'Koch Brothers Exposed' Screening Set for David Koch's Apartment
By Hannah Hess for Roll Call.
When clips from “Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition” were aired in the Capitol Visitor Center, Republicans cried foul and Democrats lashed back.
Now, two days after a heated Senate hearing focused on political spending, activists in New York plan to take the film about the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch straight to David Koch’s door.
Liberal organizers, including members of MoveOn.org and Common Cause, will hold a protest on Thursday night outside Koch’s Park Avenue apartment. As part of what they’ve deemed a block party, the activists plan to project clips from the film onto the sides of neighborhood buildings, along with images of 2014 candidates who they say have taken money from the Koch brothers.
Among the candidates to be featured are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Reps. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., all of whom are running for Senate this year, and former Sen. Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., who is running for the Senate in New Hampshire.
Victoria Kaplan, lead campaign director for MoveOn.org Political Action, alleged that the $125 million the Koch brothers reportedly plan to spend this election cycle is helping to flood the airwaves with “misleading attack ads in states with key Senate races.”
“When Americans learn about how David and Charles Koch are spending their wealth to try to buy our democracy and advance their own selfish agenda, they raise their voices to fight back,” Kaplan said in a release.
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald says his documentary is a tool to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which largely deregulated independent campaign spending.
“The film investigates the influence the Koch brothers and their political agenda have on the democratic process and how their sway is dangerous to communities across the nation,” Greenwald continued. “We must end this influx of money into our political system.”
The protest begins at 6 p.m. and organizers say more than 100 people are expected. A Facebook invitation to the event, which features an image of the apartment building with David Koch’s apartment outlined in red, has more than 500 RSVPs.
Thursday night’s event comes two days after a Senate hearing on a constitutional amendment proposed by Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., that would give Congress the power to restrict political money and reverse Supreme Court decisions.
In response, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced two bills to protect individuals’ First Amendment rights in the face of Democrats’ efforts to regulate political spending.