Stephen Jones Defends Texas-Based 'Just The Facts America,' Says Controversial Entity Is His Client

Enid attorney Stephen Jones (pictured at right), in a letter to The McCarville Report Online, confirms that the secretive Texas-based "Just The Facts America" is his client and he defends it, writing, "my client acted fully within the law."

Jones responded to repeated mentions here of the group, headed by Texas Republican leader James B. "Jim" Cardle (pictured below left) of Austin, and continuing questions about its actions in launching an effort to defeat Democrat Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland last year.

The group erupted on the Oklahoma political scene when it placed tens of thousands of dollars in television commercials attacking Holland, who defeated Republican Bill Case in November. The group also created a website attacking Holland. Jones and associates donated thousands to the Case campaign.

There had been questions about the group and why its donors had not been revealed. Oklahoma Ethics Commission director Marilyn Hughes and Attorney General Drew Edmondson had both said they believe the group was required to reveal its donors and register with the commission. Jones said they were "mistaken."

"There was no legal obligation then or now to register unless the decision of the (U. S. District) Court is reversed by the (U. S.) Supreme Court," he wrote. He noted that the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia had ruled "that the federal statute, unlike the Oklahoma Statute, did affirmatively require 501(c)(3), (4) and (6) organizations to reveal their donors when engaged in campaign communication was unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment."

Jones continues to disagree with the assertion the group is "mysterious." He wrote, "It is no more mysterious than any other...organization whose donors are protected by law from disclosure. Its officers and purposes are well known."

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