Charles and David Koch
As most aptly put in a revealing article by Bloomberg that has everyone abuzz about the Koch brothers and their business dealings with Iran:
“The payments to win contracts documented by Koch investigators may violate U.S. law, says Sara Sun Beale, a professor at Duke Law School in Durham, North Carolina. She says Koch’s termination letter to Mausen gives clear guidance to federal prosecutors. … “It sounds like a smoking gun,” says Beale, who co- authored “Federal Criminal Law and Its Enforcement” (Thompson West, 2010). “It really should get the Justice Department’s attention. When you have a smoking gun, you launch an investigation.” [....]
Perhaps the most concerning and offensive part of Bloomberg’s reports is that Koch Industries benefited from bribes to win business and sold millions of dollars of equipment to the Iranian regime which is known for financing terrorists and calls of “death to America.” Moreover, Koch Industries seemed to readily ignore American’s trade sanctions against Iran.
This is not something we should take lightly. This is serious. Charles and David Koch have spent untold millions bankrolling right-wing candidates and causes. Even more concerning is that the Koch brothers fought hard to reverse campaign financing laws to allow corporations to donate to federal campaigns from their own treasuries: “On Jan. 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling striking down barriers to corporations spending money directly from their own treasuries to influence elections.” The President rightfully responded to the decision saying on Jan. 27, 2010, “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections.” [....]
The rise of Super PACs and the reach of special interests groups brandishing extreme ideologies as a result of Koch brothers funding and the loosening of campaign finance law should make us all wake up, finally. Could we now potentially be facing the unthinkable? Could Iran, through monies gained by the Koch brothers, be influencing the American election process?
Despite this story being all over the news, Republican leadership have been deafeningly silent. We cannot stand by idly and allow that to happen. Sign the DCCC’s petition demanding that the Speaker of the House immediately launch an investigation of Koch Industries’ business dealings with Iran. Sign, then pass it on to everyone you know.
Resources and Related Articles:
Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales | Bloomberg
Should Foreign Corporations Spend Money on U.S. Political Candidates? | The Daily Beast
Obama says US court ruling a blow to democracy | Reuters
Reformers: Court Decision Creates ‘Huge Opening’ For Foreign Companies To Sway Elections | TPM Muckraker
