A Congressional investigation has discovered five new letters fraudulently sent without consent to Congress on a key energy and climate vote. These new letters purport to represent elderly services organizations and senior centers.
Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the letters Thursday as part of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming’s ongoing investigation into the extent of fraudulent letters sent by Bonner & Associates–a so-called "astroturf" group subcontracted by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity–to influence members of Congress on the recently-passed Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill.
The five letters revealed Thursday brings the total number of fraudulent letters to 13, now representing 9 different community groups. These letters were staged to appear as if they were sent by groups representing senior citizen services like the non-profit Erie Center on Health & Aging. Previous letters already made public were from the Charlottesville NAACP chapter, Creciendo Juntos, a hispanic advocacy organization, the Jefferson Area Board on Aging, and the American Association of University Women.
The letters released today are also the first set to show that letters were sent to Pennsylvania members Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa.) and Christopher Carney (D-Pa.), along with Tom Perriello (D-Va.).
"We’ve seen fear-mongering with our nation’s senior citizens with health care, and now we’re seeing fraud-mongering with senior citizens on clean energy," said Chairman Markey. "Lately, democratic debate has been deceptively debased by fake facts and harsh rhetoric. We must return to an honest discussion of the issues, and ensure that this sort of campaign does not further poison the well of trustworthy debate."
The letters were sent to the Select Committee in response to investigatory letters to Bonner & Associates and ACCCE. Dozens of letters still remain that must be verified as genuine or false–all told, 58 letters were sent to the three members of Congress. Chairman Markey has called on ACCCE and Bonner & Associates to fully verify whether the remaining several dozen letters were sent under false pretenses, or if they represent the views of the signers.
New York Times coverage can be found at the link below.
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