Influential Texas conservative fights to keep donors secret
One of the state’s most influential conservative organizations is fighting to keep secret the names of its donors, as a contentious battle over lobbying heads to federal court in Austin.
Lawyers for the nonprofit Empower Texans and its chief, Michael Quinn Sullivan, filed motions this week to try to block the Texas Ethics Commission, the state’s enforcer of election laws, from subpoenaing emails to and from Sullivan and a private donor list.
Lawyer and lobbyist Steve Bresnen has been leading the effort against Sullivan.
“We should all be playing by the same rules,” said Bresnen, who added that he is seeking greater fairness in the Texas political system.
Bresnen began his fight in 2012 when he drafted a complaint that said Sullivan should have registered as a lobbyist for his work to influence legislation at the state Capitol. But before Bresnen filed could file it, state Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and then-state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R- Southlake, filed complaints against Sullivan with the Ethics Commission.
“They have to play by the same rules as everyone else,” Keffer said. “You have to stand up to these people.”
Later that fall, the commission offered Sullivan and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, another of Sullivan’s groups, a settlement offer that would have required Sullivan to register as a lobbyist and file past disclosure reports.
Sullivan rejected the settlement, writing the word “NUTS” on the returned proposal.
“Conservatives (will) triumph over the speech-regulators at the Texas Ethics Commission,” Sullivan wrote on his website.
More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/influential-texas-conservative-fights-to-keep-dono/nd3qp/?icmp=statesman_internallink_textlink_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesman_launch (subscription required).
[font color=green]My favorite comment to the article:[/font]
The tea party doesn't wanna turn over its donor list because the records are written in all caps, in Crayon, and all the big-dollar names are misspelled, even those that give out of their own campaign funds, e.g., "RIK PEARY, DAYVEED DOHEARSET, RAPHELL KRUISE JOONYORE ... "
[font color=green]And the stupidest comment to the article:[/font]
While we are at it, lets trace all the unnamed donors who gave Obama millions of dollars through thousands of untraceable prepaid debit cards.
Oh that's right, you don't care because it was YOUR guy.
[font color=green]I suspect that this guy would want to spend millions of dollars trying to trace something that is untraceable. 
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= new reply since forum marked as read
