#DNCLeaks: NYC Gay Power Couple Hosts Fundraiser for NC’s Roy Cooper

Posted on July 26, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

As previously reported by this site, North Carolina’s Attorney General and Gubernatorial candidate, Roy Cooper, was mentioned in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails leaked by WikiLeaks.

In the previously reported emails, several DNC officials, who also provide event coordination via various companies for Democrat events, helped facilitate a meeting between Goldman Sachs employees and a top Obama Super PAC contributor.

Roy Cooper’s name appears a second time in the leaked DNC emails.  This time it is a fundraiser event hosted by a gay power couple in New York City.

Text of one of the emails for the fundraising event is as follows:

On Mon, May 2, 2016 at 5:21 PM, Zachary Allen <zallen@tipahconsulting.com> wrote:

Richard – It was so great speaking today, thank you for making the time after what sounds like an absolutely incredible journey!

Per our conversation, wanted to follow up on two counts.

The event for NC AG Roy Cooper at James & Stephen’s is June 13th, and the details are attached and below. If you have any questions on that, please don’t hesitate to ask! We’d love your help spreading the word – this is an important race getting some national attention. If you’d like to join as a co-host, just let me know!

Reception for North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper June 13th | 6:00p.m. At the home of Stephen Henderson & James LaForce 142 West 26th Street, Apt 9 New York, NY

RSVP: http://www.actblue.com/contribute/page/nyc613&lt;http://www.actblue.com/contribute/page/nyc613&gt;

Secondly, wanted to make sure you had the convention packages we discussed – you’ll find that information attached as well. With your contribution in 2015 of $33,400, you are halfway to qualifying for the Main Line package. If you’re interested in making a contribution this year, one can be made online at https://my.democrats.org/tristate2016. As I mentioned on the phone, while they are not 100% related, we do try and invite all of our maxout supporters to the holiday parties.

Either way, I very much look forward to seeing you at James & Stephen’s, if not before! If you have any questions, call or email anytime!

My best, Zach —

Zachary Allen TIPAH Consulting 304 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor New York, NY 10010 (646) 470-8689<tel:%28646%29%20470-8689> direct | (973) 618-5903<tel:%28973%29%20618-5903> fax | ZAllen@TIPAHConsulting.com

Read the full email via WikiLeaks.

The couple mentioned in the email are Stephen Henderson and James LaForce.

Henderson is a ‘free lance journalist’ who, according to a bio at HousingWorks.org,  writes about “design, travel, food, science and religion”.

LaForce is a “PR specialist” who launched his own PR firm earlier this year.   For more information, view LaForce’s LinkedIn profile.

Various outlets have done articles on the couple from the NY Times writing about the renovation of their Chelsea loft to Yale University’s Divinity school noting a large contribution of $50,000 for “LGBTQ scholarships”.

The pair has also donated to numerous LGBT groups and funded multiple public LGBT projects such as the New York Public Library’s ‘LGBT at NYPL‘.

In 2012, the couple was cited by Politico for hosting one of four fundraisers in New York City for President Obama’s re-election.  The combination of the fundraisers yielded between $4 and $5 million dollars in donations.

According to the Cooper campaign second quarter fundraising report, Stephen Henderson donated $2,000 to Cooper’s campaign on June 14th, 2016.

Cooper’s second quarter financials reveal a large number of donations (around 217) on or around the same date. Over $8,800 in donations were recorded on June 13th with donors residing in New York.

The fundraising link for the event at ACT BLUE is still active:

061316 ActBlue — June 13 New York Reception for Roy Cooper

The email exchange containing the fundraiser details was between Zach Allen and Richard Christiansen of Chandelier Creative.

Cooper’s second quarter fundraising report shows that Allen gave Cooper a $5 dollar donation. Christiansen is not found in the campaign records.

As previously reported, Zachary Allen runs a company called TIPAH consulting, an event coordinating company formed in 2013.  TIPAH shares the same address as MMW, run by Michael Kempner.

Kempner is apparently the current Deputy Finance Director for the DNC. Zach Allen is the New York & Tri-State finance director for the DNC. Both Kempner and Allen report to Jordan Kaplan, National DNC Finance Director.

According to Politico, Zach Allen became engaged to Josh Barro in 2015, citing having met at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in 2013.

ENGAGED – The Upshot’s Josh Barro to Zach Allen, a Democratic fundraiser and Obama alum, last week in Paris. They met at the Human Rights Campaign national dinner in DC in October 2013. Pic http://bit.ly/1KaYwpX

Barro wrote for the NY Times project, Upshot for less than a year before returning to his prior employer, Business Insider.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Campaign 2016, ELECTIONS, EXCLUSIVE, LGBTQ Issues, Pat McCrory | Tagged | 2 Comments

Campaign Finance Report shows Donor To Roy Cooper Is Party In #HB2 Suit

Posted on July 25, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Cooper IconA review of Roy Cooper’s second quarter campaign finance filings with the NC Board of Elections reveals that a donation has come from one of the parties involved in suing North Carolina over House Bill 2 (HB2).

On May 2nd, 2016 Rachel Tiven was made the CEO of Lambda Legal, which is involved on multiple legal fronts involving HB2. In fact, Lambda Legal is involved in the HB2 related lawsuit, Carcaño v. McCrory.  Read  full complaint.

On May 4th, 2016, Tiven, who lists her address in NYC, donated the maximum amount of $5,100 to Roy Cooper’s campaign.

According to the 2nd quarter filings for the Cooper campaign, Tiven listed her occupation as “Attorney” with “Immigrant Justice Corps.” and not that of CEO of  Lambda Legal. According to Immigrant Justice Corps’ 2014 press release, Tiven was named as their new Executive Director.

On July 5th, 2016, Tiven was replaced as Executive Director by Jojo Annobil. While Tiven’s LinkedIn bio lists her as still being the Executive Director, the Immigration Justice Corps. website currently does not list Tiven as being either a staff or board member.

In essence, Roy Cooper is accepting campaign contributions from the partners of Lambda Law, who are currently suing the state of which he has taken an oath to defend.

Arguably there is also the question of ethics for Tiven and Lambda Legal as well.  It would not be unreasonable to think that the National Bar Association and the NC Bar might open an ethics inquiry as to why Tiven would be donating to a candidate who is actively seeking the office currently held by someone who her firm is suing.

Also in question is why Tiven, two days after being named the CEO of Lambda Legal, would then list her employer as other than Lambda Legal in making a campaign donation.

Cooper’s second quarter totals showed that $821,931 came from outside the state of North Carolina.

The top out of state donations were made by 277 donors in New York which totaled $276,930. California came in second with 231 donations to the tune of $92,073. Washington D.C. rounded out the top three, with 136 donations totaling $58,681.

These three states represent more than half of all of the out of state donations made in the second quarter.

Other NY Donations of note include:

04-07-16 George Soros $5,100
04-07-16 Alexander Soros $5,100
04-26-16 William E. Little Jr., $1,000
05-18-15 Lorne Michaels $1,000
05-18-16 George Little, $1,000
06-24-16 William E. Little Jr., $2,000

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Campaign 2016, ELECTIONS, EXCLUSIVE, LEGAL, Pat McCrory | Tagged , | 7 Comments

#DNCLeaks: Roy Cooper, Goldman Sachs and Big Donors

Posted on July 25, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Cooper IconWikiLeak’s DNC email leaks have a North Carolina connection.   Attorney General and Democrat candidate for Governor, Roy Cooper, is mentioned in several of the leaked DNC emails.

One such email is about a meeting Cooper allegedly was setting up with unnamed Goldman Sachs officials. The email in question was sent from Will Little (William E. Little, Jr.) of George Little Management Company to Joshua Block, Financial Advisor at Goldman Sach.

Text of the email:

From:littlessumoe@gmail.com
To: joshua.block@gs.com
Date: 2016-05-03 16:39
Subject: Meeting with A G Roy Cooper

Hello, Josh, In speaking with my friend, Zach Allen, who is arranging for Jeff and me to meet with Roy Cooper next Tuesday, Zach mentioned that Roy will be coming to Goldman headquarters next Wednesday, and thought he might be able to arrange for you to meet him there, rather than your having to come up to the Regency the day before. By copy of this email to Zach, he will be able to contact you in order to effectuate such a meeting.

Best,

Will

Sent from my iPad

The email refers to “Jeff”, which is apparently William Little’s brother, George.  An article by the  NY Times confirms that George Little is often referred to as ‘Jeff’; emphasis added:

“Today, in White Plains, his grandsons William E. Little Jr. and George F. Little 2d, known as Jeff, are chairman and president, respectively, of George Little Management, a company their grandfather founded more than 70 years ago. It is the largest organizer of trade shows for consumer goods in the country.”

William Little is mentioned in another of the DNC Leaks in an email titled “MAX OUTS“, which perhaps refers to donors who have ‘maxed out’ in contributions.

In 2012, William Little landed in the number nine slot for Super PAC donors to President Obama’s re-election campaign with $150,000.

Roy Cooper’s 2nd Quarter financials show that William E. Little Jr. has given Cooper $3,000 overall and his brother, George Little, has contributed $1,000.  Two donations occurred after the date of the DNC leaked email.

The dates of the donations and amounts are as follows: 04-26-16 William E. Little Jr., $1,000, 05-18-16 George Little, $1,000, 06-24-16 William E. Little Jr., $2,000

While the exact date of the Cooper/Goldman Sachs/Little meeting is unknown, second quarter filings show expenditures made by the Cooper campaign in the New York City area after the date of the DNC leaked email between Little and Block:

5-19-16:
ALL TAXI MGMNT, 41-25 36TH ST, LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101
Operating Expense, Travel, Fundraising, Check, $45.41

06-16-16:
BAR AMERICAIN, 152 W 52ND ST, NEW YORK, NY 10159
Operating Expense, Meals, Other, Check, $174.83

There was a lone response to the email between Little and Block in the DNC Leaks repository, wherein Block acknowledged receipt and asks for Zach Allen’s input on ‘next steps’.

Zach Allen runs a company called TIPAH Consulting, which appears to be an event coordinating company formed in 2013.  The company has no web presence yet the DNC Leak emails are littered with of  his company’s name, as well as his own name.

This saturation of Allen and his company throughout the DNC Leaks is likely due to Allen being the former Finance Director for the Democrat National Committee.

According to Open Secrets,  TIPAH is a top ten vendor garnering over $88,000 dollars in contracts from PACS in 2016 alone. In the 2016 cycle, TIPAH has raked in $234,638 with the lion’s share coming from the DNC Services Corp.

TIPAH also appears to share the same address as MMW, another public relations/event outfit run by Michael Kempner. Kemper has close ties to the White House.  In January 2014, President Obama nominated Kempner to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees federally controlled outlets that operate overseas.

Kempner is apparently the current Deputy Finance Director for the DNC. Zach Allen is the New York & Tri-State finance director for the DNC. Both Kempner and Allen report to Jordan Kaplan, National DNC Finance Director.

MMW was hired by former Democratic Congressman, Anthony Weiner, do to damage control after tweets of sexual nature sent by Weiner under the alias ‘Carlos Danger’ were exposed by the late Andrew Breitbart.

According to Politico, Zach Allen became engaged to Josh Barro in 2015, citing having met at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in 2013.

ENGAGED – The Upshot’s Josh Barro to Zach Allen, a Democratic fundraiser and Obama alum, last week in Paris. They met at the Human Rights Campaign national dinner in DC in October 2013. Pic http://bit.ly/1KaYwpX

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) was involved in the writing of the Charlotte ordinance, which barred single sex facilities both private and public inside the Charlotte city limits. The HRC is currently coordinating business to attack on North Carolina’s House Bill 2 and state leaders like Governor Pat McCrory, who is running for re-election against Roy Cooper.

Barro was a NY Times contributor at an offshoot of the publication called “Upshot”.  Per Politico, Barro left the venture after less than a year and returned to Business Insider. According to his Wikipedia page, he ” identifies as neoliberal and Republican”.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Campaign 2016, ELECTIONS, EXCLUSIVE, Pat McCrory | Tagged | 4 Comments

BLM, Far Left Organizations Protest Durham Police [Storify]

Posted on July 23, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

ICYMI – View my lastest Storify Article: BLM, Far Left Organizations Protest Durham Police

Attendance was hard to gauge, but it appeared that between 100 to 150 people showed up.
Bree Newsome, of SC flag pole climbing fame, was spotted at one point.

Most of the people in the audience appeared to be affiliated with one or more of the organizations who appeared to have had representatives in attendance:

Black Lives Matter
BYP 100
Durham Beyond Policing
Durham People’s Alliance
Durham Solidarity Center
FIST
Fostering Alternative Drug Enforcement Coalition (FADE)
Inside-Outside Alliance
Moral Monday’s “NC Vote Defenders”
Occupy Chapel Hill
Occupy Durham
SONG
Spirit House
Workers World Party+

READ THE REST, see “skit” demonizing police and mocking Governor McCrory: BLM, Far Left Organizations Protest Durham Police

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EXCLUSIVE, THE LEFT | Tagged | 1 Comment

Advised by Former Clinton Aide, NBA Ignores Changes To #HB2, Pulls Out of Charlotte

Posted on July 22, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

After several months of making threats to move the 2017 All Star game out of Charlotte if lawmakers didn’t repeal HB 2, the NBA has finally decided to actually do it.

The statement alluded to the reported meetings being held in secret between lawmakers and the NBA officials.

“Since March, when North Carolina enacted HB2 and the issue of legal protections for the LGBT community in Charlotte became prominent, the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change.”

The NBA apparently has ignored the fact that the right to sue for discrimination in court has been restored, which was allegedly one of their earlier main complaints. Read the full NBA statement.

The NBA  statement issued offered no specific reasons for the move beyond disliking “the climate created by HB 2”.

“While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.”

In closing, the statement said that the NBA looks “forward to re-starting plans for our All-Star festivities in Charlotte for 2019 provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter.” In other words, if North Carolina repeals HB 2, they will come back.  This is politically driven economic blackmail.

Not a single media outlet has asked these NBA officials if their locker rooms are ‘open’, where their transgender players are or if their own players agree with open bathrooms.

Rainbow Backboard $Nor has a media outlet covered the NBA’s about long history of politics and capitalism over human rights.

As SisterToldjah at IJ Review writes,  “The NBA is content with punishing North Carolina for a bill protecting women and children while it rakes in billions from expanding operations in countries with brutal human rights records against men, women, and children. The NBA’s sudden concern is not genuine; it’s a product of pressure by the left-wing outrage machine.”

Given the political machinations engaged in by the NBA to date over HB 2, it seems unlikely  that it was a coincidence the NBA statement was delivered on the eve that Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination. It was also was announced  yesterday that Trump would be coming to Charlotte on July 26th.

Governor, Lt. Governor Respond

Both Governor McCrory and Lt. Governor Forest quickly issued responses to the NBA.

“The sports and entertainment elite, Attorney General Roy Cooper and the liberal media have for months misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present. Twenty-one other states have joined North Carolina to challenge the federal overreach by the Obama administration mandating their bathroom policies in all businesses and schools instead of allowing accommodations for unique circumstances. Left-wing special interest groups have no moral authority to try and intimidate the large majority of American parents who agree in common-sense bathroom and shower privacy for our children. American families should be on notice that the selective corporate elite are imposing their political will on communities in which they do business, thus bypassing the democratic and legal process.” – Gov. Pat McCrory 7/21/16

The Governor’s campaign also issued a statement, further tying the NBA’s blackmail style maneuver to political reasons. The statement points out the man advising the NBA is Bill Clinton’s former White House political adviser:

“It is no surprise that the NBA has chosen to politically target North Carolina during an election year since Doug Sosnick, Bill Clinton’s former White House Political Director, serves as the NBA’s chief political advisor. While it would be front-page news if Karl Rove were advising an organization on how to inflict economic damage on a state to benefit the Republican’s election prospects, this is standard operating procedure for the Clintons, who get away with it thanks to their friends in the media.”

Lt. Governor Dan Forest responded last night, publishing a  statement slamming the NBA for ‘blackmail’ and refusing to apologize for defending women in children in North Carolina.

The Lt. Governor’s statement came to a close with a sentence that provides a  priorities reality check for the NBA, “We will never value a dollar over a woman’s or child’s safety and security.”

The Lt. Governor’s full statement as it appeared on his Facebook page:

“What is happening here is so much bigger than a basketball game. A sovereign state is being blackmailed by a private business (NBA) who is being threatened by a national LGBT lobbying effort, all to force North Carolina to open female restrooms, showers and locker rooms up to men. All of this was done under the guise of “inclusiveness” and other politically correct buzzwords. But the reality is that had we not blocked the Charlotte Bathroom Ordinance from going into effect, sex offenders and pedophiles would have had full access to our women and children in bathrooms around the state. I enjoy the NBA and wanted them to hold the All-Star game in Charlotte but if that game comes with strings attached, strings that would expose women and children to danger, molestation, assault and voyeurism, then no thank you. Take your business elsewhere, and I have no apologies about saying that and never will. The NBA knows the economic hit North Carolina will take from this decision. I wish the NBA would likewise acknowledge the pain, sorrow and devastation a child or woman feels when they are exploited. We will never value a dollar over a woman’s or child’s safety and security.”

More Economic Blackmail to Come

Now that the NBA has delivered the arguably politically well-timed statement, the Human Rights Campaign is now positioning the PGA of America to start attacking North Carolina.

The statement above is repeated in part in an article at ESPN and it is noted the PGA is not going anywhere, but why? This section of the statement answers that question:

“Since the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte is a private facility not subject to all of the provisions of HB 2, at the 2017 PGA Championship we plan to allow spectators to use the restroom that conforms with their gender identity or gender expression,”

 

This part of the PGA statement also shows a complete lack of understanding of HB 2 and the Charlotte ordinance. It is BECAUSE of HB 2 that Quail Hollow Club can have it’s own policies. HB 2 blocked the Charlotte ordinance, under which businesses had no choice but to follow a ban on single sex facilities.

The Democrats in North Carolina are noticeably silent over corporations using their money in an attempt to manipulate law and elections. Unlike the narrative in 2012, apparently now corporations are people.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), LGBTQ Issues, Lt. Gov Dan Forest, NCGA, Pat McCrory, YWBMTC | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Watchdog Groups File Brief in Support of Upholding NC Voter ID Law

Posted on July 21, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Judicial Watch has joined with the Allied Educational Foundation (AEF) in filing a brief in support of Governor McCrory’s quest that the courts uphold North Carolina’s voter ID law.

Excerpt from the Judicial Watch press release:

Judicial Watch announced today it has joined with the Allied Educational Foundation (AEF) in filing an amici curiae brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the caseNAACP v. McCrory (No. 16-1468).  The brief argues in support of a lower court ruling that the 2013 North Carolina election-integrity law, which includes, among other provisions, a requirement that voters show a photo identification card before casting a ballot, is valid.

The Judicial Watch/AEF brief was filed in support of North Carolina Governor Patrick L. McCrory, who is asking the court to sustain the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder, upholding the North Carolina voter law.

The case concerns North Carolina’s adoption of common-sense election integrity measures requiring voter ID, eliminating “same-day” voter registration, reducing the early voting period, and prohibiting voters from casting provisional ballots outside of their voting precincts.  The Department of Justice and other groups represented by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters filed suit, alleging this law was racially discriminatory against black voters in violation of Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act (“VRA”).

The Judicial Watch press release goes on to explain that the DOJ is wrong on many points with regards to the VRA:

In their amici brief, JW and AEF explained that the Department of Justice was wrong.  First, Section 2 of the VRA only prohibits state laws that directly cause increased difficulty for voters to exercise their right to vote “because of” or “on account of” their race.  The North Carolina law causes no such injury to minority voters.  Furthermore, JW and AEF explained that state’s voting laws are not illegal under the VRA just because plaintiffs show a statistical “disparate impact” of the law on racial groups, but rather the law must actually deny people an equal opportunity to participate based upon their race.  North Carolina’s requirement that voters show identification does not deny opportunities to vote based upon race.  Finally, JW and AEF explained that the Department of Justice is wrongly trying to resuscitate Section 5 of the VRA, which imposed more stringent limits on states’ election laws but was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 in Shelby County v. Holder.

Judicial watch’s explanation continues, citing that African-American voter registration and voting has been increasing in the state:

Judicial Watch and AEF cite statistical evidence indicating that not only has African-American voter registration and voting not declined since enactment of the North Carolina law; it has actually increased:

Elections since the enactment of SL 2013-381 [the North Carolina election integrity law] have provided real life proof that the challenged provisions of SL 2013-381 do not cause any discernible disadvantage to minority voters.  Rather, both black and white voters adapt to the new rules and continue to turn out to vote at rates higher than under the former voting rules changed by SL 2013-381.

Read the full press release.

As a point of interest, turn out is expected to be so high for the coming November election that North Carolina’s largest district has decided to enact a two hour delay for opening on election day:

Also happening in Wake County, the Voter Integrity Project (VIP) is suing the Wake County Board of Elections in federal court. VIP asserts that the Wake Board of Elections has not maintained accurate voter rolls and that more voters are on the rolls than live in the county.

Excerpt from VIP’s article announcing the suit:

(RALEIGH) — July 18, 2016. Today, the Voter Integrity Project, filed a federal lawsuit, against the Wake County Board of Elections alleging their office failed to properly maintain the voter rolls, by not using all available government records to keep their voter rolls clear of non-US citizens.

“We’ve been trying to learn why 104 percent of eligible Wake County citizens are able to vote in our elections,” said Jay DeLancy, Director of Voter Integrity Project, “but instead of working together to find solutions, the Board ignored our requests and denied the validity of our research.”

The article is accompanied by documents supporting the suit, such as the Public Interest Legal Foundation Press Release, the Complaint and Exhibit A – Final Declaration.

News of the suit was picked up by the Washington Free Beacon and cites Wake County Board of Elections official, Gary Sims, disputing the claims. Free Beacon reported that, ” Sims claims his calculations showed 96,000 fewer people registered to vote than those living in the county.”

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), ELECTIONS, Voting, Wake County School Board | Tagged , | 2 Comments