By Kevin McCauley
CRC Public Relations, the former Creative Response Concepts, received $203,701 last year from the National Federation of Independent Business, which sued the federal government to repeal “Obamacare,” according to a June 21 letter from Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) to Douglas Shulman, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner.
The NFIB is bankrolled by Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS political advocacy group, which gave the group a $3.7M donation. Crossroads was No. 1 contributor, but NFIB received nine other six-figure contributions from unknown sources.
The Congressman wrote in his letter (PDF): “While the sources of these grants are reported to the IRS, they are not required to be made public. As a consequence, no one outside the IRS—including the Supreme Court—knows where this money comes from.”
He wants the IRS to change the disclosure rules to require tax-exempt groups to publicize contributions and expenditures of more than $25K.
Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, believes NFIB is “acting on behalf of the wealthy interests that do not speak for the small business community.”
NFIB communications director Jean Card told the Daily Caller that her group is “not sure why the Progressive Caucus thinks that they can compel us to disclose things that we are not legally required to disclose.”
NFIB’s legal center received a $2M contribution in 2011 and shelled out $1.2M to Jones Day for legal expenses, $401,756 to attorney Randy Barnett and $203,701 to CRC for PR duties.
“These combined expenses of more than $1.8M for legal and PR work represent a major expansion of the Center’s mission and were funded by a few high-dollar donations, not by a spontaneous outpouring of member-driven contributions,” according to Grijavla’s letter.
CRC is remembered for past work on behalf of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which trashed Massachusetts Senator John Kerry’s Vietnam service; Regnery Publishing’s “The Case Against Barack Obama,” and Discovery Institute’s promotion of “intelligent design” as an option to evolution.
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