The politically active conglomerate private company Koch industries are back to their old tricks once again, as new documents revealed that Koch had a seat on the controversial “Public Safety and Elections Task Force” of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as of at least 2011.
STORY: They’re Done! ALEC Dismantles Task Force On Stand Your Ground Law
According to PR watch:
ALEC announced it was dropping that task force in the wake of the controversy over the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin and so-called “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) laws. However, the co-leader of that task force, Rep. Jerry Madden (R-TX), revealed ALEC’s announcement to be a PR maneuver when he reassured The Christian Post that his task force’s work would continue through other ALEC task forces.
Koch Industries has vigorously defended ALEC, and has assailed reporting that noted that the company, led by billionaire brothers Charles and David, is a long-time funder and leader of ALEC and that ALEC has long advanced the NRA agenda through “model” gun bills, including Florida’s controversial SYG law that was ratified by ALEC in 2005.
It turns out that Koch was a member of that ALEC task force in recent years, and that it was on the task force when the NRA was the private sector co-chair. Moreover, Koch Industries had not one but two employees who were listed as “members” present for ALEC’s “Public Safety and Elections” Task Force at the last annual task force summit.
According to Koch, they say it had no involvement in the SYG law passed in Florida and then ratified by the ALEC criminal justice task force in 2005, even though the company was the leader of ALEC in 2005.
The various task forces Koch has served on over the past nearly two decades is not known, but now it has come to light that in at least 2010 and 2011, Koch was a member of ALEC’s crime task force.
SOURCE: PR Watch
