Democracy 21's Wertheimer targets Karl Rove

When it comes to opposing shadowy outside groups that pour money into elections, Democracy 21's Fred Wertheimer is an equal-opportunity opponent — and he's not letting Karl Rove characterize him any differently.

Wertheimer issued an angry statement Friday in response to comments Rove made on Fox News casting Wertheimer as a liberal lobbyist bent on targeting only conservative-leaning groups for violating their tax-exempt status.

Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the IRS earlier this week complaining Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) associated with Rove and longtime GOP booster Ed Gillespie had violated its tax-exempt status by participating in campaigns in direct support for or opposition to candidates for public office.

In a Tuesday appearance on Fox's Neil Cavuto, Rove acknowledged raising money for Crossroads GPS, along with an affiliated 527 group, American Crossroads. But he lashed out at Wertheimer, saying the watchdog had never taken issue with Democratic-leaning groups in previous election cycles.

"…What gets me is, I didn't see … groups like Crossroads GPS spent nearly $400 to $500 million on the Democratic ticket and the Democratic candidates in 2004. And we never heard one whisper from this lobbyist for liberal causes Mr. Werthimmer (sic)," Rove said.

Au contraire, Mr. Rove, Wertheimer protested in his release Friday.

"Karl Rove must have missed the action I took in January 2004 that was much louder than a whisper, when Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center, filed FEC complaints against two pro-Democratic groups, Americans Coming Together (ACT) and The Media Fund, the two biggest spending 527 groups in the 2004 presidential election," he wrote.

Wertheimer also pointed to the groups' successful FEC complaint against ACT, which resulted in an FEC finding that ACT had illegally spent more than $100 million to support the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2004 presidential election, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

"He also must have missed the fact that our complaint resulted in a $775,000 civil penalty paid by ACT, the third largest penalty in the Commission's history at the time, according to the FEC," Wertheimer sniped.

In addition, the watchdog's FEC complaint against The Media Fund resulted in an FEC finding that The Media Fund had illegally spent more than $50 million to support the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2004 presidential election and in a $580,000 civil penalty.

In response to the complaints, the FEC found ACT and The Media Fund had made combined illegal campaign expenditures of more than $150 million to support the Democratic nominee in the 2004 presidential election. The complaints resulted in combined civil penalties of $1,355,000 against these two pro-Democratic groups.

"Funny, I never did hear any complaints from Karl Rove about my being engaged in partisan action when we successfully challenged pro-Democratic 527 groups for illegal activity in the 2004 presidential election," Wertheimer recalled. "In fact, come to think of it, I never heard one whisper from Karl Rove."