Corrections
Thursday, April 19th, 2012

Confronting False Allegations about the George Zimmerman Case

Contrary to an irresponsible rumor that began circulating online on April 18, Koch has no involvement whatsoever with the defense of George Zimmerman, the defendant in the Trayvon Martin case.

The exact origin of that rumor remains to be seen but similar falsehoods made by partisan activists in recent days have intentionally sown confusion about Koch.  On March 23, Democratic party operative Karen Finney wrongly accused Koch of a connection with the tragic circumstances surrounding the Trayvon Martin matter.  We provided MSNBC with a formal statement and demonstrable proof that Ms. Finney was deceiving viewers — and yet the network refuses to air those remarks or post them online.

Just days later, former White House aide Van Jones appeared on MSNBC and remarked, “You’ve got all of the passion around Trayvon and what a horrible injustice that was and you can draw a direct line to the Koch brothers.”  We confronted the network about that lie as well and again they refused to air our statement.

Despite MSNBC’s appalling disregard for basic journalism standards, we will continue to set the record straight on this issue as often as necessary.

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Thursday, March 1st, 2012
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Friday, February 3rd, 2012
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Friday, December 2nd, 2011

Responding to the NAACP

Reasonable people are free to differ on the merits of whether voters ought to be required to present valid identification at the ballot box. Improving the American people’s faith in the integrity of the electoral system is a worthy objective.

Although we haven’t taken part in that public discussion, we are obliged to speak out about recent, misguided attacks on Koch by the NAACP National Office that have crossed the line into hyperbole and misinformation.
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Friday, December 2nd, 2011

Responding to NYC Comptroller John C. Liu

The Honorable John C. Liu
Comptroller, New York City

Dear Mr. Liu:

Your November 29, 2011 statement that Koch Industries (“Koch”) is somehow trying to prevent people from voting is intentionally misleading, intellectually dishonest, and an abuse of your obligations as an elected public official. I request that you issue an immediate retraction and correction of this misstatement.

The voter identification initiative that you refer to has been proposed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and not by Koch. Koch has not taken a position on the issue, and has undertaken no advocacy or lobbying on the issue. Accusations to the contrary are untrue.
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Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

More Distortions from Jane Mayer and New Yorker

Advocacy journalism is once again on display at the New Yorker in Jane Mayer’s latest distortions regarding Koch.  The piece relies on an Associated Press report from October 16th that implies we have some involvement with Herman Cain’s presidential campaign.  We don’t.

Here is the statement that we released publicly on the matter on October 18:

“We have long admired Herman Cain for his success in growing jobs and business in this country, and for his long-standing commitment to the values of economic freedom. Although we have not formally committed to supporting any presidential candidate, we are certainly glad to see Mr. Cain confront the issues of runaway spending and stifling government interference that are holding back the economy and the lives of all Americans. Anyone that has spent time with Mr. Cain, as we have, can tell you he is a man of deep dedication to our nation and his independence of thought is obviously what is appealing to voters.”That statement was posted a full two days prior to Ms. Mayer’s piece and yet she ignored it entirely.  We received no call from her editors to verify the piece and if any fact checker has reviewed it, we certainly haven’t heard from them. Here are several other flaws in Ms. Mayer’s account, excerpted from her piece:
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Monday, October 24th, 2011

Washington Post Ombudsman Rebukes Paper for Relying on Biased, Flawed Bloomberg Story

On October 21, the Washington Post published the following letter from Koch Industries:

Koch Industries responds

On Oct. 3, PostOpinions blogger Jennifer Rubin did a professional job of debunking a deeply flawed report about Koch Industries. Hers was among the first of numerous critiques of the Bloomberg Markets magazine article, as many reporters and bloggers detailed how Bloomberg used biased and deceitful sources, gave in to political bias and ignored countervailing facts so blatantly that Rubin called it “comical.” We have chronicled those accounts at KochFacts.com.

The only ones not paying attention apparently were Post editors, since the Bloomberg piece was reprinted, many days after it had been journalistically discredited, in the Oct. 9 business section. Post editors made no effort to heed the laundry list of serious problems that were flagged by Rubin, ourselves and many others. Had the editors bothered to call us, we would have provided that input.

Thus, Post readers were treated to a story that was not merely warmed over and a week late but one that had been thoroughly torched by one of its own bylined journalists.


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Friday, October 21st, 2011
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Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

Crossett, Arkansas – Fact Check and Activist Falsehoods

An internet video produced by a partisan fringe filmmaker contains a series of distortions and intentional falsehoods about a mill facility in Crossett, Arkansas, that is operated by Georgia-Pacific, a company acquired by Koch Industries in December 2005.  We urge anyone who encounters this video to regard it with high skepticism and we would caution against taking seriously any of the deceitful claims made in the piece.  There is no doubt that the medical conditions of the people in the clip deserve sympathy and that is certainly our feeling too.  But any suggestion that those conditions are linked to GP’s Crossett operations is simply not based on the facts.

Here are some specifics:
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Friday, September 23rd, 2011

UPDATE We Ask For a Correction From The Nation

Ms. Betsy Reed, Executive Editor
The Nation Magazine
33 Irving Place
New York, NY 10003

September 29, 2011

Dear Ms. Reed:

We have publicly pointed out several errors the magazine has made about us in recent weeks, including a request for formal correction made to Katrina Vanden Heuvel on September 23. We have yet to receive an acknowledgement of our concerns, or notification that your magazine has addressed the inaccuracies we have pointed out. I attach links to both below. If you differ on the merits then we would be glad to hear your explanation. However, to disregard any obligation to accuracy and accountability does a disservice to your readers, to the subjects of your coverage, and to journalistic integrity in general.

You have a promotional ad running on your website that declares, “Real journalism means never having to say you’re sorry.” If that is your new corrections policy, it’s certainly an unusual one. But it begs an important question — why should anyone take your reporting seriously when manifest facts are misrepresented so brazenly?

If you could let me know your thoughts on this matter and also set the record straight with published corrections on the points we have documented, I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Melissa Cohlmia
Director, Corporate Communication
Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC

CC:
Teresa Stack
Peter Meyer
Katrina vanden Heuvel

Ms. Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher
The Nation

September 23, 2011

Dear Ms. Vanden Heuvel,

You are wrong when you state in your recent article, “Can a Movement Save the American Dream,” that FreedomWorks is “backed in part” by Charles Koch and David Koch.

As has been noted in stories in the Washington Examiner, the Washington Post and elsewhere, Koch companies, the Koch foundations, Charles Koch and David Koch have no ties to and have never given money to FreedomWorks.

I request that you publish a correction to this article in a forthcoming edition of The Nation.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Sincerely,

Melissa Cohlmia
Director, Corporate Communication
Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC

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Monday, July 18th, 2011

UPDATE – We Respond to the LA Times Regarding Keystone XL

Correcting the Record at the Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times deserves credit for correcting an falsehood that partisan activist groups have been trying to spread about Koch Industries.  Contrary to what groups like Sierra Club have been asserting, Koch has no involvement with the Keystone pipeline project.

Here is the published correction from the Times:

For The Record; Los Angeles Times Friday, July 15, 2011

Correction; A July 11 Op-Ed on what President Obama can do to reassert his environmental credibility said that the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was “backed” by the Koch brothers. Koch Industries says it has no involvement in the project and has not taken a position on it.

Dear Editor:

A piece that appeared on the op-ed page written by Michael Brune [How President Obama can reclaim his green cred; June 11] contains an error in reference to Koch. The essay asserts that “The administration is weighing whether to approve the Koch brothers-backed Keystone XL pipeline that would bring dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Koch is not involved in the Keystone Pipeline project in any way as we have stated publicly and as has been widely acknowledged. This is not a matter of opinion since there are no facts to the contrary. Mr. Brune’s statement is simply and demonstrably false.

It is troubling that the Times would permit an activist like Mr. Brune to make aspersions without rudimentary fact-checking. I am curious to know how this got past the editors. In the meantime, I request a formal, published correction on that point. Thank you and I’ll look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Melissa Cohlmia
Director, Corporate Communication
Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC

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Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Correcting the New York Times

On April 4, we pointed out to New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal several manifest errors in an op-ed piece by contributor David Callahan. Mr. Rosenthal acknowledged receiving our letter only after we contacted the Public Editor at the Times, Arthur Brisbane. The paper then ran a misleading and obviously grudging correction, which read that Charles and David Koch “say they have not contributed to FreedomWorks itself.” That happens to be an easily confirmable fact, independent of whether we assert it and the Times’ “correction” still failed to state that fact.
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Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
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