Guest post by Kristinn Taylor
Photo by Kevin Matthews via Twitter
David Brock, chairman of the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt group Media Matters for America and self-described “Democratic political activist”, headlined a Democratic Party of Oregon fundraiser in Portland on Friday.
The announcement by the Democratic Party of Oregon makes no mention that Brock was speaking in his personal capacity. It reads:
“Join Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Jeff Merkley, former Governor Barbara Roberts, and our special Keynote Speaker—David Brock, founder of Media Matters—for the 2014 Wayne Morse Gala at the Portland Hilton.
http://mediamatters.org/
“Friday, April 25th, 2014
“6:00 pm Cocktail Hour / 7:00 pm Gala Dinner
“David and Media Matters have been on the front lines since 2004, pushing back hard against the lies and distortions of the right-wing media machine and standing up for the truth every day.
“Recently, it was David Brock and Media Matters who took the lead to expose the phony Benghazi reporting and smear campaign against Secretary Hillary Clinton and the State Department, and forced CBS and 60 Minutes to retract the piece at the foundation of it. Watch David in action on CNN.”
The Statesman Journal reported the fundraiser was sold out with over 500 people paying $135 per person.
There are no reports on Brock’s speech except for a few photos and comments posted to Twitter.
In this quote reported by attendee Kevin Matthews, Brock is obviously promoting Media Matters to the Democratic donors:
"Our goal is to strengthen our #democracy by creating consequences for not telling the #truth." @DavidBrockDC at @ORDems tonight
— Kevin Matthews (@Kevin_Matthews_) April 26, 2014
Brock’s remarks at the fundraiser inspired one woman’s support of Media Matters:
#Listening to David Brock speaking at the 5th Wayne Morse Gala and getting inspired to strengthen democracy – Media Matters matters
— Helen Ying (@HelenLYing) April 26, 2014
Brock is scheduled to appear on CNN’s Reliable Sources on Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT. He is set to rebut speculation by former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson that Media Matters was paid by donors to attack her once she started reporting unfavorably on the Obama administration.
Will host Brian Stelter ask Brock about Attkisson’s other claim, that Media Matters helped produce news reports with her at CBS News? Will Stelter ask Brock about Brock and Media Matters violating the group’s 501(c)(3) status by engaging in electioneering on behalf of the Democratic Party? Probably not, but we’ll tune in to find out.
