Additional Forged Letters to Congress Uncovered

Missives Purported to Come From Local Groups Opposed to Climate Bill

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A total of 12 forged letters -- all appearing to come from local groups unhappy with a climate-change bill -- were sent to three congressional offices this summer by a Washington lobbying firm, according to the pro-coal group the firm was working for.

That is six more fraudulent letters than were previously known to have been sent by the firm, Bonner and Associates. The newly revealed letters were sent to Rep. Chris Carney (D-Penn.) and Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Penn.), according to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a trade group on whose behalf Bonner and Associates was working.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) said his office had received six fake letters, purporting to be from a Latino social-services group and NAACP members in his district.

Bonner and Associates bills itself as one of Washington's premier firms for grass-roots lobbying, which often involves eliciting phone calls, letters or e-mails from constituents or groups in a particular congressional district.

(More here.)