J. Pepper Bryars: Here’s who funded some of those silly Pro-Katie Britt advertisements
My mailbox has been infested the last few weeks with a bunch of silly pro-Katie Britt flyers paid for by a group calling itself “Alabama Christian Conservatives.” Aside from insulting my intelligence with such juvenile propaganda, I found the group’s cynical attempt to exploit my connection to those three words — Alabama, Conservative, and Christian — especially aggravating, and the use of that last one a bit irreverent considering the manipulative language used on the flyers. So, I set out to find out just who the Alabama Conservative Christians really are. And guess what? It’s just a made-up name for a political action committee registered to some guy’s house in Austin, Texas, according to records at the Federal Election Commission (FEC). It received much of the millions it spent on these flyers and other advertisements from another political action committee (PAC), which itself received millions from another PAC, which in turn collected money from yet even more PACs, and so on. In the end, though, the Texas PAC posing as an Alabama Christian organization got most of its money from these guys, who together gave almost $15 million to it and other PACs supporting Katie Britt and opposing Mike Durant and Mo Brooks: And that’s just one money trail that I followed. There are probably more. It’s a shell game that most people aren’t inclined to follow, but the receipts are there and regularly updated for anyone who wishes to look: Step 1: Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC $10.9 million — That’s at least how much money was collected by the Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC since it was founded last September, according to FEC records. Some of the Pac’s money came from relatively small donations for this sort of game, like $50,000 from an Illinois company called Medical Pro and another $50,000 from billionaire private equity investor Marc Rowan (who, as a Jewish resident of New York City, seems an unusual candidate for membership in an organization called the Alabama Christian Conservatives). However, about 96% of the fund came from these three sources: $5.5 million was transferred in from Defend America PAC (this is the fund sponsored by Sen. Richard Shelby). $3 million was transferred in from Alabama’s Future PAC (more on it later). $2 million came from Francisco Collazo, chairman and founder of COLSA, a Huntsville-based engineering and service support company (we’ll see his name again). Of that, about: $3.1 million was spent supporting Katie Britt, That may be a confusing categorization because most of the flyers I received contained pro-Britt language on one side and language critical of her opponents on the other. $464,000 was spent opposing Mike Durant, $252,000 was spent opposing Mo Brooks, $4.7 million was transferred to the Alabama RINO PAC. Step 2: Alabama RINO PAC FEC records show that Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC accounted for 99.9% of all the money in the Alabama RINO PAC’s bank account as of early June. Of that, about: $2.6 million was spent opposing Mike Durant. $790,000 was spent opposing Mo Brooks. And here’s something interesting: both Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC and Alabama RINO PAC are both registered to the same residential address in Austin, Texas. State records show this is also the address of the Burton Strategy Group, and the registered agent is Jeff J. Burton. He’s a political consultant and lobbyist who once worked for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Why transfer money between two PACs that are funded by the same donors, operated by the same person, run out of the same house, and targeting the same race? The shell game continues… Step 3: Alabama’s Future PAC Now, back to Alabama’s Future PAC, which transferred $3 million to the Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC back in early April. Who are they? FEC records show the address of Alabama’s Future is a rented PostNet mailbox next to Winn-Dixie in Rainbow City, Alabama. (That’s a dismal metaphor for our state’s “future,” by the way.) $7.1 million — That’s how much money the Alabama Future’s PAC has collected since it was founded last October, according to the latest FEC records. The money came from just four sources: $3 million came from Great Southern Wood Preserving, Inc. That’s the company owned by Jimmy Rane, the YellaWood guy from Abbeville. $2 million was transferred in from Senate Leadership Fund PAC. That’s the fund affiliated with Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. (By the way, Mitch McConnell? Big Trump supporter there! And he’s funding ads talking about Mo Brooks bailing on Trump? Laughable. Can’t we see we’re getting played?) $2 million came from Francisco Collazo, who also gave $2 million directly to Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC. $100,000 came from Warren Stephens, an investment banker who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Of that, about: $3.6 million was spent opposing Mo Brooks, $357,000 was spent supporting Katie Britt, $3 million was transferred to Alabama Christian Conservatives PAC … who sent me those ridiculous flyers. Step 4: Senate Leadership Fund PAC and Defend America PAC These two PACs have spent years collecting millions upon millions from all sorts of sources — from individuals like Marc Rowan and Warren Stephens, from companies like RAI Services, which makes cigarettes (Camel, Newport, Lucky Strike, etc.), and, of course, from other PACs, like those established by FedEx and General Electric. But here’s where you hike this trail for yourself, because it’s virtually endless. Anyone with an internet connection and a healthy level of curiosity can follow these trails by visiting the website of the Federal Election Commission: https://www.fec.gov. Once there, enter some names in the search box and start exploring. One thing will lead to another, and your eyes will be slowly opened to the level of money swamping our democracy. The Game I had to sketch this whole thing out on a legal pad to keep track of who was giving what to who. Here’s a better version: The Opposing View I reached out to Katie Britt’s campaign spokesman for her opinion about this, but he didn’t respond. In all likelihood, however, the Britt campaign didn’t make the rookie mistake of coordinating with the people who designed and launched those advertisements. That’s against the law. And based on what I’ve heard from people who know her, Katie Britt is a serious person, tough and smart,
