Complaints Filed Against Kim Holland Attacker

From VoteLaw ~ The group Public Citizen has filed complaints with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that a political operative and his controversial group identified by TMRO as key players in the 2006 television attacks on Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland violated federal election law and the group's tax status.

The complaints name the nonprofit group Americans for Job Security (AJS). The complaints, which were also sent to congressional committee leadership as part of a request for an investigation into the issue, ask the IRS to revoke the group’s tax status and the FEC to fine the group for election law violations.

It's the same group implicated in placing robo calls against Mary Fallin and Denise Bode in the 2006 Republican congressional primary.

Americans for Job Security is registered under Section 501(c)(6) of the tax code, the category reserved for business leagues and trade associations. Groups that are registered under this section are prohibited from engaging in efforts to influence elections as their primary purpose. But AJS, which maintains no Web site and appears to have only one paid employee, spends millions of dollars on advertisements to influence elections without appearing to engage in any other substantive efforts, according to the complaint. While many groups registered under 501(c) of the tax code participate in some level of electioneering activity and others may have violated the law, Public Citizen has identified AJS as one of the most egregious offenders. In response, Public Citizen is asking that the IRS revoke AJS’s 501(c) status, collect back taxes for its undeclared electioneering activities and require it to pay penalties for violating its tax-exempt status.

In 2006, TMRO reported, "The president of the controversial Americans For Job Security, Mike Dubke, has been indentified by The McCarville Report Online as the man leading the $250,000 attack on State Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland.

"TMRO learned that the television commercials attacking Holland were placed by Dubke, a conservative Republican power broker who routinely launches attacks on Democrats, and sometimes moderate Republicans, in election years from his suburban Washington office in Olde Town Alexandria, Virginia.

"The commercials were placed through Crossroads Media, located at the same address as AJS. Dubke, over the last five years operating as an advertising agency, has placed attack radio and television commercials in races all over the country. He has been investigated, threatened and described as a 'political jackal' because he represents groups that don't disclose the sources of their money. He says that is deliberate, because keeping the sources secret means the debate is on his targets rather than his donors.

"AJS is located in Suite 555 at 66 Canal Center Plaza in Alexandria, VA. Crossroads Media, listed in Oklahoma television station documents as the agency on the anti-Holland commercials, is located in Suite 555 at 66 Canal Center Plaza in Alexandria, VA. A Federal Election Commission document located by TMRO lists Dubke as 'Crossroads Media/Partner.'"

In 2006, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said he'd reached a settlement with Americans For Job Security about robo calls placed against Mary Fallin and Denise Bode in the 5th District Republican primary and has found no evidence that any of their opponents was involved in the calls. Edmondson said AJS and vendor Advantage Inc. agreed to pay $3,000 each to cover investigative costs into the violation Edmondson alleged, that the calls did not contain the name of the entity sponsoring them in the proper place and did not contain a call-back telephone number. Edmondson said the investigation by his Consumer Protection Division concluded that "no other candidates were found to be associated with the calls."

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