Perriello, area groups contradict lobbying firm

The office of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello and several Charlottesville groups are disputing statements submitted by a Washington lobbying firm to a congressional committee investigating a phony letter scandal.

The lawyer for the lobbying firm, Bonner & Associates, wrote in an Aug. 12 letter to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that Bonner & Associates took immediate action after learning June 23 that a part-time, temporary employee had sent out a dozen forged letters. The letters were designed to look as if they came from minority and senior citizen groups urging Perriello and two other congressmen to oppose climate change legislation.

“In the following days B&A personally contacted each of the eight organizations that were defrauded,” wrote Steven R. Ross, a lawyer with the Akin Gump law firm who is representing Bonner. “B&A employees conducted in person meetings with some of the organizations to discuss what happened and to apologize.”

In at least one case, that was true. A Bonner & Associates vice president visited Charlottesville in late June to inform the chairwoman of Creciendo Juntos, a network of service providers to Charlottesville’s Hispanic community, that the organization’s logo and name had been used in a bogus letter sent to Perriello.

At least three other Charlottesville-area organizations, however, say they received no such notification.

Five letters were forged to appear as if they were sent by members of the Albemarle-Charlottesville chapter of the NAACP. Rick Turner, president of the group, said he has never once heard from Bonner & Associates.

‘We never heard from them’

Elyse Thierry, publicity manager of the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, said Bonner & Associates also did not notify her organization.

“We never heard from them,” Thierry said. “Maybe they sent it to a different JABA? My favorite is the Japanese American Businessman’s Association.”

Peter Thompson, executive director of the Senior Center Inc., has said he also was not notified by Bonner & Associates that his name and his organization’s logo had been used in a fake letter to Perriello. Thompson said he first learned of the forgery when an investigator with the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity called him in early August after The Daily Progress reported about Bonner’s forged letter campaign.

The clean coal coalition hired a public affairs company called the Hawthorn Group, which then subcontracted with Bonner & Associates, to operate a “grassroots” lobbying campaign against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed the House by a slim margin June 26.

Ross’ letter to congressional investigators states that Bonner & Associates sought to notify two of the three congressman who had been sent forged letters on July 1 — eight days after Bonner first discovered the forgeries and three days after the vote on the climate change legislation had taken place.

“On July 1, 2009, B&A contacted the offices of two of three Members of Congress who received fabricated letters,” Ross wrote. “On that date, messages were left with the Chiefs of Staff for Rep. Perriello and Rep. [Kathy] Dahlkemper. It is our understanding that although these calls were not initially returned, continued efforts were made by B&A to reach out to those Member’s offices. On July 13, B&A staff succeeded in directly speaking with congressional staff for Rep. Perriello and Rep. Dahlkemper about this matter. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, Rep. [Christopher] Carney was not contacted at that time.”

Jessica Barba, Perriello’s press secretary, said Friday that Bonner & Associates did not contact Perriello’s office.

“I asked everybody in our office, did anybody hear anything from them about this?” Barba said. “They hadn’t. Nobody in our office ever talked to them.”

Bonner’s lawyer, Ross, did not return a call for comment Friday.

A spokesman for Jack Bonner, founder of Bonner & Associates, stood by the assertions in Ross’ letter.

The spokesman, who spoke on condition that his name would not be published, said the notifications came after the House voted on the American Clean Energy and Security Act because Bonner & Associates was too busy notifying the groups that had been used in the forgeries.

“Jack felt that it was important first to notify each of the organizations and individuals whose names the temporary employee had misused in the letters before notifying the members of Congress,” the spokesman said in an e-mail. “That process took some time to complete. Once he had notified each of those people and the groups, he then reached out to the lawmakers.”

Ross’ letter to the congressional committee suggests that Bonner & Associates is as much a victim as anyone in the forged letters scandal.

“At this time, we believe our client has been the victim of a fraud committed by an individual who appears to have obtained temporary employment at B&A for the purpose, and with the pre-determined intent, of engaging in fraudulent activity,” Ross wrote.

The part-time employee who forged the letters was immediately fired by Bonner & Associates after the fake letters were discovered. The employee’s identity has not been disclosed. “He does exist, but Jack feels it is not appropriate to reveal his identity,” the spokesman said.

The former employee may be subject to legal ramifications, the spokesman said. Ross’ letter says that Bonner & Associates has forwarded its concerns to law enforcement authorities for a possible criminal investigation.

Investigation unconfirmed

The Sierra Club has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the matter as possible violations of federal wire fraud laws. A Justice Department spokesman said Friday that he can neither confirm nor deny that an investigation has been opened in connection with the scandal.

Bonner’s spokesman said any criminal probe should focus not on Bonner & Associates but on the fired employee who was behind the phony letters.

“If there is an investigation, it should be focused on the individual who did the damage,” he said.

Ross’ letter says the firm has implemented measures that will prevent such forgeries from happening again. The company now makes every employee sign an ethics policy. All resumes of prospective temporary employees are verified by permanent Bonner staff. All new employees must complete ethics training and pass an exam demonstrating that they understand the company’s ethics policies. And Bonner & Associates requires callback verification of all groups that sign statements of support before sending such letters to lawmakers.

“In hindsight, it is obvious that B&A, and others affected, would have been better served if there had been a more robust and timely control system in place and if there had been a clearer and more complete set of curative communications,” Ross wrote. “But it is also clear that this incident, whatever its motivation, was an anomaly in the lengthy and honorable operation of this business. While this was a fraud perpetrated against B&A, the manner in which it was done has demonstrated to B&A the need to develop and implement, in every instance, a more robust internal control system and they are committed to doing so.”