COS scam

The "Convention of States" ConCon is one of the biggest political scams of our time, fueled by dark money laundered through (c)(3) organizations. As they ramp up their push for ConCon legislation in 2018, they will seek to avoid hearings that could expose the dark money behind their scheme.

Each year Mark Meckler files his IRS Form 990 at virtually the latest time possible, at or near the extended deadline of November 15 for the prior year. This concealed for nearly an additional year how his (c)(3) organization paid $108,200 to Michael Farris in 2015 for "PR SERVICES."

"PR SERVICES"??? The lead advocate for Convention of States legislation, Michael Farris, was supposedly in the business of merely providing PR services to an obscure (c)(3) organization??? To the tune of $108,200??? That is an absurd characterization of Farris's work.

Meckler himself raked in $220,200 (and more from a related organization) from that same obscure (c)(3) in 2015. Yet he has been spending his time going around the country demanding that state legislatures enact Convention of States, which is not a legitimate priority for a (c)(3) organization.

Tom Coburn's massive compensation is even more cleverly concealed. He failed to fulfill his obligation to voters to complete his Senate term, and instead quit early to make big bucks from the ConCon scheme. Jim DeMint, who also quit the Senate early, is now being funded through a new (c)(3) front group.

The obscure (c)(3) that funded Meckler and Farris in 2015 was the "John Hancock Committee for the States," which claims on its form that it is doing business as the "Citizens for Self Governance." The Koch network deliberately makes it very difficult to trace their dark money.

Two of the Kochs' biggest issues are amnesty for certain illegal aliens, to get the cheap labor for their companies, and expanding legalized marijuana, which was a libertarian goal back when David Koch ran as the libertarian candidate for vice president. They are working with billionaires on the Left on both issues, and this is what their secret agenda for a constitutional convention to limit federal power means: less border control and fewer limits on illegal drugs. No thanks.

The funding of the Convention of States legislation is deceitful and probably illegal in laundering dark money through (c)(3) organizations to push for state legislation. Let's get Meckler, Coburn, Farris and DeMint answering questions under oath about this at a legislative hearing this year, and watch them skip town instead. Let's demand full committee hearings before any votes are taken in 2018.

Andy Schlafly