Thread by @C_Heldenstein

@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones, @RepAOC & @chelliepingree nails it.

@DeSmogBlog World’s #1 Source for Accurate, FACT-based Information regarding Global Warming Misinformation Campaigns nails it too.

David Clement: DeSmog has this to say about your Dark$$$$Money @ConsumerChoiceC & SFL:

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC According to the CCC's listed mission: “Learning from the successes of its parent organization, Students For Liberty, the CCC will bring the struggle for consumer freedom to the next level.” CCC's parent organization, Students For Liberty, has received more than $100,000

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC from the Charles Koch Foundation, the Atlas Network, and other right-wing funders.

One investigation by the Brussels think tank Corporate Europe Observatory suggested the CCC was working as a lobby group for a network pushing deregulation. As opposed to representing

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC consumers as it claims, the investigation claimed CCC and another group “represent their funders’ rather than consumer interests.”

DeSmog UK reported the group had likely ties to a range of organisations and individuals known for their efforts to combat environmental

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC regulations, including the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Charles Koch. IEA has been closely tied to a network of organizations that have both pushed for Brexit and have dismissed the threat of man-made climate change.

A spokesperson for the IEA told DeSmog UK

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC that it “has no formal relationship with the CCC.” He added that “Both organisations work on similar areas and staff have spoken at each other’s events, but there is no official affiliation.”

Stance on Climate Change
While the CCC does not have an official statement on

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC climate change, it has worked with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a group that has stated “Free-market structures and the wealth generated by markets” as methods to “best adapt to climate change.”

Lobbying
The CCC has four full time lobbyists and spent up to

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC €199,999 on lobbying between May 2015 and April 2016, according to lobbyfacts.eu.

Funding
While the CCC has described itself as “pretty much bootstrapped” according to director Federik Roeder, nonprofit filing records indicate the group started with a total

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC budget of €3,652,198.

Students for Liberty Funding
Below is the funding listed by Conservative Transparency, combined with data from public 990 forms, for the CCC's parent organization, Students for Liberty:

Donor Total
Donors Capital Fund $895,099

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC John Templeton Foundation $759,774
Atlas Economic Research Foundation $416,905
DonorsTrust $382,600
Claws Foundation $170,000
The Rodney Fund $131,032
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation $105,328
Lowndes Foundation $95,000

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking $63,000
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation $44,000
Searle Freedom Trust $30,000
Institute for Humane Studies $20,000
Ed Uihlein Family Foundation $15,000
Center for Independent Thought $5,000

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation $5,000
Lovett and Ruth Peters Foundation $5,000
Foundation for Economic Education $1,300
Grand Total $3,144,038

Key People
As noted by Corporate Europe Observatory, “it can be quite hard to identify where SFL ends and CCC

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC begins.” Not only do the two groups share the same registered address, but nearly all of the CCC's staff are either alumni of SFL or currently working there.

The following “Staff & Fellows” were listed on the CCC website in 2017:

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC Name Description
@FredCyrusRoeder Managing Director
@YaelOss Deputy Director
@LucaBertoletti European Affairs Manager
@AdamCleave Senior Advisor
@ClementLiberty North American Affairs Manager
@wirtzbill Policy Analyst
(@RyanKhurana Research Fellow

and

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana Brad Lake - Intern

Actions
April 29, 2017 According to Corporate Europe Observatory, the CCC's launch event took place in a hotel near the European Parliament, and included presentations from two CCC speakers plus a representative from the Institute of Economic Affairs

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana (IEA) as well as right-leaning European People's Party MEP Stefano Maullu.

“The launch was a peculiar affair for a grassroots event, attended almost exclusively by men in suits and sporting a vase for business cards at the door,” the Corporate Europe Observatory noted.

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana CCC reported it had worked with another think tank, Forest EU, as well as the libertarian think tank EPICENTER and its members, which include the Institute of Economic Affairs. Forest EU is a pro-smoking lobby group that stands for “Freedom Organisation for the Right

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco in the European Union.” The Corporate Europe Observatory reported that Forest EU’s director Guillaume Périgois said he was glad to support the CCC, since he saw tobacco regulation as the blueprint for other sectors.

During the CCC's launch

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana event, Christopher Snowden, head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, presented an EPICENTER report promoting the “Nanny State Index” in Brussels. The report also mentions collaboration with Students for Liberty.

When asked at the event

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana about the group's three-million-euro budget, Roeder responded that the initial seed funding came from the group's parent organization, Students for Liberty (SFL).

desmogblog.com/consumer-choic…

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@ClementLiberty @sfliberty @nickgillespie @robbysoave @GloriaAlvarez85 @beinlibertarian @MotherJones @RepAOC @chelliepingree @DeSmogBlog @ConsumerChoiceC @FredCyrusRoeder @YaelOss @LucaBertoletti @AdamCleave @wirtzbill @RyanKhurana Unroll @threadreaderapp