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INFUCOSTHE LIBRE INITIATIVE:The Koch Brothers’ New Focus on Winning Latino VotersRWW Libre report mech.indd 12/13/15 10:46 AM
In September 2011, the Center for Public Integrity reported that former Bush administration officialDaniel Garza had launched the Libre Initiative, a new group dedicated to bringing Latino voters backinto the fold of the Republican Party. Garza declined to say where he found the funding for his newgroup, but he did mention that he had approached “representatives of the Koch family.”That seems to have been an understatement. When tax records became available, the Center forResponsive Politics found that by late 2012, Libre had been the beneficiary of 3.8 million from twoKoch front groups. This makes up at least half of the 7.1 million in revenue that Libre brought in inthe 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.But the Kochs’ influence in Libre doesn’t end with funding it. In an investigation earlier this year,ProPublica found that Libre not only receives millions of dollars of funding from the Koch networkbut appears to be controlled by it as well.Using a strategy common to Koch groups, Libre was organized as a trust, with Garza as trustee. Buta group with the enigmatic name of THGI has the power to remove Garza from his post. There islittle public information about THGI, except that it was formed by the same attorney who formed anumber of other Koch-connected groups with mysterious strings of letters for names.Thanks in part to the generous backing of the Kochs, Libre has expanded quickly. According to thegroup’s website, it now has offices in eight states, including in Nevada, where it is positioning itselfto try to woo Latino voters away from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2016. (Latino Decisionsestimated that Reid won 94 percent of the Nevada Latino vote in 2010, helping to cement his victoryin a close reelection race.)In Nevada, Libre originally shared an office with the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperitybut later moved in an apparent effort to distance itself from AFP, which in 2010 honored fiercelyanti-immigrant Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce as its “legislator of the year.”Groups backed by conservative mega-donors David and Charles Koch (left) have provided millions to the Libre Initiative, a Latino outreachgroup run by Republican operative Daniel Garza (right).2RWW Libre report mech.indd 2THE PERSECUTION COMPLEX2/13/15 10:46 AM
Libre promotes a stable of issues dear to the Corporate Right:eliminating many business regulations, opposing a hike in theminimum wage, attacking investment in green energy, opposingthe extension of unemployment benefit and busting unions.Trying to Repair theRepublican Brand With LatinosSo what are the Kochs paying for with Libre?One of the biggest stories coming out of the2012 election was the role that Latino votersplayed in reelecting President Obama. Latinosvoted for Obama over Mitt Romney by a 71-27point margin, cutting back on the large gainsthat George W. Bush had made among Latinos,which began to slip when Sen. John McCain ranagainst Obama in 2008.Polls after the 2012 election showed thatLatinos left the Republican Party en masseboth because they agreed with Democrats onimportant issues and had developed stronglynegative feelings about the GOP after yearsof racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric. The postelection “autopsy report” commissioned by theRepublican National Committee recommendedthat Republicans “carefully craft” a moreinclusive “tone” when speaking about Latinosand even recommended that the party backcomprehensive immigration reform. (Neitherrecommendation seems to have caught on.)Libre was perfectly positioned to be whatthe Associated Press called a “shadow GOP,”helping to carry this supposedly kinder andgentler Republican message to Latino voterswhile continuing to push the GOP’s economicpolicies — many of which disproportionatelyhurt Latinos.The group bills itself as a “non-partisan,non-profit grassroots organization” that is“dedicated to informing the U.S. ly limited government, propertyrights, rule of law, sound money supply andfree enterprise through a variety of communityevents, research and policy initiatives thatprotect our economic freedom.”In practice, that means that Libre promotes astable of issues dear to the Corporate Right:eliminating many business regulations, opposinga hike in the minimum wage, attacking investmentin green energy, opposing the extension ofunemployment benefits and busting unions.The group has spent much of its energy andfunding pushing one central Republican strategy:attacking the Affordable Care Act and trying touse the issue to bring down Democratic electedofficials. In January 2014, Libre reported that ithad spent 700,000 running anti-Obamacareads against two vulnerable Latino Democraticcongressmen in Florida and Texas. In April2014, it rolled out an additional 700,000 inads attacking two Arizona Democrats for theirAffordable Care Act support.Meanwhile, Hispanics make up a disproportionatenumber of the uninsured in the United States.In September 2014, Libre launched a bilingualonline ad campaign attacking Democraticsenators Kay Hagan in North Carolina andWWW.PFAW.ORGRWW Libre report mech.indd 332/13/15 10:46 AM
Mark Udall in Colorado as well as vulnerable U.S.House members in Florida, Texas and Arizona.The officially “nonpartisan” ads featuredLatino voters from several states remarking onthe “disaster” of the economy, then show anunflattering photograph of the elected officialin question with the message: “Vote againstwasteful spending in the continuing resolution.”In one North Carolina ad, a woman standing ina kitchen said, “Kay Hagan’s votes have hurt ourfamilies. Tell her to stop working against us.”Libre launched a website with each of the adsmentioning the officials’ votes for the AffordableCare Act.family bonding. Later in the year, Campos-Duffymade an appearance at a women’s ReligiousRight event in Florida alongside activists likeStar Parker, Anita Staver and Jan Morgan.In June 2014, the group acted as a GOP attackdog when it went after Florida Rep. Joe Garciafor sardonically remarking that “communismworks.” Although it was clear from the contextof the remark that Garcia meant the absoluteopposite, conservatives desperately tried to useit against him.We’re trying to teach the Hispanic communityon what are the principles of economicfreedom and free enterprise. Especially inthe church: The Hispanic pastor will teachhis congregants on the prosperity of God,but won’t necessarily teach them on how tomanage, maintain, uphold that prosperity.So, we come in and inform them and teachthem on those principles of economicfreedom and free enterprise from not only aconstitutional perspective, but also a biblicalperspective.Libre is also making an effort to reach out tothe Religious Right to encourage the movementto appeal more to Latino voters. Librespokeswoman Rachel Campos-Duffy spokeat a prayer breakfast hosted by Ralph Reed’sFaith and Freedom Coalition in 2013, where shecriticized school breakfast programs for lowincome students, saying that they infringed on4RWW Libre report mech.indd 4Libre has also hired former National Associationof Evangelicals official John Méndez to directits outreach to the pastors and faith groups. Inan interview with the Pacific Justice Institutelast year, Méndez said that he was working topush conservative economics to Latino pastors,stressing the frequent Religious Right claimthat such principles are found in both theConstitution and the Bible:Many of Libre’s top staff members have originsin the establishment GOP. Garza worked forthe Bush White House, as did Libre’s nationalTHE PERSECUTION COMPLEX2/13/15 10:46 AM
strategic director, Jose Mallea; the group’scommunications director, Brian Faughnan, hasheld a series of positions with Republicans onCapitol Hill; and its national spokeswoman,Rachel Campos-Duffy, is a conservative punditwho is married to Republican Rep. Sean Duffy(both were cast members on “The Real World”and met while filming the 1998 season of “RoadRules: All Stars”).Libre also occasionally allies with sittingRepublican elected officials, including hosting aRepublican gubernatorial debate in Arizona anda prayer breakfast in Texas attended by Gov.Rick Perry.Although a good portion of its budget goes toads hammering Democrats, Libre has attemptedto make its public face one of community serviceand outreach. The Associated Press reported ona 2014 event at which Libre distributed Easterbaskets at a San Antonio school — packed insidewere candy and a bilingual pamphlet about thenational debt. The group has also held eventshanding out school supplies to children, hasoffered free health clinics and English classes,and has set up shop at Latino community eventsthroughout the country.These activities have provoked some skepticism.After Sen. Reid pointed out Libre’s funding andgoals, one Nevada activist told Politico, “A lotof us were already asking questions, becausewe’re all out there in the community, and whena new group shows up and has a lot of moneyand passes out triple-color T-shirts and throws agrand opening, people start questioning wherethat money came from.”“Supporting”Immigration ReformOne issue on which Libre varies from the GOPparty line is immigration.On its website, Libre backs immigration reformbut stops just short of endorsing a path tocitizenship for those living in the countrywithout documentation. Instead, it backs a moreambiguous “legal path” for some undocumentedimmigrants, including for DREAMers (Americanswho were brought to the country withoutdocumentation as children).In April 2013, Garza endorsed the Senate “Gangof Eight” proposal for immigration reform,which included a path to citizenship. But justthe previous month, speaking on a panel atthe Conservative Political Action Conference,Garza said that “getting citizenship may notbe politically viable, and I think we need to bepolitically astute about this.”Libre’s national spokeswoman Rachel Campos-Duffy has said that,when it comes to Latinos, Republican have a “tonal problem.”WWW.PFAW.ORGRWW Libre report mech.indd 552/13/15 10:46 AM
Notably, every Democratic lawmaker whomLibre launched an ad against in September 2014voted for or expressed support for the Gang ofEight bill. But the candidates whom the ads weremeant to help have not all been so supportive.Some of Libre’s ads attacked Sen. Kay Hagan ofNorth Carolina, who voted for the Gang of Eightbill; her Republican opponent, Thom Tillis, saidhe would have voted against it. Likewise, Libreran ads against Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego ofTexas, a supporter of comprehensive immigrationreform whose opponent had indicated that hewould oppose reform. Another candidate helpedby Libre’s ads, Andy Tobin of Arizona, not onlyopposed comprehensive reform, but he alsovoted for Arizona’s draconian anti-immigrant billS.B. 1070 and hyped unfounded fears that CentralAmerican children fleeing to the southern bordercould be carrying Ebola.Libre has tried to play both sides of the debate bygiving political cover to anti-reform Republicans,but not going so far as to alienate Latino voters,Libre has tried to play both sides offull-blown crisis this past summer, Garza echoedthe unsubstantiated right-wing talking point thatthe DACA order was responsible. Then, whenthe House GOP voted to roll back DACA, Garzaaccused “both sides” of “playing politics” and saidthat while he disagreed with the DACA order, itcouldn’t “be undone without affecting hundredsof thousands of lives.”In May 2014, Libre issued a press release toutingHouse Speaker John Boehner’s vague remarksabout his desire to take up immigration reform,although Boehner had prevented the Gang ofEight bill from getting a vote in the House. Librealso echoed the House GOP’s line that Republicanswon’t take on immigration reform because thepresident has “made it difficult to build trustbetween Congress and the White House.”At the same time, Garza has been trying to sellthe issue of immigration reform to Tea PartyRepublicans. In a speech to an Arizona Tea Partygroup captured by Yahoo News, Garza made thecase for reform but alsotold the audience that theycould start with changingtheir “tone” in talking aboutimmigration.thedebate by giving political cover to antireform Republicans, but not going so far asto alienate Latino voters, a large percentageof whom support immigration reform.a large percentage of whom support immigrationreform. This means that while Libre says itsupports a path to legal status for DREAMers, ithas criticized President Obama’s Deferred Actionfor Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program grantingdeportation relief to DREAMers in the face ofcongressional inaction.When thousands of Central American childrenfleeing to the U.S. southern border became a6RWW Libre report mech.indd 6“I respectfully submit thatwe can make real progressadvancing our shared valuesin this community, but we haveto be sure that we can talkabout an emotional subjectlikeimmigrationwithoutturning back prospectivesupport,” he said.Campos-Duffy has madethe same appeal in her speeches to conservativegroups, telling a Minnesota audience in October2013 that when it comes to Latinos, Republicanshave a “tonal problem,” especially in how they talkabout immigration. “Some of the harsher voiceswithin this party have been able to sort of hijack[the immigration debate], in a way, and I thinkpresent a face that doesn’t really I think reflect theway so many of us feel about immigrants, aboutHispanics,” she said.THE PERSECUTION COMPLEX2/13/15 10:46 AM
The Koch brothers don’t seem particularlyconcerned with immigration reform, asevidenced by the many anti-immigrant GOPcandidates who benefit from the outsidespending of the Kochs’ wide network of groups.For instance, the Koch-backed Americansfor Prosperity alone spent nearly 35 millionopposing President Obama’s reelection bidagainst Mitt Romney, who promised to veto theDREAM Act and embraced the extreme antiimmigrant doctrine of “self-deportation.”Libre has attempted to build connections between GOP candidates and Latinovoters. In 2013, Florida Governor Rick Scott appeared at a Libre prayer breakfastin Orlando alongside Libre Executive Director Daniel Garza.But even in denouncing the GOP’s inflammatoryanti-immigrant rhetoric, Garza has walked anarrow line. Garza has bemoaned the GOP’stendency toward anti-immigrant rhetoric andflat-out condemned Rep. Don Young’s use of ananti-Latino in March 2013, calling it “distasteful”and “insulting.”Libre’s efforts reflect the Republican Party’splan to increase its outreach to Latinos withoutalienating its members who oppose immigrationreform or have a penchant for making offensiveanti-immigrant or anti-Latino remarks. Theparty has been hiring Latino outreach staffers,even as its national platform defends notoriousanti-immigrant bills in states like Alabama andArizona.Libre, like the GOP, may find that nods towardimmigration reform on top of a platform thatalienates working Americans will fool nobody.At the same time, he has bristledat Democratic characterizationsof Republicans as too antiimmigrant. “This notion fromthe liberal side, or this picturethatthey’vepaintedthatconservatives do not care aboutminorities is defamation of theworst kind. It’s almost evil,” hesaid at the CPAC panel.Libre has collaborated with thefar-right Media Research CentertoaccuseSpanish-languagemedia of having a liberal bias.Libre’s support for immigrationreform, or something resemblingimmigration reform, seems to beless a mandate from its fundersthan a political necessity.The Libre Inititiative holds up government regulation as the single most powerful force blockingthe Latino community’s advancement.WWW.PFAW.ORGRWW Libre report mech.indd 772/13/15 10:46 AM
In an effort to bring Latino voters into the conservative fold,the Koch brothers have built the Libre Initiative.The organization, designed to spread “free market principles”within the Latino community, has offices in states across thecountry and has spent lavishly to attack Democrats and push afar-right economic agenda.People For the American Way is dedicated to making the promise of Americareal for every American: Equality. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion.The right to seek justice in a court of law. The right to cast a vote that counts.The American Way.1101 15th Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005 202-467-4999 or 800-326-7329 www.pfaw.org Copyright 2015 People For the American Way. All rights reserved.RWW Libre report mech.indd 82/13/15 10:46 AM
Koch front groups. This makes up at least half of the 7.1 million in revenue that Libre brought in in the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years. But the Kochs’ influence in Libre doesn’t end with funding it. In an investigation earlier this year, ProPublica found that Libre not only receives millions of
