Subject: Charles Koch Plays The Victim
From: "Jessica Mackler, American Bridge" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 20:46:11 +0000

Bridge Project this week released two new reports on subversive Koch political spending and activities. The first one, "¿Cómo se Dice 'Koch Brothers Front Group'? ANSWER: LIBRE Initiative," is a collaboration with Latino Victory Project that exposes LIBRE Initiative, Charles and David Koch's "Latino outreach" organization for the politically-purposed sham that it is. The second report, "The Kochs Spend Tons of Cheddar Badgering America's Dairyland," gets into the Kochs influence-buying and wielding in the Badger State, where the two brothers have loyal foot-soldiers in Governor Scott Walker, Senator Ron Johnson, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

Also this week, self-declared "man of science" Charles Koch in an interview doubled-down on his climate change-denial, all while complaining he and his receive "a lot of abuse." But  public criticism comes with the territory of coordinating the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of an election and actively inflicting damage on working American families to boost your own bottom line.

Speaking of all that political spending, Charles and David like that they can throw money around and stay under the radar. That's why they're fighting to further limit disclosure requirements in political spending. No surprise there; it means a lot less headaches when they're pushing ballot initiatives or buying votes in Congress.

Wanting to keep much of their political spending secret doesn't mean that the Kochs are bashful, however. The billionaire brothers are openly behind the effort to rebrand George Mason University's law school as "The Antonin Scalia Law School." The Kochs have over the years bought $134 million worth of influence at GMU, but their latest renaming effort has professors and students fighting back.

And finally, a moment of truth for the Kochs. The brothers at long last have a chance to prove they're truly invested in criminal justice reform. Will they do anything about it? (Probably not.)

All that and more... it's This Week in Real Koch Facts:

Kochs Called Out Over $$ Behind GMU's Antonin Scalia Law School Renaming
It's no secret that the Kochs have sought to use "philanthropic donations" to influence curriculae and advance their self-enriching agenda at institutions of higher learning. More than anywhere else, the Kochs have sought to impose their will on George Mason University, where the two brothers' money was behind the university's decision to rename its law school the Antonin Scalia Law School. 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/kochs-called-out-over-behind-gmus-antonin-scalia-law-school-renaming/

Charles Koch Doubles Down As Climate Denier in Pt 2 of ABC News Interview w/ Jon Karl
Charles Koch calls himself a "man of science" during Part 2 of his interview with Jon Karl on the ABC News Powerhouse podcast. When pressed if he believes in climate change, his response: "Is the climate changing due to CO2 in a way that is catastrophic and unmanageable, or is it changing in a mild and manageable way? I believe the evidence is overwhelming that it's changing in a mild and manageable way." 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/charles-koch-doubles-down-as-climate-denier-in-pt-2-of-abc-news-interview-w-jon-karl/

To Protect Profits, Kochs Push Cuts To Environmental Infrastructure Funding
A number of Koch groups just rallied behind a now-failed amendment from Arizona Senator Jeff Flake that would have "cut almost $69 million in funding from Corps of Engineers projects, such as building environmental restoration projects and dredging rivers and harbors." 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/to-protect-profits-kochs-push-cuts-to-environmental-infrastructure-funding/

Paul Ryan Sides With Kochs Over 3.5 Million Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans thought they could count on Speaker Paul Ryan to help restructure the island's debt crisis since he committed to a self-imposed March 31, 2016 deadline to produce a plan. But it looks like Ryan was deterred from his mark. Could it be the recent influx of $600,000 from Charles and Elizabeth Koch to the Speaker's "Team Ryan" leadership PAC that swayed Ryan's resolve to help Puerto Ricans avoid an economic collapse, choosing instead to protect the pocketbooks of billionaire bondholders? 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/paul-ryan-sides-with-kochs-over-3-5-million-puerto-ricans/

Kochs Fight To Keep Their Dark Money Dark
Congressional Republicans are pushing legislation to decrease the already limited disclosure of donations to dark money groups. 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/kochs-fight-to-keep-their-dark-money-dark/

Echoes of Koch: Pat McCrory and NC Disenfranchisement
In a clumsy rhetorical defense of North Carolina's inherently discriminatory voter identification law, Governor Pat McCrory reasoned that since you need photo identification to buy Sudafed, you may as well have one to vote. McCrory's cynical opposition to voter enfranchisement is unsurprisingly shared by the Koch brothers. 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/echoes-of-koch-pat-mccrory-and-nc-disenfranchisement/

Will The Kochs Prove They're Serious About Criminal Justice Reform?
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are lambasting Virginia's recent restoration of voting rights for 200,000 convicted felons who've paid their debt to society. And that means that Charles and David Koch have an opportunity to prove they're more than talk on criminal justice reform. 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/will-the-kochs-prove-theyre-serious-about-criminal-justice-reform/

"Abused" Charles Koch Plays Victim
Charles Koch, in an interview with This Week, was asked what the "return on investment" has been for the Kochs' significant financial investment in politics. Charles responded that he and his brother have received "a lot of abuse." Charles conveniently ignored the long list of actual abuses emanating from the Koch network. 
Read more here: http://realkochfacts.com/abused-charles-koch-plays-victim/