CMD Denounces Latest Andrew Breitbart Smear Campaign against Groups Challenging the Kochs

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Editor's note: Last month the Center for Media and Democracy condemned a video shot by allies of Andrew Breitbart at a rally organized by Common Cause which included suspicious video shot by an ally of James O'Keefe impersonating a Common Cause activist. We noted that the technique of taking videos purporting to be of real protesters who are really plants or operatives saying outrageous things could not be ruled out. Here is that press release:

Los Angeles -- Online provocateur Andrew Breitbart and his allies are trying to manufacture a new scandal, this one aimed at good government groups that dare to challenge David and Charles Koch and their corporate/political empire. It is a scam, of course, but the Breitbart effort is a reminder of his relationship with the Kochs.

The centerpiece of Breitbart's attack is a video smear, directed at Common Cause and other good government groups that held an "Uncloak the Kochs" rally in Rancho Mirage, California, on January 30, 2011. The Kochs and about 200 other corporate executives, TV talking heads and elected officials were meeting to plot political strategies at a resort across from the rally.

In a peaceful rally of more than 1,000 people, a crew of videographers who have worked with Breitbart egged a few into making outrageous, bigoted remarks on camera, then presented them as representative of the entire crowd and the rally sponsors. None of the interviewees was identified, and some looked to be wearing wigs or disguises. Given Breitbart's history of promoting staged videos, it is difficult to have any confidence in the authenticity of the clips.

Moreover, Breitbart and his colleagues have strong ties to David and/or Charles Koch:

• Politico has reported that Breitbart previously addressed the Kochs' strategy retreat.
• The Breitbart website where the new smear video first appeared is edited by Mike Flynn, who also works as the government affairs director at the non-profit magazine, Reason. David Koch serves on the board of the Reason Foundation, which took in $6 million in donations income against $6.7 million in expenses according to its public filing in 2009, with only $639,236 in subscription revenue and $113,575 in ad revenue. (Reason has not disclosed the names of the donors underwriting its expenses and staff activities.)

The following can be attributed to CMD's Executive Director, Lisa Graves:

"I challenge Breitbart and his associates Michael Flynn, and Christian Hartsock (the cameraman behind the video who has previously worked on James O'Keefe's staged videos) to disclose any and all income of any kind in the past five years received via the Kochs or any Koch-funded enterprise or front groups they have seeded. We know Breitbart has been part of the Kochs' political strategizing, and we know he has a record of feeding manufactured news stories to the blogosphere and cable news channels. We also know David Koch is connected to the work of Flynn through Reason and that Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of the Breitbart website that is now promoting the video being used to smear Common Cause. In my opinion, these activities are part of Breitbart's bag of dirty tricks, as seen in his previous efforts to promote or defend staged videos from Hartsock and others attempting to discredit anyone perceived as an opponent, as with Senator Mary Landrieu, civil servant Shirley Sherrod, and Planned Parenthood," noted Lisa Graves, adding, "At the rally, I interviewed dozens of Americans and heard none of them say anything bigoted like what Breitbart and Flynn are promoting through Hartsock's edited video."