==Media Matters Employees Aid Watchdog Hitting Trump With Dozens of Lawsuits. 'Nonpartisan' CREW listed liberal operative David Brock's address on litigation until late 2018=

A "nonpartisan" government watchdog group that has generated a steady flow of litigation against President Donald Trump shares employees with the left-wing Media Matters for America, according to an independent audit.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed lawsuits against Trump and government agencies nearly every month since he was sworn into office. These actions follow a plan that was laid out in a confidential memo from David Brock, the liberal operative who founded Media Matters, American Bridge, and Shareblue, that was handed out to deep-pocketed liberal donors as Trump was taking office.

Brock stepped away from CREW in 2016 because he did not want the group to appear overtly partisan as Trump was coming into power.

"Due to my stepped-up political activities in the American Bridge opposition research super PAC, I decided to step off CREW's board to ensure its public reputation for non-partisanship," Brock wrote in a statement post to CREW's website in December 2016. "I'm very proud of the work CREW has accomplished during my two years on board, and its work is more relevant now than ever."

At this time, Norm Eisen, a former ethics czar for President Obama, was announced as the group's new chair while Richard Painter, a self-identified Republican who served as an ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, would act as the group's vice chair. Eisen was tapped earlier this year by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee to help its chair, Rep. Jerry Nadler, pursue congressional investigations into Trump and put pressure Attorney General William Barr.

Despite distancing himself from CREW on paper, Brock never veered far from the group. Just one month after his resignation, the Clinton loyalist held a private retreat with more than 100 liberal donors at the posh Turnberry Isle Resort just outside of Miami where they discussed how they would "kick Donald Trump's ass."

The Free Beacon was on site for the gathering and obtained Brock's private and confidential memorandumthat laid out plans to fight Trump during his first term using his constellation of organizations. Included in the memo was a section on CREW.

"CREW will be the leading nonpartisan ethics watchdog group in a period of crisis with a President and administration that present possible conflicts of interest and ethical problems on an unprecedented scale," the memo states. "Trump will be afflicted by a steady flow of damaging information, new revelations, and an inability to avoid conflict issues."

Despite Brock publicly distancing himself from the group, the organization remained at the same address—and on the same floor—as Media Matters and American Bridge, according to CREW's most recent tax forms from 2017.

Brock's employees have also quietly worked with the "nonpartisan" government watchdog, according to state filings.

As CREW was renewing its registration in North Carolina last October, the group submitted an independent auditor's report that showed Media Matters shared employees with CREW.

"The organization shares employees and other related expenses with Media Matters for America (MMFA), a not-for-profit organization exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code," the audit states. "As of December 31, 2017, $4,790 was owed to MMFA, which is included in accounts payable in the accompanying Statement of Financial Position”…

https://freebeacon.com/issues/media-matters-employees-aid-watchdog-hitting-trump-with-dozens-of-lawsuits/

Repost on Abrams and all her disastrous unethical actions-my question is why does anyone listen to her today? This guy did great and detailed research on her.

Unethical Abrams: 10 ethics reasons why Georgians should not vote for Stacey Abrams for Governor

MAY

17

2018

William Perry

Stacey Abrams was once a public official I liked… A LOT! But what a disappointment she’s turned out to be with both her leadership and ethics. She has more ethical challenges than any other statewide candidate. She’s become “Unethical Abrams” to me — the Kasim Reed of statewide politics.

I’m tired of the voters of our state electing people to public office, only later to find out that they completely lack ethics. So with the primary election just days away, and many potential voters still undecided, here are 10 reasons why you should not vote for Stacey Abrams for Governor if you care about ethical behavior:

#1 Abrams reimbursed herself over $84,000 from her campaign accounts without itemization of end recipients. This means that she could have pocketed the money, which of course would be illegal. Last month I filed an ethics complaintwith the state ethics commission. When asked about it, she stated “We complied very much so with all of the record-keeping that we were required to do. But if there is any discrepancy and any question, we will certainly provide additional information.” It’s been weeks, and she has still not disclosed where the money went. See WSBTV’s story.

#2 Abrams used campaign resources to sell her book, which she profits from personally. Again, this is illegal and I filed an ethics complaintabout it last month as well. This is illegal because candidates are not allowed to personally benefit from campaign funds. Abrams has been paid by her publisher already for the book, and she’ll surely profit from its sales. It would be okay if the campaign received all proceeds from the book, but that’s not the case. After claiming there was nothing wrong with what her staff was doing, all campaign web pages supporting the sale of the book were removed, and all staffers’ social media tweets and posts were deleted. Read the AJC story.

#3 Abrams lied on multiple occasions about her private business dealings with a business she is a partner in called NOWaccount, which did business with the State of Georgia, and Fulton County. While this may not be illegal, lying about your private business dealings is likely something most voters consider unethical. On two separate occasions Abrams stated publicly that she “walled off” herself from dealings with the state – on WABE 3/22/18 and at the GABWA forum on 4/6/18(1:20:28 mark). Yet the meeting minutes from the Development Authority of Fulton County for May 27, 2014 tell a different story. They state she not only attended, but “…Representative Stacey Abrams… appeared in connection with the request for a letter of inducement for the issuance of $20,000,000 in taxable bonds”. That’s hardly walling herself off.

#4 Abrams was not transparent about a second private business dealing with the state. As Minority Leader in the State House, she never let her caucus know something very important! NOWaccount paid her hundreds of thousands of dollars and was engaged in an on-going business relationship with Gov. Deal’s administration. Abrams at no point informed her caucus of this business relationship that could have compromised her judgment on critical votes, such as the devastating cuts to HOPE and cutting the time-period for early voting in half – both of which the Governor wanted, and Abrams encouraged her caucus to support….

http://gaethicswatchdogs.org/2018/05/unethical-abrams-10-ethics-reasons-why-georgians-should-not-vote-for-stacey-abrams-for-governor/