Talk:Washington Legal Foundation

This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

This article is part of the Center for Media & Democracy's spotlight on front groups and corporate spin.

The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) was established in 1977 to "fight activist lawyers, regulators, and intrusive government agencies at the federal and state levels, in the courts and regulatory agencies across the country" [1]. WLF is classified as a national, non-profit, tax-exempt public foundation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Koch Wiki

Charles Koch is the right-wing billionaire owner of Koch Industries. As one of the richest people in the world, he is a key funder of the right-wing infrastructure, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network (SPN). In SourceWatch, key articles on Charles Koch and his late brother David include: Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity, Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, Stand Together, Koch Family Foundations, Koch Universities, and I360.

Ties to the Koch brothers

The Washington Legal Foundation received funding from the Claude R. Lambe Foundation, one of the Koch Family Foundations. From 1998 to 2012, when it closed, the Lambe Foundation gave around $1.6 million to the Washington Legal Foundation. The Donors Capital Fund has reported granting money to the Washington Legal Foundation.

Mission

The foundation states that its mission "is to preserve and defend America’s free enterprise system by litigating, educating, and advocating for free market principles, a limited and accountable government, and individual and business liberties." According to its website, "Litigation is the backbone of the Washington Legal Foundation's (WLF) public interest programs" WLF lists in its areas of expertise "national security and defense, commercial free speech, product liability, punitive damages, food and drug law, environmental and property rights law, administrative law, and constitutional law.

WLF maintains a blog titled "The Legal Pulse" and a site at Forbes.com, where its members post commentary on current legal issues and litigation involving WLF and its key issues.

WLF and Tobacco

Internal tobacco industry documents also reveal that WLF sought and obtained funding from Philip Morris and the now defunct Tobacco Institute. From documents available to date the funding includes:

• Philip Morris
  • 1995: $250,000 [2]
  • 1996: $275,000 [3]
  • 1997: $275,000 [4]
  • 1998: $250,000 [5]
  • 1999: $200,000 (budgeted) [6]

• The Tobacco Institute
  • 1995: $35,000 [7]
  • 1996: $35,000 [8]
  • 1997: $35,000 [9]
  • 1998: $20,000 [10]

In 1994, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson (who preceded Mike Leavitt as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the tobacco control functions of federal government) joined the policy advisory board of the Washington Legal Foundation. WLF, which receives funding from the Philip Morris tobacco company (PM), publicly defends the tobacco industry. In 1998, the WLF ran an inflammatory, pro-tobacco advertisement titled "In all Fairness: A Constitutional tragedy in the making" in several large papers including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the National Journal, the CongressDaily AM, and others. Easily recongizeable in the article are many of the tobacco industry's arguments (freedom of speech, the Bill of Rights, "slippery slope" arguments about enacting "prohibition" as well as emotion-laden phrases like "anti-tobacco zealots").[11]

In addition to running this type of ad, the WLF has also repeatedly sued government agencies that oversee public health functions, like the Food and Drug Administration and the Enivronmental Protection Agency, who they sued over workplace smoking policies.

An April 1994 activity report by Philip Morris employee Roy E. Marden states he was "Working with the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF)in the development of a strategy to counteract and attack the efforts of the antis [public health advocates]..."[12]

WLF was listed as a think tank housing "policy analysts sympathetic with our views" in a February 25, 1999 memo from BSMG Worldwide to Philip Morris describing strategies to "support a full court press to thwart the filing of a federal lawsuit against the tobacco industry in order to force the industry to settlement." The objective of the strategy was to "[Enlist] allies and other potential third parties to help provide a "echo chamber" of opinion in local, regional,and national media, consistent with our messages.[13]

Attacking IOLTA legal assistance

Interest On Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) legislation is enacted in almost all US states and allows the interest on money held by lawyers on behalf of a third party to go to good causes. The system generated over $148 million dollars in 2002, the funds being used to assist poor people in obtaining legal representation.

The WLF began filing suits in a number of states to prevent IOLTA from receiving the interest on lawyer trust accounts. Among the suits was one persued all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States with a potential recovery of $20. The reasoning behind this was outlined in a fundraising letter by the WLF Chairman Daniel Popeo:

"We are finally in a position we've fought more than a decade to reach...a position where we can deal a death blow to the single most important source of income for radical legal groups all across the country"

Among the foundation's adversaries in the litigation, Popeo continues, are radical left-wing groups purporting to represent the interests of the homeless, minorities, and gay and lesbian activism. In that particular instance, the WFL spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to litigate a $20 case to the Supreme Court of the United States because doing so provided it an opportunity to "deal a death blow" to a program that was inconsistent with its principles.

Personnel

This is based on a listing on Forbes.com's Washington Legal Foundation page, June 2014.

• Glenn G. Lammi, Chief Counsel, Legal Studies Division
• Cory L. Andrews, Senior Counsel, Litigation Division
• Mark Chenoweth, General Counsel, former Chief of Staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo
• Rich Samp, Chief Counsel, Litigation Division

Funding

Core Financials

2012

• Total Revenue: $3,911,460
• Total Expenses: $2,612,611
• Net Assets: $13,407,819

2011

• Total Revenue: $3,878,677
• Total Expenses: $2,608,237
• Net Assets: $12,050,421

2010

• Total Revenue: $3,584,443
• Total Expenses: $14,480,239
• Net Assets: $10,889,679

2009

• Total Revenue: $3,550,330
• Total Expenses: $2,706,828
• Net Assets: $21,959,841

The foundation has received donations from the tobacco industry and has run quarter-page ads in the New York Times, opposing what it calls "junk science."

Media Transparency report that between 1985 and 2005 WLF have received 73 grants totalling $8,356,000

EIN: 52-1071570 Washington Legal Foundation (unadjusted for inflation) from a range of foundations including:

• Rodney Fund
• F.M. Kirby Foundation
• Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation
• The Carthage Foundation
• John M. Olin Foundation
• Claude R. Lambe Foundation
• Sarah Scaife Foundation

Contact information

Washington Legal Foundation
2009 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-588-0302
Email: info AT wlf.org
WebL http://www.wlf.org/

Articles and Resources

External Articles

• Media Transparency, Washington Legal Foundation
• P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism, "The Outrageous Washington Legal Foundation"

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