Just how influential are the Koch brothers? It's common knowledge that the billionaire industrialists have funneled hundreds of millions into American elections via a broad network of conservative tax-exempt groups. The Koch network's estimated $889 million budget for the 2016 election rivals what will be spent by the national political party committees.
But the true scope and aggressiveness of the Koch political operation is only now coming to light, thanks to a series of investigations by Politico's Kenneth P. Vogel. Most recently, Vogel has pulled the curtain back on a vast conservative surveillance network that uses "competitive intelligence" to target liberal groups. In the context of the questions bubbling up over stepped-up government surveillance in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, the news that the Kochs are running what amounts to a a sophisticated private sector intelligence agency is sure to raise eyebrows.
As Vogel reports:
The competitive intelligence team has a staff of 25, including one former CIA analyst, and operates from one of the non-descript Koch network offices clustered near the Courthouse metro stop in suburban Arlington, Va. It has provided network officials with documents detailing confidential voter-mobilization plans by major Democrat-aligned groups. It also sends regular "intelligence briefing" emails tracking the canvassing, phone-banking and voter-registration efforts of labor unions, environmental groups and their allies, according to documents reviewed by POLITICO and interviews with a half-dozen sources with knowledge of the group.
The story comes on the heels of two prior reports that paint the most detailed picture yet of the Kochs' shadowy, free-market movement. On Tuesday, Politico provided fresh details about the Kochs' political influence in 2014. That piece casts the Kochs as a political ATM of sorts for such conservative groups as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Club for Growth, and the National Rifle Association, reportedly doling out $88 million in grants to these and other right-leaning groups. Much of that money boosted conservative primary candidates running against opponents who were backed by the Republican Party establishment.
As the Kochs and their allies gear up to spend record sums in 2016, both Democrats and Republicans will be watching. Charles Koch recently announced that he will not back a Republican in the GOP primary. But the Koch network's general election spending is set to break records. The latest Koch disclosures send a signal to Democratic donors that they had better be ready. They also suggest that liberal activists had better be on their guard.
