Friend, I want to alert you that Common Cause has been targeted by a sinister, dark-money sting operation -- and you should be among the first to know.
Frankly, this attack doesn’t surprise me a bit. Given Common Cause’s lead role in the battle to protect the vote, vote-suppressors were bound to come after us sooner or later.
This bombshell was revealed just moments ago by a team of investigative reporters who have now exposed the team of far-right political saboteurs who’ve attacked us. [1]
In brief, here’s what occurred. In late July, a shadowy political operative, using a fake name, approached us and our allies with an offer to give us money in order to infiltrate us and cast doubt on the integrity of our elections. We immediately alerted law enforcement. [2]
Nobody has publicly claimed credit yet, or been identified by law enforcement. However, this attack matches previous schemes that use deceptively edited footage to go after groups like Planned Parenthood and ACORN. [3]
So right now, we are preparing for what these dirty tricksters will probably release as a doctored, misleading tape -- the typical endgame of an attack like this.
Make no mistake. These operatives deliberately targeted Common Cause because we are effective, and because of our reputation for integrity and nonpartisanship.
I want to be perfectly clear: no one associated with Common Cause has done anything wrong. The Wake County District Attorney is actively investigating the fake “donor” and his illegal actions, not Common Cause.
But we must fight back -- fast and hard. There’s no question that the enemies of democracy want to suppress Americans’ votes, plain and simple. And, the stealthy special interests that bankroll them would love nothing more than to discredit Common Cause -- and prevent us from helping millions of voters be heard this year.
Friend, there’s no way we’re going to let that happen. And I know you’re not either. This is an attack on each of us, down to every last Common Cause member, and every American who believes that our right to vote matters.
Let me be blunt. These people will do or say anything to get what they want. They’ve spent years smearing groups like Common Cause, who work tirelessly to protect every voter’s right to be heard -- whether they’re a Republican, Democrat, or Independent.
But this time, we’ve caught them in the act red-handed -- and exposed their scheme before they could set it into motion. We can certainly expect them to retaliate -- but our work in the next 50 days is far too important to let them distract us.
We STILL must mobilize thousands of nonpartisan Election Protection volunteers, who will help millions of voters during early voting and on Election Day. We STILL must help local election officials prepare for a major uptick in mail-in voting. And we STILL must stand vigilant to stop coordinated disinformation attacks -- like the one we’ve just exposed -- that seek to interfere with our free and fair elections.
And Friend, for the sake of our democracy, we must keep focused solely on our mission. This is a major test of Common Cause -- our staff, our volunteers, and our members -- and of all of our commitment to the values I know you believe in as much as I do.
To make sure Common Cause has the resources to persist -- no matter what attack we come under -- I urge you to respond with an Emergency Donation to ensure we protect every voter in 2020.
If you have any questions or concerns about what’s happened, please don’t hesitate to reach out. And thank you for your continued trust in and support of Common Cause.
Thanks for all you do,
Karen Hobert Flynn, President
and the team at Common Cause
[1] http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2020/09/18/pw-special-report-trump-linked-effort-to-infiltrate-progressive-nc-groups-prompts-investigation/
[2] https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article245821470.html
[3] https://www.projectveritas.exposed/
