NOM Investigated By Iowa Ethics Board

HRC Backstory reports that in addition to being investigated for for violating campaign finance laws in Maine, now the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board is looking into NOM's shenanigans too.

Turns out NOM has failed to register as a PAC and disclose contributors. NOM even boasts in their fundraising letters that they offer donors anonymity. Said the Iowa board letter: “The independent expenditure process in Iowa is not a vehicle to shield political contributions.” Read the entire Iowa letter here [pdf] as well as the Maine letter [pdf]. Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher may have felt pretty good after the love fest they got from the Washington Post on Friday, but the fair-minded Americans they’re trying to reach should take note.

In related NOM skulduggery, their 2007 tax return has finally been released after much foot-dragging. In that year, NOM paid an outfit called Common Sense America a whopping $166,000 for "consulting." Aaaaand (TA-DAH!) it turns out that Common Sense America is run by NOM's executive director Brian Brown. How very interesting.