8/9/2016

THE WILL COUNTY GAZETTE

& LIBERTY PRINCIPLES PAC NEWSPAPERS FACTSHEET
Last weekend, Will County residents received The Will County Gazette, an unsolicited political
mailing disguised as a weekly paper and part of a network of 13 similar publications across
Illinois funded by Dan Proft and Governor Rauner.
Unbeknownst to readers, the network of papers were previously found by the Illinois State Board
of Elections to have violated campaign finance disclosure and coordination laws, are not
recognized as real newspapers by the State Board or the Illinois Press Association, and are run by
a publisher previously fired for plagiarism and fake bylines outsourced to foreign workers.

The network of fake papers is funded by conservative former radio show host and millionaire Dan
Proft and Governor Bruce Rauner through the Liberty Principles PAC. The network of papers
exists to send political mailings under the guise of real reporting in targeted House and Senate
Districts.

An Independent Expenditure committee allowed unlimited contributions and expenditures under

Illinois campaign finance law, Liberty Principles PAC disclosed over $4 million in available funds,
including $2.5 million from Governor Rauner and $1.5 million from Richard Uihlein, CEO of Uline
and a big backer in Rauners gubernatorial campaign.

The fake papers are designed both in print and digitally to resemble and be read as local
weeklies and have an estimated distribution of 8-10k per print publication

Proft describes the publications as newspapers with conservative viewpoints but neither the
Illinois State Board of Elections or the Illinois Press Association recognizes them as such
The Illinois State Board of Elections has already found Liberty Principles PAC and several of its
fake papers guilty of violating the Campaign Disclosure Act governing political advertisements
and of violating Illinois law that prohibits IEs from colluding with candidates.
Three separate citizen complaints (Case Numbers 16 CD 096, 16 CD 105, 16 CD 098, see
attachment) responding to specific fake newspapers were filed with the Board against Liberty
Principles PAC this spring, with each case alleging:
o The PAC was in violation of the Campaign Disclosure Act for not disclosing their fake
paper was paid for by Liberty Principles PAC. A paid for by is required for all political
advertising under the Campaign Disclosure Act.
o The PAC was in violation of Illinois law on Independent Expenditures for working in
coordination with republican candidates to publish interviews in their fake paper, and the
paper was therefore was not an independent expenditure.
o Independent Expenditure PACs may spend unlimited money, but Illinois law forbids them
from directly coordinating with candidates

In all three cases, the Board found both the Campaign Disclosure Act violation and collusion
complaints were filed on justifiable grounds.
o In response to the disclosure violations, the State Board ordered Liberty Principles PAC
to ensure all future political literature and communications properly identify the PAC as
payor

Fake paper East Central Reporter for example listed Liberty Principles PAC as
its publisher but did not specifically state a paid for by

In response to the collusion violations, the Board said because this issue had never arisen in
Illinois before, state campaign disclosure staff should better define coordination between
committees and candidates to avoid similar issues in the future

8/9/2016

Despite being ruled against by the Board of Elections for improper payment disclosure and
collusion between an IE and candidate three times, Liberty Principles PAC has continued to
flout the law.

At four other print papers part of the network including The Will County Gazette, fail to include
paid for attributions

At least eight print and digital papers continue to feature in-depth interviews with Republication
candidates that suggest possible continued coordination between Liberty Principles and
republican campaigns
o Will County Republican State Senate Candidate Michelle Smith (LD-49) has appeared in
the Will County Gazette or DuPage Policy Journal been interviewed at least 16 times
In addition to the State Board recognizing the fake papers as political advertising, The Illinois
Press Association (IPA) says the papers are not real newspapers

An independent organization that represents more than 450 daily and weekly Illinois newspapers,
the IPA says the fake papers are likely political advertisements

The IPA Board of Directors sent out a warning on the papers this week:
o "The Illinois Press Association has been approached about the regional 'newspapers'
which have been introduced to Illinois voters this election cycle.
Obviously, the IPA respects the First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and
freedom of the press which allows each of us the right to speak freely, and publish
newspapers or newsletters if we wish. While imitation is the highest form of flattery,
the IPA cautions readers to become as news literate as possible; that is, to try to
determine the source behind the news and information they receive and to
question the legitimacy, integrity and intent of both the source and the message.
"Technology has significantly lowered the barrier for entry into publishingfor both print and digital, making it extremely difficult to distinguish
between legitimate news and political propaganda. News and information
shape the decisions we make every day and the importance of news literacy is
becoming more and more important each day. People are continually inundated
with messages from this growing number of platforms and it is often unclear as to
the source or the integrity of the message or the platform."
"The newspapers published under the banners of Chambana Sun, DuPage
Policy Journal, East Central Reporter, Kankakee Times, Lake County Gazette,
McHenry Times, Metro East Sun, North Cook News, Rock Island Today,
Sangamon Sun, SW Illinois News, West Central Reporter, West Cook News, are
not members of the Illinois Press Association, nor are they eligible for
membership in the Association."
The fake papers may contain fake bylines. Their publisher Locality Labs was previously fired
by the Chicago Tribune for plagiarism and fake bylines from foreign workers.

The network of fake Proft papers appear to use a small group of out-of-state and potentially fake
writers on their large volume of stories and interviews, including:
o Wadi Reformado who writes nearly every Will County Gazette article. A search of recent
Reformado articles include articles written in other Locality Labs papers throughout
Illinois, Florida, California, and Texas.