Who's Behind Those Ugly Robocalls from the Republican Party? Freedom's Watch

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Mark Murray
The donors who are financing the new multi-million-dollar TV ad campaign arguing against a withdrawal from Iraq include a Who's Who of former Bush Administration ambassadors (to plum assignments like France, Italy, and Malta); a least one of Bush's original Pioneers; the man ranked by Forbes (in 2006) as the third-richest American; and, of course, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

Brad Blakeman, the president of Freedom's Watch, which is running these ads, released the following names as donors to his group. Blakeman told NBC that the rest of the donors are choosing to be anonymous. Freedom's Watch is a 501(c)4 organization, which can collect unlimited contributions and doesn't have to disclose its donors.

Here they are....

-- Anthony Gioia, former ambassador to Malta. Per a White House press release announcing his appointment as ambassador, "Gioia is presently the Chairman and CEO of Gioia Management Company, a management and investment holding company located in Buffalo, New York."

-- Kevin Moley, whom Bush appointed U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva in September 2001. Per the White House press release announcing his appointment, Moley "was a private investor and served on the Board of Directors of five publicly held companies and three privately held companies. He previously served as a consultant to Kinetra LLC, the successor company to Integrated Medical Systems Inc., which Ambassador Moley served as President and CEO. Ambassador Moley was also Senior Vice President of PCS Health Systems, Inc."

-- Mel Sembler, whom Bush appointed as US ambassador to Italy in 2001. According to a State Department bio, Stembler was "most recently the Chairman of the Board of The Sembler Company, one of the nation's leading shopping center developers. He is nationally recognized as an activist in the anti-drug campaign and as a staunch, long-time supporter of the Republican Party and its candidates."

-- Howard Leach, who was Bush's ambassador to France from 2001-2005 and an original Bush Pioneer. Per the US embassy's Web site, Leach is "an entrepreneur, investor and chief executive. He began his career as founder and president of several agri-business corporations. He has served as president and major shareholder of numerous industrial and financial companies."

-- Dr. John Templeton is chairman and president of the John Templeton Foundation

-- Edward Snider

-- Sheldon Adelson, casino mogul, ranked as the third-richest American (worth $20 billion) according to Forbes in 2006

-- Richard Fox

-- Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary

-- Gary Erlbaum

-- Matt Brooks

FROM WIKIPEDIA

Origins

Freedom's Watch has tight connections to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and the American Enterprise Institute.^[3] The group was conceived at a Florida meeting of the RJC in March 2007 ^[4][5] in part to counter MoveOn.org and help the Bush administration sell its Iraq policy.^[3] It was founded by a dozen conservatives of immense wealth,^[4] most notably Sheldon Adelson, who donated almost all of its initial funding.^[6] Four out of five members of Freedom's Watch original board are Republican Jews, and four of the eight initial donors are Jewish, though board member Matt Brooks said "it would be a mistake to regard the group as having a Jewish direction," and noted that "half of the donors contributing to the group's first $15 million ad campaign are not Jewish."^{[7] [8]}

In 2008, the group became paralyzed by internal problems and plagued by gridlock and infighting, with operatives complaining of Adelson's insistence on parceling out money project by project limiting the group's ability to plan and be nimble.^[6] For example, the group spent weeks working on a package for the presidential election, only for Adelson to decline to fund it.^[6] Some staff members blamed the problems on Freedom's Watch president Bradley Blakeman, who resigned in March 2008.^[6]

Positions

Freedom's Watch believes that President Bush's Iraq War policies should be supported. "More and more Democratic and Republican members agree: The surge in Iraq is working," according to one ad. "Victory is America's only choice."^[9] The group also claims that Iran is a grave threat to the United States and Israel. According to the group's president, "If Hitler's warnings were heeded when he wrote 'Mein Kampf,' he could have been stopped." Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he continues, "is giving all the same kind of warning signs to us, and the region — he wants the destruction of the United States and the destruction of Israel." One ad calls Ahmadenijad "a terrorist."^[4]

Board

• Ari Fleischer,^[7][10] a former Bush press secretary.
• Matthew Brooks,^[7][10] executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).
• Mel Sembler,^[7][10] a longtime RJC leader and former ambassador to Italy who helped finance the 2000 Florida recount battle.
• William Weidner,^[7][10] a Las Vegas casino operator.

The original president was Bradley Blakeman, though he resigned in March 2008 after a series of high-level staff departures. ^[11]

Notable donors

Freedom's Watch's donors include:^[12]

• Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the fifteenth richest American in Forbes magazine's rankings last year, is the top donor.^[6][3]
• Mel Sembler
• John Templeton, Jr, board member of the Templeton Growth Fund and financier of Let Freedom Ring.
• Kevin E. Moley, former U.S. ambassador to international organizations in Geneva, and a senior adviser to Dick Cheney during the 2000 campaign.
• Howard Leach, CEO of Leach Capital and former ambassador to France who also helped fund the Florida recount.
• Anthony Gioia, head of Gioia Management and former ambassador to Malta.
• Richard Fox, co-founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
• Gary Erlbaum, owner of Greentree Properties.
• Ed Snyder, owner of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76'ers