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Jane Mayer: The Only Info The Koch Bros. Provided Was On Their Website

» 14 comments

A few weeks back New Yorker scribe Jane Mayer penned a much-discussed piece about the nefarious backroom dealings of the billionaire Koch brothers. The article, titled ‘Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama,’ detailed how the Koch brothers were throwing money at organizations that undermined President Obama and trickled down to essentially fund the Tea Party (something both Koch’s had previously and vehemently denied).

Response to the article varied from surprise, to surprise that the Koch’s were being cast as such villains (they fund many, many programs), to shrugs from people familiar with the Koch’s financial dealings (which have been well-covered in other places over the years).

Meanwhile, suffice to say, the Kochs were not pleased with the article. David Koch told The Daily Beast that the piece was “hateful…ludicrous” and “plain wrong.â€

“If what I and my brother believe in, and advocate for, is secret, it’s the worst covert operation in history,†Koch says, in reference to the New Yorker headline, adding that a lengthy letter to the magazine, rebutting nearly every allegation in the story is in the works.

Of course, all of those rebuttals might not have been necessary if Koch had just spoken to Mayer in the first place. Over the weekend she told CNN that she’d repeatedly tried to contact the brothers to no avail and that the “tremendous amount of information” they claim to have provided the New Yorker with was actually “just stuff on their website.” Mayer’s segment below.

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  • felixw

    What a terrible crime. The Koch brothers actually dare give money to causes they support. This is evil and must be stopped, according to The New Yorker….except if the Koch brothers decide to give money to far left causes. Then it’s totally cool, and no scrutiny is necessary.

  • http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

    The New York media is very arrogant. That is why they think any mayor of New York is a presidential candidate. They also think people outside of New York know the Koch Brothers. This blog should explain who they are. I never heard of the Koch brothers.
    Most people in the country couldn’t name the mayor of New York.

  • http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

    Oh yea, I forgot who is Jane Mayer?

  • felixw

    It’s a much, much, much, much, much bigger sign of corruption when General Electric, sets up a TV network to spin news in favor of Democrats, while making billions off government contracts awarded by those same Democrats. When is The New Yorker and CNN planning to investigate that scandal? Of course, you know it won’t get covered on NBC or CNBC or MSNBC, since they are owned by GE.

    What a joke for the Left to gripe about the Koch Brothers or Haliburton or whatever when this huge conflict-of-interest can be seen on TV every night of the week.

  • jk76

    the echo travels a long way

    So she says the info is the same as on their site, can she prove it? Was a long article for not receiving info. Although half of it was insinuations. Here’s the deal, they are FREE-MARKET LIBERTARIANS. So yeah less obtrusive government the better. Tea Party movement…kinda similar. They didn’t invent the tea parties, and tea parties aren’t centralized. Do their think tanks put out ideas, probably. The article is shit and so is this one. She had 7min on CNN. She quoted Center for Public Integrity as saying they are a lawbreaking…where’s the crimes?

    By pollution do people mean CO2? cause I’ll hold my breath if it’s so bad. She gave George Soros a few sentences including a statement of defense even though she noted that he was spending $100mil a year in USA. She didn’t note that he was outspoken about taking down the presidency of Bush43 and how the USA is an obsticle for the world. She laments that they didn’t avail themselves for an interview….have they ever?

    What anti-blank hasn’t worked for the Lefty Cabal: Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, Palin, Fox News Channel, News Corp., Murdoch, Beck, Tea Party, Capitalist, Free-will, America, slurring peoples character with ‘ists and ‘phobes,

    So now they try to connect the dots on some rich people who suprisingly aren’t liberal or socialist and are active against them. Did you read the entire Daily Beast article? Did you see where the economic team mentioned Koch by name? Did you see in Meyer’s article where Michelle Obama didn’t go to an event because of the Koch’s? It’s a concerted effort to lie about stuff being secret and to find a big wallet non-lefty to tear down the right, but it won’t work just like all the other attacks against talking heads and average Americans.

    It is the responsibilty of Government to restrain itself lest it become to heavy to hold up

  • MichelleF

    I think Obama should just make it illegal once and for all for anyone other than liberals to make $$.

  • felixw

    The Koch brothers give money to legitimate political causes — which advocate government accountability, fiscal responsibility and individual freedom. They are asking for less government, not for government favors. GE runs a TV network that touts its favorite politicians 24/7, and then wants huge government contracts, paid for by the taxpayers, in return. You tell me which one of these represents corruption.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Raymond-Rheault/100000178128873 Raymond Rheault

    These clowns would be up front about their political endeavors if they weren’t so far-reaching and if AFP would ever admit to be the bag man for the Tea Party movement. The Koch’s don’t dare fully disclose because the American public would see that their politics are completely self-serving, and it shows clearly that the grass-roots TP movement is a actually a corporately-financed front for the Koch’s and the dick army.

    And don’t rag on General Electric, who has received contracts under GOP & Democrat-controlled governments, & MSNBC but leave out Fox/GOP(ravda), a fully integrated arm of the Republican Party

    Finally, I had heard of Jane Mayer, a well-known writer, but who the heck is Gordon Bloyers, a mama’s boy blogging in his mom’s basement?

  • philipjames

    Okay, so the rule is that if a liberal dolt writer is doing a hit piece on you and you don’t talk to them (isn’t that blackmail?) then the piece will be even more of a smear piece?
    Oh… I forgot…. that is the way the lame stream liberal media operates anyway… sorry for forgetting.

    Screw the lame stream media.

  • Founders_were_Liberal

    The Koch brothers are what is wrong with America.
    The biggest polluters in the country want to stop regulation and are willing to pay for it?
    When the world is dying because people like the Koch Brothers have killed it, what are the bat shit crazy cons going to say then?

  • Founders_were_Liberal

    To the Koch Brothers, Freedom = no regulation.
    Plainly and simply, they make money by killing people.
    They’ve waged a decades long battler to keep the EPA from regulating formaldehyde as a carcinogen.
    Formaldehyde causes cancer.

  • Patrick Bateman

    Didnt George Soros do the same thing?

  • Founders_were_Liberal

    Yes, Soros financially supports, liberal, progressive democratic causes.
    The difference is Soros’ transparency vs. Koch Brothers obfuscation, denials and the underground nature of their actions; evidenced by their refusal to speak to Ms. Mayer.

  • Workindude76

    Don’t fool yourself, Obama isn’t the one running this country.

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