Forged letters scandal widens

The Washington lobbying firm that sent forged letters to U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello — and at least two other congressmen — was working on behalf of a coal industry advocacy group.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity said its longtime grassroots contractor, the Hawthorn Group, had hired Bonner & Associates to do “limited outreach” in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

The president of ACCCE, which is headquartered in Alexandria and represents a consortium of coal companies, said he was “outraged” that bogus letters sent to members of congress originated at Bonner & Associates.

“ACCCE has always maintained high ethical and professional standards,” said Stephen L. Miller, the coalition’s president, in a statement. “In this case, the standards and practices that we require for grassroots advocacy outreach were not adhered to by Bonner and Associates. In this sense, the community groups involved, the Members of Congress who received the fraudulent letters, as well as ACCCE, were all victimized by this misconduct.”

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity spent more than $11.8 million on lobbying between April 1 and June 30, according to lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the cap-and-trade bill, was introduced in the House on May 15.

‘Misconduct ... deception’

Miller said that ACCCE is looking into the possibility of legal action in connection with the bogus letters controversy.

“Because of Bonner and Associates’ misconduct, we apologize to the community groups and the Members of Congress involved,” he said. “There is no place for this type of deception. We applaud efforts to ensure that everyone involved in the public policy dialogue lives up to the highest ethical standards.”

Bonner & Associates has not returned multiple calls for comment. The firm has sent statements to other media outlets, such as the Washington Post and the Associated Press, that blames the letters on a temporary employee who the company said was fired after it discovered the forgeries.

Perriello, a Democrat who represents the Charlottesville region, was not the only congressman to receive forged letters urging him to oppose the cap-and-trade legislation. Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper and Christo-pher Carney, both Democrats from Pennsylvania, also received falsified letters that originated at Bonner & Associates, the coal industry group said.

The coal industry group’s spokeswoman, Lisa Miller, said Bonner & Associates sent a total of 12 letters to the three members of Congress. Perriello received eight of the letters, she said.

“This is so contrary to the way that our organization is accustomed to operating,” Miller said. “It’s embarrassing and outrageous.”

Perriello’s office discovered six phony letters, one forged to look as if it came from Charlottesville-based Hispanic group Creciendo Juntos and the other five were forged to appear as if they originated with the Albemarle-Charlottesville chapter of the NAACP. The letters urged Perriello to oppose the landmark piece of clean energy legislation. “We ask you to use your important position to help protect minorities and other consumers in your district from higher electricity bills,” the letters said. “Please don’t vote to force cost increases on us, especially in this volatile economy.”

The letters were sent on faked letterhead and were signed by nonexistent members of the two Charlottes-ville minority organizations.

Creciendo Juntos does not take positions on such political issues. The NAACP actually supports the American Clean Energy and Security Act, as the civil rights organization believes it would create jobs for minorities and improve the environment in urban areas.

Jessica Barba, Perriello’s press secretary, said Tuesday that two previously undisclosed letters were forged to appear as if they were sent by the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, a Charlottesville agency, and the American Association of University Women.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity first learned of the forged letters on June 24, the organization said in a background document sent to reporters.

“Based upon information ACCCE received from the Hawthorn Group, it was Bonner and Associates’ own internal process that identified these falsified letters and it was Mr. Bonner who first brought this to the attention of the Hawthorn Group. ACCCE was then made aware of the situation by Hawthorn on June 24, 2009,” the document said. “In that discussion, we were assured by Hawthorn that senior management with Bonner and Associates had committed to making personal contacts with the affected organizations and the congressional offices who received falsified letters. Throughout this process, ACCCE has been told that Bonner and Associates had made contacts with the affected organizations and was continuing to make contacts with congressional offices. It was only by reading last Friday’s media accounts that we learned that these matters had not been satisfactorily resolved.”

In a July 22 letter to Creciendo Juntos, a partner with Bonner & Associates, Gwynn Geiger Hegyi, called the forged letters a “mistake” and said the company had already fired the staffer responsible.

After the forged letters were revealed in a Friday news story by The Daily Progress, U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., co-author of the cap-and-trade bill and chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, announced that he was launching an investigation into Bonner & Associates.

Markey sent a letter to the “strategic grassroots” lobbying firm on Monday asking for answers to 12 questions, including about Bonner & Associates’ practices, details about the employee responsible for the letters and whether faked letters were sent to other members of Congress. Markey is also seeking any documents related to the firm’s activities in connection to the cap-and-trade bill.

Bonner & Associates has until Aug. 12 to respond to Markey’s request.

Calls for prosecution

Since Friday, news about the forged letters has sparked outrage, particularly among environmentalist groups and other liberal-leaning organizations.

The Sierra Club is requesting that the U.S. Department of Justice open an investigation into the activities of Bonner & Associates.

Patrick Gallagher, legal director of the Sierra Club, sent a letter Monday to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that suggests the forgeries may have violated federal laws against wire fraud.

“Rep. Perriello’s ultimate decision to vote in favor of the clean energy bill would not preclude prosecution of Bonner & Associates, as it is well established that a fraudulent scheme that does not actually cause harm is still actionable,” Gallagher wrote. “… Furthermore, the harm in this case does not end at Rep. Perriello’s vote, but encompasses a constituent’s belief that her representative values her true opinion, and that her representative considers her true opinion when contemplating proposed legislation.”

While Perriello voted in favor of the energy bill, Carney and Dahlkemper voted against the measure.

Ian McCaleb, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday on the possibility of a criminal investigation. “We’re not commenting on that issue at this time,” he said.

The Sierra Club is also running advertisements about the forged letters this week in Roll Call, The Hill, CongressDaily, Politico and Congressional Quarterly. The ad’s headline reads: “The Coalition To Kill Clean Energy Jobs.”

“When Dirty-Energy Washington Lobbyists couldn’t get any real-life supporters to defeat comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, they made them up instead,” the ad says. “Washington Lobbyists actually impersonated the NAACP and Hispanic organization Creciendo Juntos in their letters to pressure legislators. Luckily, it was a losing battle and now they’re being investigated by Congress and others. America needs more clean energy jobs — not tall tales from Washington Lobbyists.”

The ad features images of assorted “tall tales,” including a flying saucer, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood and Bigfoot.

MoveOn.org, a left-leaning political group, has started an online petition drive to urge the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Bonner & Associates.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said legitimate questions remain about the phony letters sent to Perriello and the other two members of Congress.

“The real question is whether the full story is known,” Sabato said. “Was it simply a rogue employee, as the Bonner group suggests? Or is it part of a broader pattern in the ‘Astroturf’ lobbying industry? My guess would be the former, but the latter can’t be ruled out without looking into it. One can debate whether it deserves a full-blown congressional investigation, given the challenges the country is facing right now, but someone in authority ought to at least verify the explanation being offered by Bonner.”

Open communication

Sabato added that the controversy highlights the broader issue of constituent communication to congressmen.

“For years, legislators have told me that they are wary of much of what comes into their office by mail and telephone. They can’t say it publicly because it looks like they don’t care what their constituents think, which isn’t true, but elected officials are not dummies. They’ve figured out that much of their communications come from trumped-up campaigns that are full of misinformation and prefabricated messages,” Sabato said. “One thing that hasn’t changed in the 40-plus years I’ve been in and around politics, other than a personal chat with a congressman, nothing beats a well-crafted, thoughtful letter by someone in possession of the facts — signed by a real person in the district. Those are the letters chosen for individual attention by the legislator and the staff.”