Drakes Bay Oyster Company Legal Advice: Follow the money - if you can.

California Political Fair Practices Commission Announces Settlement

ProPublica, October 24

 

A $1 million dollar cashier's check keeps the curtains drawn

hiding donors to extreme political groups behind them.

 

Two dark money groups linked to conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch have paid a record $1 million in fines to California to settle allegations that the combined $15 million [1] they spent on two ballot proposals in the state was not properly disclosed.

 [Note: Ironic to what follows is that one of the Koch Brothers has been fighting a commercial wind farm off the shores of his Nantucket home for over 12 years now. Apparently he believes a commercial operation creating “visual pollution” of his view is not in his best interest, but a commercial operation creating “visual pollution” for those in a wilderness is just fine.]

As noted on this site and others, Drakes Bay Oyster Company has been the recipient of free legal help from a number of organizations with ties to the Koch Brothers, starting with Cause of Action (who was asked to step back when Phyllis Faber realized what their agenda was) and now Pacific Legal Foundation who has filed a brief amicus curiae in support of an en banc hearing. Hidden behind the legal curtain created when the Supreme Court decided corporations were "people" are the sources of millions of dollars flowing into and out of "non-profit" organizations promoting various corporate agendas.

Specific to Drakes Bay Oyster Company is the acceptance of commercial operations within wilderness areas. Claims of DBOC only being a small family run company, providing sustainable seafood to San Francisco sound wonderful. But it masks the reality of this being a commercial operation far greater than a small building selling oysters.

Perhaps now that the California Fair Practices Commission has its time freed up it may begin investigating who donors to Cause of Action and Pacific Legal Foundation are.

California Fair Political Practices Commission Investigates Koch Brothers

Politico has reported that the California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating the Koch Brothers. While not specifically related to Cause of Action's legal support for the Drakes Bay Oyster Company it does shine a brighter light on where the funding for Cause of Action is coming from. [click here for complete article]

Charles and David Koch



In the article, "Koch World reboots", Politico notes:

The California investigation is trying to unmask the original source of a mysterious $11 million donation that was funneled through a key Koch conduit in the weeks before Election Day to a California political committee boosting a 2012 ballot measure to restrict union political activity and opposing a separate ballot proposition to raise taxes.

In the larger picture it describes the Koch brothers having called for an audit after having "spent hundreds of millions to win the White House and the Senate — and came up empty." Demonstrating the severity of concern, most likely from large donors who didn't get what they wanted and whose anonymity is now threatened with exposure, "they’re not waiting for the final report for heads to roll."

Dan Epstein



Specific to Drakes Bay Oyster Company, Cause of Action has refused to disclose who its donors are. Headed by Dan Epstein, a former staffer of the "Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation", COA is leading the legal fight in support of DBOC being allowed to continue its commercial operation in the only wilderness shoreline area on the Pacific West Coast.  [click here for East Bay Express article on the Koch connection] 

It may very well be the Koch Brothers are not supporting Cause of Action who is paying the legal fees incurred in the support of Drakes Bay Oyster Company, begging the question, if they are not, who is? The East Coast Shellfish Growers Association's Vice-President is DBOC owner Kevin Lunny's cousin. The Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association has previously allocated funds to pay for legal fees from their attorney and lobbyist. Shellfish growers who are members of PCSGA certainly have the money, generated from geoduck farming.

Perhaps the California Fair Political Practices Commission should be sure to include the mysterious Cause of Action, Dan Epstein, and its support for Drakes Bay Oyster Company in its investigation.