Bridgegate FOIA Released

American Bridge today is releasing the full results from a Bridgegate FOIA for the schedules of Bill Baroni, former Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. The 1,000+ pages of documents returned by the Port Authority include Baroni's schedules - including meetings with senior advisors to Governor Christie, and expense account records and tickets related to Baroni's travel from last year. The full FOIA results are available here: https://ab21.wpengine.com/app/uploads/Baroni-FOIA.pdf

Playing politics, getting burned

As the latest step in his efforts to politicize the embassy attack in Benghazi, Lindsay Graham this morning called for a Senate select committee on the matter. But what's the real story here? Graham was recently revealed to have participated in the flawed and discredited 60 Minutes report, including relaying information from his conversation with a former FBI official as the story began to unravel. Graham touted the story on both television and social media and used it as an impetus to drive his own partisan agenda to block federal appointments and nominations and create this partisan select committee. When will Lindsey Graham come forward and provide a full, public accounting of his participation in this flawed report?

New TV Ad, War Room to Fight Back Against the Koch Agenda

Meet the real Koch brothers, secretive billionaires willing to spend millions to drive their self-serving agenda at the expense of working families. That's the message in American Bridge's new TV ad "If they win" being released today (our first of the cycle!). The ad, released by the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation with a national cable buy, is part of a new war room Bridge is launching today to fight back against the promise by the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity to spend $125 million to buy this year's mid-term elections. The Real Koch Facts project includes dedicated staff who will focus on a daily communications, research and rapid response effort to tell voters just how dangerous the Kochs' self-serving agenda is for working families.

See Rick Scott Run

Rick Scott is running for reelection, but he's better at running from questions. Time and time again reporters have asked Scott where he stands on key issues, only to have Scott duck and run. Maybe that's because he knows his positions are detrimental to middle-class families in the Sunshine State. His failure to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has left over 700,000 Floridians without health care. Just thinking about raising the minimum wage so working families can make ends meet causes him to "cringe." For Rick Scott, maybe running is better than telling the truth.

Marco Rubio, Climate Scientist

Sen. Marco Rubio made headlines this weekend with an eyebrow-raising rebuke of science. Here's what the 2016 presidential hopeful told ABC's Jonathan Karl:

"I don't agree with the notion that some are putting out there, including scientists, that somehow there are actions we can take today that would actually have an impact on what's happening in our climate. Our climate is always changing. And what they have chosen to do is take a handful of decades of research and say that this is now evidence of a longer-term trend that's directly and almost solely attributable to manmade activity, I do not agree with that."

It's unclear when Sen. Rubio became a connoisseur of climate science with the authority to chide the 97% of climate scientists who agree that humans are contributing to climate change. Perhaps it has something to do with his courting of the far right and their deep-pocketed, Koch-funded outside groups like Americans for Prosperity, which promises to spend $125 million this year to buoy candidates that embrace their extreme agenda. AFP's president, Tim Phillips, hasn't parsed words in bragging about their role in pushing Republican candidates to deny climate science:

"We’ve made great headway. What it means for candidates on the Republican side is, if you … buy into green energy or you play footsie on this issue, you do so at your political peril. The vast majority of people who are involved in the [Republican] nominating process—the conventions and the primaries—are suspect of the science. And that’s our influence. Groups like Americans for Prosperity have done it."

So there you have it. Marco Rubio was born and raised in Miami, a city that is severely threatened by rising sea levels associated with climate change. He has an opportunity as a Senator to take action on climate change, stand up for his constituents, and help protect his home state. But he'd rather protect his political aspirations, spewing the mythical rhetoric that the Koch brothers and their allies have made mainstream in today's GOP. At least we know where his priorities lie.

Newsweek: Political First Responders

Newsweek is out today with a must read profile of American Bridge, describing Bridge's beginnings and featuring some of our best successes from our first two cycles thus far. In 2012, American Bridge was quick to point out Mitt Romney's missteps and hypocrisy:

When GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said illegal immigrants come to the U.S. for a “free deal,” Bridge recorded the comment and gave it to super PACs and unions, which used it in Spanish-language ads across the country.When Romney said “I get speaker’s fees from time to time, but not very much,” Bridge quickly circulated a video showing “not very much” was actually $374,327.62, sparking a media firestorm.

This cycle, American Bridge is holding House, Senate and Gubernatorial candidates accountable for their words and actions.

Christie Slaps NJ Taxpayers with $1.1M Self-Exoneration Bill

Figures released yesterday confirm it: New Jersey taxpayers are footing a nearly $1.1 million bill for Chris Christie's Bridgegate self-exoneration. What did they get for this hefty sum, which could have been put to better use funding any number of actual policy priorities? A whitewashed, discredited report that takes at face value Christie's denials of knowing about the scandal. While Christie is fundraising out of state today, perhaps he should look at raising some money to pay back New Jerseyans forced to pay to clean up his image after his administration's wrongdoing.

MEMO: Thom Tillis? Bring it On

North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis, foe of working families and wannabe Tea Party hero, managed to drag his feet across the finish line in today's Republican primary thanks to $2.5 million in support from establishment GOP groups like Crossroads. Now that Tillis has sufficiently touted his extreme conservative positions and record to advance from this far right primary, he is well on his way to defeat in November. Don't take my word for it - take a look at Tillis's abysmal track record in the state house and his extreme rhetoric on the campaign trail. In the state legislature, Tillis has cut education funding by nearly $500 million, bragged about rejecting federal funds for Medicaid expansion, raised taxes on 80% of North Carolinians, made it harder for North Carolinians to exercise their right to vote, and slashed funding for women's health clinics. As he scurried to the right in this bruising primary, Tillis's extreme rhetoric has been on full display. Tillis has said he would consider eliminating the minimum wage, recently claimed that climate change is not a proven fact, has said he thinks states should have the right to ban birth control, supports personhood, and joined national Tea Party leaders in supporting last fall's government shutdown. Couple Tillis's extreme views with his well documented ethical lapses and history of pay-to-play and you have a recipe for his defeat in the Tar Heel state.

Scott Walker's Other Message to Teachers

Scott Walker was quick to use National Thank a Teacher Day today as an excuse for some election year pandering to educators. But Walker's other messages to Wisconsin teachers have been far from affectionate. Did Wisconsin teachers feel appreciated when Scott Walker signed into effect the largest education cuts in the state's history? What about when Walker limited their collective bargaining rights and forced them to pay more for their retirement and health care? Walker has even been called out for demonizing teachers.

Rick Scott "Cringes" Just Thinking About Raising the Minimum Wage

Senate Republicans blocked a vote to raise the minimum wage yesterday, and locally in Florida the state legislature hasn't done much better this session. Could Rick Scott's comment that talk of raising the minimum wage makes him "cringe" have anything to do with the legislature's failure to even vote on two minimum wage bills this session?