Watchdog Groups Launch New Campaign to Stop Karl Rove's Dirty Tricks and Dirty Money in This Year's Elections

AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org Files Criminal Complaints, Offers Reward, Creates Ads, And Launches Boycotts

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, www.AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org, a group of national watchdog organizations dedicated to clean elections and corporate accountability, launched a new campaign to stop Karl Rove from using dirty tricks and dirty money to manipulate the mid-term elections by buying candidates who will support Big Business and deregulation. Rove created American Crossroads ("AC") several months ago in a hostile takeover of the Republican National Committee, and funded it by joining forces with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a cabal of billionaire corporate barons opposed to any common sense regulation, health care, environmental protection, or financial accountability.  The Chamber's Chief Counsel, Steven Law, was named AC's CEO.  According to Politico, AC plans to amass more than $50 million from companies making secret donations, and spend that money to influence elections and buy candidates.

AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org says that AC's hostile takeover of the duties of the RNC without the concomitant regulatory accountability appears to be illegal on its face.  Also, the secret funding of AC from corporate CEOs, without board or shareholder approval and without disclosure, smacks of money laundering and campaign finance violations.

AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org has filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and Department of Justice based on AC's questionable activities. The watchdog campaign is urging citizens to sign a letter to the DOJ and send letters to their Congress members demanding an investigation.  It is offering a reward for information about criminal activity by AC. It is urging a boycott of companies supporting AC, starting with Gold's Gym, Omni Hotels and Public Storage.  And it is creating ads calling on each candidate supported by AC to reject that support.  The first ad, focused on California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, was officially released today on YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEU9RUtwWVc

"We are fighting back on behalf of the 87 percent of Americans who do not want corporations buying politicians and controlling our government," said attorney Kevin Zeese, the group's spokesman.  "We are telling Karl Rove to keep his dirty politics and dirty money out of our elections. We are asking candidates to reject everything about Rove and American Crossroads. We are exposing the corporate oligarchy of elite insiders who act with no regard for constitutional protections. We have had enough of Karl Rove's 40-year reign of electoral manipulations and we are working to stop him before he does it again."

SOURCE AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org