Veiled sect hails Bush, Martinez

[soup]

By LUCY MORGAN, Times Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published January 18, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - A mysterious committee backed by members of a secretive religious group whose members are forbidden to vote spent more than $500,000 on newspaper ads last year supporting President Bush and U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez.

The Thanksgiving 2004 Committee raised the money from residents of 18 states, plus $377,262 from Bruce Hazell of London, England. None of the money was raised in Florida, according to a report filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

The group of men who formed the committee belong to the Exclusive Brethren, a reclusive religious group with roots in England and Australia. The group includes members from Knoxville, Tenn., Omaha, Neb., and other U.S. cities. Members of the Exclusive Brethren do not vote, read newspapers, watch television or participate in the outside world, according to published reports. So why would they care who gets elected in the United States?
>snip<

The Brethren are thought to have about 50,000 members, mostly in England and Australia. They are Christians and stay apart from anyone who does not follow Exclusive Brethren teaching. Members do not make friends in the outside world and have traditionally shut out family members who are caught having contact with worldly things like rock music, television or non-members.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/18/State/Veiled_sect_hails_Bus.shtml

Strange.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. KKKarl and rue~pert sittin in a tree, together they'll make history!

[soup]

2. Their web page?

http://www.brethren.org/

Got to thinkin about it, though. If they traditionally eschew contact with worldly things, why would they have a website? Maybe it's not 'the' Brethren.

Things like this really make me curious. What/ who is behind that curtain?

on edit: I'm a goode speler.

[WritersBlock]

10. Another web page

http://www.mybrethren.org/sitenofr.htm

The site title is "The history and ministry of those commonly called 'exclusive brethren'"

Looks to be more of a personal compilation than an official site? Can't really tell.

On edit:
Also found another site's guestbook in which someone writes "I am with 'exclusive brethren' in the UK linked with those who run the Kingston Bible Trust." (http://www.plymouthbrethren.com/gview10.mv?rn=690 )

Kingston Bible Trust is a registered charity in the UK:
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?regno=295332&submit=Run+Search

[lcbart]

11. This is not the same Church.

My wife is a former member of the Church of the Brethren here in Pennsylvania, and her former church is listed on this site.

This is DEFINITELY not the same group.

[soup]

12. thank you, lcbart.

You are one more reason I love DU.

It didn't 'feel' like it would belong to 'the' Brethren. My apologies for going against that and posting it anyway.

on edit: Just noticed you're new to posting here. Welcome! :hi:

[MADem]

26. Spelin' asside......

...You make a very 'goode' point there. A VERY good point.

You have to wonder, who, what, and why. It does not add up at all.

[NJCher]

3. another disappointed suitor

What a creepy story. First, it sounds like they had no strategy for when they were asked about their actions:

Hazell, reached at his London office last week, said he is a member of the Brethren. He said the reasons he donated so much money to an American election committee were complicated and offered to explain later. When a reporter called him at the appointed hour, a secretary said Hazell "just popped out" and wouldn't be back until next week. "He had to suddenly rush out," she said.

And probably oddest of all:

"The president thought we had gotten rid of this kind of shadowy activity," said White House spokesman Taylor Gross. "I have never heard of this group."

At any rate, wonder how they feel about bush's announcement that he will not pursue the gay marriage ban in the Senate.

Suckers!


Cher

[soup]

4. Someone is actually doing their homework.

Looks like this is an update from a November 2nd article. Thank you, Lucy Morgan.

Election 2004
'Beneath the radar' group behind late pro-GOP ads
By LUCY MORGAN, Times Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published November 2, 2004


TALLAHASSEE - An independent political group with secretive backers formed a week ago to buy ads in support of President Bush and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez.

"We like to fly beneath the radar," said Steve Truan, a Knoxville, Tenn., businessman. "We are highly supportive of what the president has done and we were willing to put our money where our mouth is and put out ads against negativism."
>snip<

Truan said he and other men in Knoxville who formed the committee "are working with a larger group" he would not identify. He referred questions to Rob Scott of Knoxville, listed as a director of the Thanksgiving committee. Scott did not return calls.

Knox County Republican officials said they do not know the men who formed the group. The committee gives a Knoxville map shop as its address, which also been used by the Truan Family Partnership.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/11/02/State/_Beneath_the_radar__g.shtml

[WritersBlock]

6. Wonder if he's saying that other kinds of shadowy activity are still

acceptable, then? And was "this kind of shadowy activity" something so common that the pResident was made aware of the need to get "rid of" it by his staff? The same pResident who seems to be otherwise very shielded?

[MaineDem]

13. "...will not pursue the gay marriage ban...,"

I thought Dan bartlett said on Sunday that they WILL go after this. One of the latest flip-flops of this administration.

This whole Brethren thing is really creepy.

[NJCher]

5. this is really odd

If you look at this newsletter, which is at the Church of the Brethren site, you'll see that they genuinely seem for peace:

http://www.brethren.org/oepa/Newsletter-Fall%202004.pdf

Look at this--they were demonstrating against Oliver North!:

Found on page 5 of their 12-page newsletter, link posted above:

At the 1989 Church of the Brethren Annual Conferencein Orlando, a vigil was held outside avenue where Oliver North would be speaking. Most of the Brethren vigil participants chose to be in silent prayer,while a few of us sought to engage in dialogue with members of a Young Republicans college group who had come to support Oliver North."

How does this fit in with helping bush stay in the WH?


Cher

[pinniped]

7. They don't watch the news, read the papers, or participate...

in the outside world. I think someone gave them the wrong information about the outside world. Some knucklehead probably told them * won the Nobel Peace Prize.:crazy:

[soup]

9. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Huge disconnect there.

Possibly -
A legit 'the Brethren'
A shadow group dubbing themselves 'The Brethren'
John Grisham's book 'The Brethren' :crazy:

[kainah]

19. Church of the Brethren is a mainstream church

It's got nothing to do with whatever this "Exclusive Brethren" cult is.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. Different set of Brethren

The Church of the Brethren is one of the historic "peace churches," along with the Mennonites and Quakers.

God only knows what the Exclusive Brethren are about.

[soup]

8. Peebs.net

Getting creepier.
What the heck does this mean?
Every Monday from October 18th... the door will open a little wider.

January 18th, 2005 (EB News)

A Florida newspaper today published an article in the St. Petersburg Times that publicly asks some familiar questions regarding the Exclusive Brethren. 'Veiled sect hails Bush, Martinez' refers to the political endorsement by the Exclusive Brethren during 2004 of targeted politicians around the world.

Several Peebs.Net members assisted the press in their research and although the article is in many ways superficial, it is accurate and highlights the important issues. Of particular interest is the obvious effort by the EB to avoid answering questions.

* Veiled sect hails Bush, Martinez

The published research includes comment from the White House: "The president thought we had gotten rid of this kind of shadowy activity ...". We certainly hope that the press, the White House and other entities will continue to investigate the activities that continue in these particular shadows.

The Exclusive Brethren used a Section 527 organization called Thanksgiving 2004 Committee to channel well over US$600,000 into the placement of large ads in certain politically sensitive areas. It would seem that the Exclusive Brethren enjoyed their experience enough to continue their political advocacy into 2005 with the formation of a new 527 group called Integrity 2005 Committee.

The groups are nominally headed up by Steve Truan, of Knoxville Tennessee - we will monitor their activities with great interest during 2005 as we are particularly interested to see whether the major contributor last year, Bruce Hazell of Eltham, UK, will channel more in 2005 than the US$377,262 he 'gave' during 2004.
http://peebs.net/index.html
click on 'news'

---

Much more further down in the 'news' section, including this bit:


December 23rd, 2004 (EB News)

Further financial information relating to the Exclusive Brethren 527 political advocacy group - The Thanksgiving Committee 2004 - has been released:

This first financial report indicated the group raised $636,521 and spent $528,641 from 10/25 to 11/22.

The major donation was $377,262 from Bruce Hazel, 35 Court Rd, Eltham SE9 5AF, London, England.

The next largest donation was $50,000 from Control Papers of Cranford, NJ, USA.

The breakdown of donors by USA state shows:

CA $3,750; CT $4,450; IA $18,050; IL $11,550; IN $3,000; MA $3,900; MD $10,250; MI $23,200; MN $18,400; NE $11,500; NJ $65,100; NY $27,800; ND $6,159; OH $43,850; OR $1,900; PA $5,950; TN $18,450; and TX $3,550.

The US donors appeared to be small independent businesses or their employees.

The major expenditure was $518,547 to Dougherty & Associates of Knoxville, TN, for newspaper advertising, and another $9,112 to the same firm for "letters, research, establish data base."

Main Source: Political MoneyLine - Update Wed Dec 22nd, 2004

Control Papers Company, Inc is listed as a supplier of financial services industry products including checks (cheques), inking devices, ATM receipts and thermal paper to banks and other financial institutions. The company was established in 1976 and is listed as having between 10 and 49 employees.
Control Papers Company, Inc.
95 Dermody St
Cranford, NJ
07016 USA
800-245-2900
908-272-3200

Dougherty & Associates is unusually non-media-friendly for an 'advertising agency'. There is no email address, fax or web site listed. This could of course, simply be a slip of the search engines - but there could also be other explanations.
http://peebs.net/index.html
click on 'news', scroll down to article

---

This is 'middle of the night, look over your shoulder' stuff - Not a 'goes well with the first cup of coffe in the morning' subject. Very weird.

[LizW]

15. Good work!

This is truly creepy! I suspect that someeone is using the Brethren group as a front to funnell money to the Bush re-election effort.

And that quote from the White House? Heh. It the kind of "shadowy activity" they LOVE, not the kind they want to get rid of.

[RogueTrooper]

14. If there are foreign nationals donating...

are they not breaking US electoral law?

[soup]

17. yes?

Sorry, RogueTrooper.

I don't think it's legal. Wasn't there a dust-up last fall over MoveOn accepting contributions outside the U.S.? Memory fails and I'm getting way too scattered here - jumping from who is this 'the' Brethren? to Control Papers Company, Inc and the Christian and Gospel Publishing Corporation to Federal election law is way too much of a stretch for me.

You raise a very good point, though. I hope someone can address your question.

[WritersBlock]

18. Hmmm.

Maybe not FEC laws themselves:

A crucial omission by the drafters of the new campaign-finance law and the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) decision not to regulate 527 and other tax-exempt groups this year may have opened the door for foreign nationals to contribute millions of dollars that could influence the election, experts in campaign-finance law say.

Several prominent election-law lawyers say a loophole may allow foreign citizens to make unlimited donations to 527s and 501(c)4s, both named after the sections of the tax code under which they are organized.

http://www.hillnews.com/news/060104/overseas.aspx

But what about laws to do with the IRS? This is interesting:

What is a 527 Organization?

According to the IRS, a Section 527 (§527) organization is an organization that is created to receive and disburse funds to influence or attempt to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office.

Differences from PACs: On the face of the above definition, a §527 Organization sounds like a PAC. In effect that is what a §527 organization is—a PAC by another name. However, there is one key difference, a §527 organization does not fall within the regulator realm of the Federal Election Commission and therefore it is not subject to the same limits as FEC regulated PACs.

Often called “soft money” PACs or organizations, a §527 organization is permitted to accept contributions in any amount from any source. However, the organization is required to make regular reports to the Internal Revenue Service of its funding and expenditures.

<snip>

Prohibitions on Direct Election Activity: Because contributions to a §527 orgnaization are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission, these organizations may not make any expenditures involving express advocacy for the election or defeat of any candidate for federal elective office.

http://www.gnossos.com/webhelp/What_is_a_527_Organization_.htm

I'm no lawyer, but placing an ad just prior to an election, "thanking" candidates who are running in that election, sure sounds like express advocacy for their election to me!

[KamaAina]

23. But see, you're forgetting (sarcasm)

they gave only to good Republicans.

When the ChiComs give money to the evil DemoncRATS, that is breaking the law, you see. You don't actually think that applies to us, do you? </sarcasm>

[leesa]

16. They sure as hell better not be tax exempt.

Shallow bastards.

[Damien]

20. Here is a little info on them

Just doing a quick search, I noticed this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/brethren/

It's some decent nonbiased looking stuff -- assuming it's the right group.

[soup]

22. Update 01/19/05 - Legality of political gift in doubt

Kudos to Ms. Morgan for sticking with this:

A secretive group's late ads backing President Bush and Sen. Mel Martinez were paid for in part by a foreign donor.

By LUCY MORGAN, Times Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published January 19, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - The secretive religious group that spent more than $500,000 buying ads to support the candidacies of President Bush and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez may have violated federal election law by accepting a foreign contribution.

A spokesman for the Federal Elections Commission says federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing money to buy ads in a federal election within 60 days of the election.

The Thanksgiving 2004 Committee was formed Oct. 25 by a group of men who belong to the Exclusive Brethren, a religious group based in England and Australia. Many of the individual contributions came from people and businesses in the United States, but $377,000 of the more than $600,000 collected by the committee was contributed by a Brethren member in London, who is a British citizen.
>snip<

George Smaragdis, spokesman for the FEC, said any money contributed by a foreign national and used to purchase advertising so close to an election violates a 1966 law designed to limit foreign intervention in U.S. elections.

The FEC could force the committee to return the contribution and impose fines or other penalties if it found a violation occurred. All complaints and enforcement actions taken by the FEC are confidential until they are concluded. Smaragdis would not confirm whether the FEC was investigating the matter.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/19/State/Legality_of_political.shtml

[Justitia]

24. dammit! this pisses me off! We worked so hard for Betty Castor

in FL and we have some FOREIGN FREAK group bankrolling that piece of shit Martinez??? And NOW this comes out??? When it's too late to do anything about it??? Martinez should be impeached and imprisoned. The absolute gutter crawling he did in an effort to destroy Betty Castor was being financed by some shadowy other-world group from outside the US????

I am so pissed and we can do NOTHING to fix this!

:nuke:

[drdtroit]

25. "Members do not make friends in the outside world"

How utterly "Christian" of them. NOT!
I really would like to have more insight into this Jesus who eschewed people who happened to not have the same ideas and goals as him.