Bentley refuses donation from dark money group

SUMMARY:

• Alabama voters appear to be the victims of a well-financed ruse built to manipulate them and swing elections.
• Lobbyist John Rice founded the Alabama Foundation for Limited Government (AFLG) and Stop Common Core PAC earlier this year.
• Stop Common Core PAC is funded by the Alabama Foundation for Limited Government, which does not disclose the source of its funding.
• Both groups are widely believed to be a front for the Alabama Education Association (AEA), as a recent article on AL.com pointed out.
• Gov. Bentley refused a donation from Stop Common Core PAC because it hides the original source of its funding.
• Talk radio host Dale Jackson said John Rice has deflected accusations his groups are a front for the AEA by saying the Koch Brothers fund him.
• The Kochs’ political operation says they have never heard of John Rice or his groups.

Gov. Robert Bentley’s re-election campaign has refused a donation from a “dark money” political action committee on the grounds that it is disguising the origin of its finances.

Stop Common Core PAC was founded by former state senator-turned lobbyist John Rice in March. Since then, the group has received just under a million dollars in contributions from a single entity, the Alabama Foundation for Limited Government (AFLG), which was also founded by Rice.

Because the AFLG is registered as a non-profit, it is not required to release its donors, allowing the group to hide the source of its funding. However, non-profits are not allowed to engage in “electioneering,” which includes promoting or attacking a specific candidate by name or displaying their likeness in an ad. On those grounds, the Alabama Secretary of State has asked the Attorney General to investigate the AFLG for breaking campaign finance laws.

In short, the Alabama Foundation for Limited Government is simply acting as a pass-through for another entity — widely believed to be the Alabama Education Association (AEA) — to launder its money and hide its involvement.

Documents recently uncovered by Yellowhammer News revealed that the deceptively-named Alabama Foundation for Limited Government has been working closely with political operatives whose clients include Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, pro-abortion activists, radical environmentalists and unions.

Stop Common Core PAC has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates challenging the AEA’s top Republican targets in the Alabama Legislature. But they also recently reported donating $500 to Robert Bentley’s re-election campaign.

However, Bentley’s most recent campaign finance report does not show a donation from Stop Common Core PAC. Yellowhammer reached out to the Bentley campaign to ask about the discrepancy.

“The Bentley Campaign did not accept a contribution from Stop Common Core PAC,” said campaign spokesperson Rebekah Mason. “The Campaign has a standard protocol it follows for accepting contributions. Part of that protocol is reviewing PAC contributions to determine the source of funds behind the PAC. The source of funding for the Stop Common Core PAC could not be determined and therefore, as is standard procedure, the contribution was not accepted by the Bentley for Governor Campaign. While the Governor’s position on Common Core is clear, the source of funds behind the PAC is not.”

Alabama talk radio host Dale Jackson said this morning on his radio program that Rice is deflecting allegations that his groups are a front for the AEA by claiming that the Koch Brothers are the source of his funds. Conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch have a network of entities that spend hundreds of millions of dollars supporting conservative candidates and causes around the country. That has made them a favorite target of liberals, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who has repeatedly attacked the Kochs on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Yellowhammer reached out to the Koch brothers political operation. They said that no one there had ever heard of John Rice or the Alabama Foundation for Limited Government.

A recent report by the Montgomery Advertiser found that the AEA has sent roughly $2 million to two entities based out of a P.O. box in Tennessee. Neither firm appears to be registered with the Tennessee State Dept. Where that money goes once it reaches Tennessee is unclear, but the evidence speaks for itself.

A request for comment from John Rice was not immediately returned.

---

Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims