Cause of Action

Cause of Action, formerly known as Freedom Through Justice Foundation, according to its website, is a non-profit organization claiming to use "public advocacy and legal reform tools to ensure greater transparency in government, protect taxpayer interests and promote economic freedom." In June 2013, the organization altered its website to add that it "uses investigative, legal and communications tools" to achieve this mission. It received just shy of a million dollars in funding from the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a national journalism organization, earmarked "for journalism," in 2011.

The Executive Director, Dan Epstein, assisted in the investigations of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the National Mediation Board as Counsel for Oversight and Investigations at the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Freedom Through Justice Foundation was incorporated in July 2011 and applied for tax exempt status in August 2011, but it was not granted 501(c)(3) status until July 2012. It started receiving funding in 2011, started issuing press releases in at least October 2011, and started to get press calling it "a government accountability nonprofit" in November 2011.

Major Activities
Environment & Energy Publishing called Cause of Action "the most active nonprofit you've never heard of." It reported on the variety of causes the group advocates which all have an underlying theme: government overreach and excessive regulation. For example, Cause of Action represented Oregon Windfarms in a lawsuit concerning a Chinese-owned company's attempts to set up a wind farm in Oregon which was blocked by President Obama. It also represented a lesbian couple in California who wanted to start a family by using a donor they knew. This was apparently against the FDA rule barring such agreements of "body tissue transfers." These are seemingly very different types of issues, but Cause of Action's position is that both are unconstitutional government overreach.

Drakes Bay Oyster Company v. Salazar, et al & Keystone Pipeline
Cause of Action has been a main supporter of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company's lawsuit against the federal government, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, for refusing to renew the company's lease of the public lands on which it operates. In February, 2013, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the company's request for an emergency injunction pending appeal of the denial of a preliminary injunction that would allow the company to remain in operation during litigation. Oral arguments on that issue were heard in May.

The Energy Production and Project Delivery Act of 2013, which would expedite permits for the Keystone Pipeline, open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, allow more offshore drilling, would also extend the Drakes Bay Oyster Company's operating permit for at least ten years. Because of this, many Tea Party affiliated groups have taken up the cause. The farm's owner told the New York Times that he was surprised his oyster farm ended up in the bill and was uncomfortable with the types of groups that have taken up his cause.

Ties to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
Cause of Action received $994,000 from the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity (including under its former name, the Freedom Through Justice Foundation) to "support journalism" in 2011. The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states. Unlike other organizations funded by Franklin, however, Cause of Action has no "reporters" on staff.

Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias. On its website, the Franklin Center claims it "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."

Franklin Center Funding
Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from DonorsTrust, a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records). Mother Jones called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article. Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.

The Franklin Center also receives funding from the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a conservative grant-making organization.

The Franklin Center was launched by the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance (SAM), a 501(c)(3) devoted to pushing free-market ideals. SAM gets funding from the State Policy Network, which is partially funded by the Claude R. Lambe Foundation. Charles Koch, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of this foundation. SAM also receives funding from the Rodney Fund.

Personnel

 * Dan Epstein, Executive Director
 * Amber Abbasi, Chief Counsel for Regulatory Affairs
 * Mary Beth Hutchins, Communications Director
 * Barnaby Zall, Director

Contact Information
Cause of Action 1919 Pennsylvania Ave NW Suite 650 Washington, DC 20006 Phone: 202-499-4232 Web: http://causeofaction.org