Associated Press:

A congressional chairman is demanding answers from a coal group about forged letters that were sent to three congressional offices on a major climate bill.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has acknowledged that the firm it hired through a subcontractor, Bonner & Associates, sent 12 forged letters purportedly from local nonprofit groups to the congressional offices, criticizing the legislation.

In a letter Wednesday, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, demanded to know when the congressional offices were notified. He said the coal group “chose to remain silent” until after a vote. A spokeswoman for the coal group said it would respond to Markey’s questions.

Markey Letter to ACCCE on Forged Documents –

Press release below the fold, via email.

WASHINGTON (August 5, 2009) – In a continuation of a Congressional investigation into fraudulent letters sent to several members of Congress, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter today to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity seeking answers on their involvement in the incidents.

The letter specifically zeroes in on questions surrounding the lapse in notification of the affected Congressional offices by ACCCE or Bonner & Associates, the group subcontracted by ACCCE to conduct so-called “grasstops” lobbying. Bonner’s group informed ACCCE of the letters a full two days before the vote on the Waxman-Markey clean energy legislation, which ACCCE was attempting to influence, yet none of the Congressional offices were notified about the spurious letters prior to the vote. Additionally, press reports indicate that ACCCE may not have told the other affected Congressional offices that they too had received fraudulent letters until Monday, August 3, 2009.

Because of these delays in notification, Chairman Markey writes in the letter, “The deliberate inaction prior to the House vote and the extended silence after the vote — some 40 days after ACCCE knew what had happened — raises serious concerns.”

The letter asks about the relationship between ACCCE and the Hawthorn Group, the firm hired by ACCCE to conduct “community outreach,” and then subsequently subcontracted Bonner & Associates.

The letter also drills down on the tactics of so-called “astroturfing,” when lobbying efforts are made to appear like a real, grassroots movement. Chairman Markey asks in the letter whether the fraudulent letters were used “in any broadcast ads, direct mail, ‘push polls,’ online ads, blog posts, email outreach, viral marketing campaigns, ‘street teams,’ or any other new media?”