Congressional panel to investigate phony letters

A congressional panel will hold an investigative hearing this week into the forged letters sent to U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, and two other congressmen urging them to vote against a landmark clean energy bill.

The 13 letters were falsified to appear as if they were sent by community groups, including the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, the Albemarle-Charlottesville chapter of the NAACP, Creciendo Juntos, the Senior Center Inc. and others.
In truth, however, the letters were sent to the congressmen by an employee of Bonner & Associates, a Washington “grassroots” lobbying firm that was working on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
Chairman Edward J. Markey of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will convene his committee Thursday to look into the phony letter scandal.

“The Select Committee has now discovered more than a dozen fraudulent letters that were sent to several members of Congress as part of an ‘Astroturf’ campaign run by the firm, Bonner & Associates, and contracted by the American Clean Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity,” a news release from Markey’s office states. “This campaign was designed to influence members of Congress on the House-passed Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill.”
Eben Burnham-Snyder, a spokesman for the House select committee on global warming, said the hearing is intended to delve into the details of what he called a “fraud perpetrated upon Congress.”

“They have to answer to Congress and explain how it happened and hopefully how it won’t happen again,” he said.
Perriello’s office confirmed Tuesday that the freshman Democrat will testify at the hearing.
“We are grateful that Chairman Markey’s committee has taken such swift and serious action in investigating the forged letters,” said Jessica Barba, Perriello’s press secretary. “Hopefully the hearing and the committee’s investigation overall will help restore integrity to the process of representative government.”
The other two congressmen to receive bogus letters from Bonner & Associates were Kathy Dahlkemper and Christopher Carney, both Democrats from Pennsylvania.

Markey launched the congressional investigation after Bonner & Associates’ fake letters were revealed by The Daily Progress.
Thursday’s hearing is expected to feature several key figures in the controversy, though the list of witnesses has not been announced yet.
“While the hearing will focus on the specific events surrounding this fraud on Congress, the practice of ‘Astroturf’ — corporate-funded activities that create the false appearance of a true grassroots movement — have come to the fore in American political discourse surrounding the debates over health care and energy legislation,” Markey’s news release says.
A spokesman for Bonner & Associates said the company’s founder, Jack Bonner, had been asked to attend Thursday’s congressional hearing.
“Mr. Bonner is considering testifying,” said the spokesman, who spoke on the condition that his name not be published. “He’s been asked, but he’s still making up his mind. I don’t think anything’s set in stone yet.”
The phony letters urged the congressmen to oppose the American Clean Energy and Security Act, commonly known as the cap-and-trade bill. The measure passed the House by a slim margin.

Bonner & Associates has said that the employee was a temporary staffer and was fired immediately after the forgeries were discovered.
Bonner & Associates, however, did not notify Perriello of the forgeries. Several affected Charlottesville-area groups also say they were not told of the letters. The fake letters did not come to light until after the House had already voted on the cap-and-trade bill.
Peter Thompson, executive director of the Senior Center at Pepsi Place, was one of the victims of the forgeries. A fake letter bearing the Senior Center logo was sent to Perriello and signed by “Peter M. Thompon [sic], Executive Director, Henry County Senior Services.”
Thompson applauded Markey’s decision to delve into the matter in a congressional hearing. “We continue to support any congressional investigation into these fraudulent letters,” he said.

M. Rick Turner, president of the Albemarle-Charlottesville branch of the NAACP, also praised the notion of a hearing. Six fake letters were sent to Perriello that appeared as if they came from Turner’s group.
“They have done some damage,” he said. “It’s damaging to the public. It’s damaging to Perriello’s constituents. It’s not a little thing. It’s a big thing when people lie on you.”