Team Romney still ducking questions about their Social Media Director, but FEC filing suggests Bill Murphy was hired in mid-to-late July and is getting paid $5,541.66 a month. Digital Director Zac Moffatt avoids questions about his relationship to both Murphy and his frequent colleague, convicted felon Ali Akbar, who just got off probation in May.
8/16 UPDATE:
Did @TeamRomney even know @BillMurphy worked for "charlatans" at American Liberty Alliance since he left it off his resume?
A July 20th tweet by the official @TeamRomney twitter account ( http://twitter.com/TeamRomney/status/226361975628767232 ) indicates that Bill Murphy is the Social Media Director for Mitt Romney, even though he has ducked questions, blocked me on twitter, scrubbed his resume, and deleted his blog since I started reporting on him August 12.
The latest monthly filing by the Romney for President campaign to the Federal Election Committee reveals that a William Murphy was paid $2,770.83 for his work in July (http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2012/M7/C00431171/B_PAYEE_C00431171.html). Since another Team Romney member - who was just recently hired in June - has been earning precisely double that amount, the FEC filing suggests Bill Murphy joined the campaign in mid-to-late July and is getting paid $5,541.66 a month.
Aside from working for years with a convicted felon who was on probation until May, Mr. Murphy has been closely involved with Tea Party lawyers involved with Super PACs who are working with the RNC to overturn donation limits. (See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-lawsuit-challenges-campaign-contribution-caps/2012/06/27/gJQAqtVf7V_story.html and http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/03/15/8416/gop-super-pac-men-seek-overturn-donation-limits ) Murphy also is linked to sketchy charities and groups that skirt FEC regulations.
Mr. Murphy and his colleague Ali Akbar also worked for the American Liberty Alliance when it was founded in June of 2009. ALA launched a Liberty Tour in late 2009 which sought to teach conservative activists to use deception and commit dirty tricks on the Internet in order to "control the dialogue," as I will soon be reporting.
Together, Murphy and Akbar have worked for at least five groups over the last three years, four of them while straddling opposite sides of the Mitt Romney for President debate. In 2012, New Jerseyite Murphy worked in Akbar's Texas-based Vice and Victory firm, and also with a group called Blog Bash that organizes parties at conservative conventions, while serving as Director for the National Bloggers Club and the National Finance Director for the Breitbart Scholarship Fund, all alongside Akbar who was on probation until May.
On Tuesday, Romney Digital Director Zac Moffatt blocked me on Twitter - even before Murphy did - rather than reply to simple questions about Team Romney's Social Media Director, such as when he was hired and how much he is paid.
After discovering tweets between Moffatt and Akbar, and Murphy before he joined Team Romney, I tweeted, "No wonder
"MT
Moffatt blocked me immediately after I tweeted, "Why did convicted felon
I tweeted, "More tweets between Romney Digital Director
The latest monthly filing by the Romney for President campaign to the Federal Election Committee reveals that a William Murphy was paid $2,770.83 for his work in July (http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2012/M7/C00431171/B_PAYEE_C00431171.html). Since another Team Romney member - who was just recently hired in June - has been earning precisely double that amount, the FEC filing suggests Bill Murphy joined the campaign in mid-to-late July and is getting paid $5,541.66 a month.
I'll be updating this story with much more that I've uncovered over the last few days, and incorporating things I've tweeted at www.twitter.com/ronbryn
Murphy has been working since at least 2009 with Ali Akbar, who Slate recently reported was "convicted of credit card fraud in 2007", and just got off of probation in May for a reported "crime spree," which he has lied about. (More to come on Akbar's crimes, which are alluded to in the Slate article on the battle between convicted bomber Brett Kimberlin and right wing bloggers: http://www.salon.com/2012/07/10/brett_kimberlin_versus_right_wing_bloggers/ )
Update at bottom: Murphy apparently scrubs blog, while his friends and colleagues attempt to smear me on Twitter.
Original post follows:
About an hour before publication of this story on Monday, August 13, William Murphy - the "Social Media Director at Romney For President" - scrubbed his resume, after ducking a series of questions I tweeted to him about his past experience and links to a convicted felon.
But immediately after I teased this story on Twitter, Mr. Murphy replaced his publicly viewable resume at the LinkedIn website, with only a slightly changed version (http://www.linkedin.com/in/billmurphy7).
This is the scrubbed version that only listed Murphy's work for the Romney campaign:
This is how it looks again, now:
Here are tweets I sent to Mr. Murphy before and after he scrubbed and then unscrubbed his resume:
As shown in a Google cache of the resume as it appeared before it was scrubbed and unscrubbed, Bill Murphy left off his stint as Account Manager for HiBall Beverage, Inc. in the greater New York City area from 2006 to 2007: http://tinyurl.com/8qa75hx
Aside from Mr. Murphy's scrubbed resume, I was unable to find anything about HiBall Beverage Inc. on Google: http://tinyurl.com/8cu7oxo
Here are some questions I'd like Mr. Murphy to address, including some I haven't tweeted yet.
Are you getting paid to be Social Media Director for Mitt Romney?
Do you officially work for the Mitt Romney campaign now or just a group trying to get him elected?
If so, when were you hired?
Did you quit convicted felon Ali Akbar's Vice and Victory?
Are you still a part of the Blog Bash team? Have you ever gotten paid for your work with them?
Are you in any way involved with the National Bloggers Club?
Are you still working for the Conservative Action Fund as a district field manager or in any other capacity?
Did you get paid through Vice and Victory when you worked for CAF or did you get two checks while working with Shaun McCutcheon?
Are you involved in any way with Shaun McCutcheon's legal battle to overturn donation limits?
Why doesn't your LinkedIn resume mention your role with the Conservative Action Fund?
Do you know how much Ladd Ehlinger Jr. was paid to create commercial for Bill Turner's NY-9 campaign?
I have many more questions for Mr. Murphy I'm hoping someone will answer.
8/13 UPDATE:
Social Media Director for Mitt Romney Bill Murphy ducks questions, and then takes his blog offline
Murphy seems to have taken down his blog, at least temporarily, after I asked him on Twitter - as shown in screencap above - what he meant when he referred to "evildoers" @GregWHoward over a year ago. Howard was reportedly victimized on Twitter by Democratic operative and hoaxer Neal Rauhauser and a group of 4chan "supertrolls" called "beandogs" in 2010 (http://gawker.com/5659351/twittergate-how-internet-jerks-pranked-the-tea-party), but Murphy might have been referring to Democrats, in general.
This was the March 26, 2011 Bill Murphy blogpost I tweeted about: "The evildoers will take advantage of this RT @GregWHoward: I’m alive, but sick as a dog. Not tweeting for a couple of days. #tcot #ocra #sgp". http://billmurphyblog.com/post/4106190541/the-evildoers-will-take-advantage-of-this-rt
The following message now appears when attempting to access www.billmurphyblog.com at 6:PM ET August 13, 2012:
Not found.
We couldn't find the page you were looking for.
Feel free to contact support if there's anything
we can help you find.
we can help you find.
Even though he has been active on Twitter today, Murphy has ignored all my tweets. Meanwhile, his friends have attempted to smear me, but refuse to answer any questions.
Murphy's colleague and friend Ali A. Akbar tweeted that I was "trying to draw lines and bully some folks. Go look at his timeline. It's mostly funny-sad."
Convicted felon @Ali - who just got off probation a few months ago in May - added, "you're such a wanna-be journalist. It would be cute if it wasn't disturbing and creepy."
In defense, Robert Stacy McCain - a correspondent for The American Spectator - tweeted, "Unlike Ted Kennedy, @ali never drowned any campaign aides," and "Shocking scandal: GOP social media specialist worked for GOP social media firm!"
McCain mockingly added, "I mean, Drudge is going to be all over that one, y'know? Stop the presses!" and "If it's not one thing, it's something else. Always a SHOCKING! REPUBLICAN! SCANDAL!"
I asked former Washington Times reporter McCain, "Do u know if #MittRomney campaign or PAC pay @BillMurphy to be "Social Media Director" so I can update story?" but he has ignored my question.
The oddest response was from @GregWHoward who tweeted, "Sorry, end of the line. Put up with as much as I could. Blocking now. Unfollowing did not get your attention."
8/16 UPDATE
Did @TeamRomney even know @BillMurphy worked for "charlatans" at American Liberty Alliance since he left it off his resume?
In an August 24, 2010 diary at Red State called "Charlatans and the Horse They Rode In On" (http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/08/24/charlatans-and-the-horse-they-rode-in-on), CNN contributor Erick Erickson wrote, "I have been biting my tongue so hard for so long that I’m surprised I haven’t developed gangrene, but the time has come to open my mouth, or at least put fingers to the keyboard."
"I have for years been shouting into the wind about those I believe are conservative charlatans abusing the money of donors, burning bridges, and making it all the more difficult for solid conservative activists to gain the trust of large conservative donors," Erickson added.
Erickson was complaining about the for profit American Liberty Alliance and other ventures set up by Eric Odom.
In December of 2009, Alex Brant-Zawadzki and Dawn Teo reported for Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-brantzawadzki/anatomy-of-the-tea-party_b_380626.html), "Despite its frequent pleas for contributions, American Liberty Alliance is not a non-profit organization."
"According to its website," the Huffington Post article noted,
"As of yet, American Liberty Alliance is not registered as a 501(c) non-profit organization," Brant-Zawadzki and Teo reported.
At Red State, Erickson wrote, "I know people, some are friends, who were employed by this organization and left without the money they were due. Neither I nor they have any idea what happened to the money."
8/16 UPDATE
Did @TeamRomney even know @BillMurphy worked for "charlatans" at American Liberty Alliance since he left it off his resume?
In an August 24, 2010 diary at Red State called "Charlatans and the Horse They Rode In On" (http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/08/24/charlatans-and-the-horse-they-rode-in-on), CNN contributor Erick Erickson wrote, "I have been biting my tongue so hard for so long that I’m surprised I haven’t developed gangrene, but the time has come to open my mouth, or at least put fingers to the keyboard."
"I have for years been shouting into the wind about those I believe are conservative charlatans abusing the money of donors, burning bridges, and making it all the more difficult for solid conservative activists to gain the trust of large conservative donors," Erickson added.
Erickson was complaining about the for profit American Liberty Alliance and other ventures set up by Eric Odom.
In December of 2009, Alex Brant-Zawadzki and Dawn Teo reported for Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-brantzawadzki/anatomy-of-the-tea-party_b_380626.html), "Despite its frequent pleas for contributions, American Liberty Alliance is not a non-profit organization."
"According to its website," the Huffington Post article noted,
The American Liberty Alliance is not a 501c3, 501c4 or a PAC. We are not registered as a non-profit and we do not raise funds as such. Our primary focus is on content. We publish information and sell advertising on our network of sites. We also occasional [sic] seek contributions from our readers. These contributions are seen as "gifts" to our network and are not tax deductible.The Huffington Post article continued, "American Liberty Alliance has invited its members to contribute on at least 33 separate occasions since Aug. 10 alone. Neither those emails nor the website mention that American Liberty Alliance is a for-profit venture. On Aug. 23, however, Odom wrote, 'We're currently in the process of filing for our non-profit, 501c4 status which will allow us to become even more aggressive in the political environment.'"
"As of yet, American Liberty Alliance is not registered as a 501(c) non-profit organization," Brant-Zawadzki and Teo reported.
At Red State, Erickson wrote, "I know people, some are friends, who were employed by this organization and left without the money they were due. Neither I nor they have any idea what happened to the money."
"At some point the for profit American Liberty Alliance was rolled into Liberty First PAC,
which was also set up by Eric Odom," Erickson continued. "I have no idea how the transaction
occurred as it is not inside the FEC filings of Liberty First PAC.
Considering American Liberty Alliance was for profit and Liberty First
PAC is a PAC, I assume there is some transaction to show how it
occurred, except there is not one and there should be, at least as a
line item in a report to the FEC."
Erickson added, "This doesn’t even go into the disaster that was the bus tour across America, the low turn out tea party gatherings, the RootsHQ event in Nashville that I spoke at, and the list of disasters and questionable stuff arising out of American Liberty Alliance and whatever happened to it (both factually and as a legal entity) goes on and on and on. I’m not even sure if the bus tour made it all the way across America as its web journal stopped well before its end point and its blog has now somehow become a Christine O’Donnell site, except it hasn’t been updated since June. This is all par for the course."
In the summer of 2009, future Team Romney official William M. Murphy and Ali Akbar - while working for American Liberty Alliance - helped raise cash for Odom's ALA on Twitter, without mentioning that it was for a for-profit venture.
"Become a supporting member of the American @LibertyAlliance http://tr.im/oZQZ #tcot #ala #tlot #hhrs" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/2230684221 or - if Mr. Murphy deletes his tweet it can also be seen here: http://topsy.com/americanlibertyalliance.com/special.html), Mr. Murphy tweeted on June 18, 2009, three days after Ali Akbar used both his twitter accounts to RT "@libertyalliance: American Liberty Alliance Membership registration is now open!"
On June 25, 2009, Bill Murphy tweeted, "Help #ALA raise $10,000 by the end of the month! http://ala.rootshq.com/ #tcot #rebuild #hhrs" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/2330138879 or - if Murphy scrubs something else from the Internet - http://topsy.com/ala.rootshq.com/), three days after he and Ali both retweeted "@libertyalliance: Help us hit our $10,000 goal this week...donate a few bucks to the American Liberty Alliance? http://tr.im/pkC4 #tcot."
On August 10, 2009, Murphy tweeted, " @libertyalliance Will you help American Liberty Alliance by pledging $10/month? http://tr.im/wb4y #tcot #rebuild #iamthemob (PLS RT)" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3234019551 or http://topsy.com/americanlibertyalliance.com/pledge). A day later, he tweeted, "Will you help defeat socialized healthcare by pledging $10/month to the American Liberty Alliance" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3253418832) and "Help defeat socialized #healthcare by pledging $10/month to the American Liberty Alliance http://tr.im/we9Z #tcot #teaparty #handsoff" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3253527651).
"Will you pledge $10/month to help reclaim American values? Support the American Liberty Alliance http://tr.im/wIAg #tcot #tlot #rebuild," Murphy tweeted on August 19, 2009 (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3413574769).
As shown above, Murphy left off his stint as Director of Strategic Initiatives for American Liberty Alliance from his resume, so perhaps Team Romney didn't know he ever worked there. A key member of the team since ALA's website went live in June of 2009, Murphy used the email address, bill@americanlibertyalliance.com.
Murphy may have also been involved with some of Odom's other groups and/or websites, since on March 5, 2009, Eric Odom retweeted a@billmurphy tweet bragging, "Michelle Malkin just plugged www.taxdayteaparty.com on Fox and Friends. #tcot #teaparty #dontgo (http://twitter.com/ericjodom/statuses/1283223789).
DEVELOPING...
Erickson added, "This doesn’t even go into the disaster that was the bus tour across America, the low turn out tea party gatherings, the RootsHQ event in Nashville that I spoke at, and the list of disasters and questionable stuff arising out of American Liberty Alliance and whatever happened to it (both factually and as a legal entity) goes on and on and on. I’m not even sure if the bus tour made it all the way across America as its web journal stopped well before its end point and its blog has now somehow become a Christine O’Donnell site, except it hasn’t been updated since June. This is all par for the course."
In the summer of 2009, future Team Romney official William M. Murphy and Ali Akbar - while working for American Liberty Alliance - helped raise cash for Odom's ALA on Twitter, without mentioning that it was for a for-profit venture.
"Become a supporting member of the American @LibertyAlliance http://tr.im/oZQZ #tcot #ala #tlot #hhrs" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/2230684221 or - if Mr. Murphy deletes his tweet it can also be seen here: http://topsy.com/americanlibertyalliance.com/special.html), Mr. Murphy tweeted on June 18, 2009, three days after Ali Akbar used both his twitter accounts to RT "@libertyalliance: American Liberty Alliance Membership registration is now open!"
On June 25, 2009, Bill Murphy tweeted, "Help #ALA raise $10,000 by the end of the month! http://ala.rootshq.com/ #tcot #rebuild #hhrs" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/2330138879 or - if Murphy scrubs something else from the Internet - http://topsy.com/ala.rootshq.com/), three days after he and Ali both retweeted "@libertyalliance: Help us hit our $10,000 goal this week...donate a few bucks to the American Liberty Alliance? http://tr.im/pkC4 #tcot."
On August 10, 2009, Murphy tweeted, " @libertyalliance Will you help American Liberty Alliance by pledging $10/month? http://tr.im/wb4y #tcot #rebuild #iamthemob (PLS RT)" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3234019551 or http://topsy.com/americanlibertyalliance.com/pledge). A day later, he tweeted, "Will you help defeat socialized healthcare by pledging $10/month to the American Liberty Alliance" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3253418832) and "Help defeat socialized #healthcare by pledging $10/month to the American Liberty Alliance http://tr.im/we9Z #tcot #teaparty #handsoff" (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3253527651).
"Will you pledge $10/month to help reclaim American values? Support the American Liberty Alliance http://tr.im/wIAg #tcot #tlot #rebuild," Murphy tweeted on August 19, 2009 (http://twitter.com/billmurphy/status/3413574769).
As shown above, Murphy left off his stint as Director of Strategic Initiatives for American Liberty Alliance from his resume, so perhaps Team Romney didn't know he ever worked there. A key member of the team since ALA's website went live in June of 2009, Murphy used the email address, bill@americanlibertyalliance.com.
Murphy may have also been involved with some of Odom's other groups and/or websites, since on March 5, 2009, Eric Odom retweeted a