “moveamericaforward.com.”

“Move America Forward” is by casual examination a manufacture of Russo Marsh & Rogers, which makes these inconsistent denials of either knowledge of Schaffer in Kurdistan or knowledge of Schaffer bring endorsed by the organization depending on who you get on the phone–especially after Schaffer’s Kurdistan connections have been so widely publicized–totally ridiculous. It’s stunning how quickly their story is falling apart.

So who is hiding behind whom? Would these Gold Star mothers, themselves obviously above reproach, still get up on MAF’s soapbox to praise Schaffer if they knew both Schaffer and MAF’s principle figures engaged in activities the US government says have needlessly prolonged the war?

We see Beauprez-magnitude disaster written all over this–Campaign Money Watch’s new TV spot and release from yesterday follow.

“Big Oil Bob” Is Back In Watchdog’s Latest Ad

Second spot this month exposes Schaffer’s shady oil deal, loyalty to oil industry donors

           Washington, D.C. – Campaign Money Watch, a nonpartisan campaign finance reform watchdog, today released a new ad highlighting U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer’s (R-CO) involvement in an oil deal that Iraq war veterans have called “war profiteering,” as well as his support for $13 billion in tax breaks for his Big Oil donors.

           The ad, now airing in the Denver market, is the group’s second of this month and third of the 2008 election cycle. Last week, Campaign Money Watch launched an ad detailing Schaffer’s ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the sweatshop owners who have given him thousands in campaign contributions.

           The new ad, titled “Deal,” spotlights an oil contract that Schaffer, while working for Denver-based Aspect Energy, helped negotiate in Iraqi Kurdistan even though the U.S. State Department, according to a Rocky Mountain News report, said it could be “problematic for Iraq and its attempts to establish a national oil policy.” A leader of a national veterans organization said Schaffer’s work on the deal made him “a war profiteer – 100 percent.”

           The ad airs as a controversial group with connections to the Kurdistan government, MAF Freedom PAC, plans to endorse Bob Schaffer on Wednesday. The group’s members toured Kurdistan at virtually the same time Schaffer was trying to cut Aspect Energy’s deal with the regional government. The group’s lead strategist is a principal of a political consulting firm in Washington that led public relations and lobbying campaigns on Kurdistan’s behalf since 2005. [Pols emphasis]

           As the ad documents, Schaffer’s ties to the oil industry extend back to his time in Congress. While in office, he voted to give Big Oil $13 billion in tax breaks. Meanwhile, he has been on the receiving end of $224,000 in campaign contributions from the industry.

           Video of this ad and of others Campaign Money Watch has aired in Colorado can be viewed at http://www.campaignmoney.org/s… Validation of its contents is available at http://www.campaignmoney.org/f…

           “No matter where he works, Bob Schaffer can’t seem to put anything above the interests of Big Oil, not even national security,” said David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch. “Whether the oil industry is paying Schaffer’s salary or filling his campaign war chest, he does exactly what it asks. It’s time for Schaffer to put voters first, reject the wishes of Big Oil, and embrace comprehensive campaign finance reform.”

           Campaign Money Watch is a project of the nonpartisan Public Campaign Action Fund. The organization works to hold politicians who are against comprehensive campaign finance reform accountable for where they get their political donations.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CONTACT

David Miller, Communications Manager

(202) 448-6154

Watchdog Demands Answers, Not Attacks, From Schaffer and Controversial Group

Washington, D.C. – Campaign Money Watch, a national campaign finance watchdog group, issued the following statement from its director, David Donnelly, today in response to the unfounded attacks by U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer (R-CO) and his campaign:

“This is a time for answers, not attacks. Bob Schaffer’s campaign hasn’t respond to charges that he went to Iraq to help cut an oil deal with the government of Kurdistan, a region of Iraq, for his former oil company. A veterans leader called Bob Schaffer is a ‘war profiteer’ because of the deal. Now we find out Schaffer is about to accept an endorsement from a controversial group, Move America Forward PAC, whose political strategist’s firm was hired to lobby by Kurdistan Development Corporation to promote business deals. In addition, members from the group also toured Kurdistan during the same month Schaffer went there.

“Did this lobbying firm, Russo, Marsh & Rogers, encourage Bob Schaffer and his company to seek oil deals in Iraq? Did the lobbying firm know that Schaffer’s company was developing a deal that contradicted U.S. foreign policy? Was it merely coincidence that members from this controversial group were also touring Kurdistan during the same month that Schaffer was there?

“Let the record be clear: Move America Forward is not a veterans group, but rather a pro-Iraq war, pro-Bush group that has engaged in overheated rhetoric and political stunts. Campaign Money Watch demands answers from the Schaffer campaign, this controversial group, and the lobbying firm, not attacks that serve to divert the public’s attention away from serious issues.”

Campaign Money Watch is a project of the nonpartisan Public Campaign Action Fund. It has recently launched two ads in Colorado focusing on Schaffer’s ties to lobbyists and special interests. The organization works to hold politicians who are against comprehensive campaign finance reform accountable for where they get their political donations.

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