Originally published October 17 2013
Grocery Manufacturers Association caught running money laundering slush fund for GMO food companies to conceal their identities in opposing I-522
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
(NaturalNews) The Grocery Manufacturers Association has been caught running a $7.2 million "slush fund" to allow companies to dump huge dollars into fighting GMO labeling in Washington while deceptively concealing their identities. This activity is being conducted in blatant violation of the state's Public Disclosure Act, and it typifies the kind of slimy, mafia-style operations of the biotech industry, GMO-pushing food companies and food industry groups that poison Americans with toxic chemicals and disease-promoting ingredients.
As you may recall during the Prop 37 battle in California, the biotech industry launched a long list of fake organizations whose names resembled nurses groups, firefighters groups, police groups and so on, then sent millions of mailers to voters that claimed these groups were opposed to GMO labeling. This wildly deceptive and borderline criminal activity demonstrates the kind of deception routinely practiced by this industry, both in its political efforts and its agriculture practices.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association apparently endorses this behavior as it is providing a money laundering front for food companies that hide GMOs in their products while demanding that consumers remain completely unaware.
Now the Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is accusing the GMA of playing dirty and running a slush fund to "shield companies from attack" by allowing them to hide behind a veil of secrecy.
"The AG is asking Thurston County Superior Court for a restraining order to force the association to comply with the state's Public Disclosure Act, and disclose where its $7.2 million in contributions to the anti-522 campaign really come from," reports SeattlePI.com.
"Attorney General Bob Ferguson asked the court to take immediate action that No on 522 comply with state campaign finance disclosure laws," Delana Jones from YES on 522 wrote in a statement provided to Natural News. "Clearly, these giant out-of-state corporations believe they are above the law and this is another example of the lengths they are willing to go in order to keep people from knowing who's behind their misleading and false attacks. The No on 522 campaign ads should come down until they comply with the law. And they should return the illegally raised money. We have the right to know who is funding their campaign, just like we have the right to know what's in our food."
GMA conspiring with food companies to conceal their identities
Here's how this came about: A once-secret memo from the GMA has now surfaced, revealing that the GMO conspired with food companies to conceal their identities in blatant violation of the Public Disclosure Act.
That memo was reportedly written by none other than Pamela Bailey, the CEO of the GMA. The slush fund essentially functioned as a money laundering operation and has so far covertly collected $13.5 million, of which $7.2 million has been redirected to oppose I-522, the GMO labeling ballot measure that would require food companies to disclosure whether their foods contain GMOs.
The Urban Dictionary defines money laundering as, "The process of hiding the source of illegal income by processing it through a large-turnover entity..." This reflects what's happening with the GMA and opposition to I-522. This gathering and use of the money violates Washington State law, making it an illegal activity. The purpose of the GMA's slush fund is to "hide the source" of the money, which is the food companies using hidden GMOs in their products.
When the food industry's tactics begin to resemble those of a criminal mafia, it's time to ask some really direct questions about just how much criminal behavior is taking place. The GMA's money laundering slush fund is obviously a blatant attempt to violate fair election laws and deceive the public into not knowing which corporations are financially supporting opposition to I-522. This is illegal under state law.
Of course, once this list becomes known, every company that made a donation to this slush fund will be subjected to an aggressive nationwide boycott of its products. This is why the GMA is running its money laundering operation; to conceal their identities from the very public they are trying to influence with corporate money.
If the AG is successful in his attempt to force the GMA to disclose the names of its donors, there will be "hell to pay" in the marketplace for those companies that engaged in this shadowy, under-the-table effort to deceive consumers and block honest labeling. Natural News, in particular, will name them all and shame them for taking part in a money laundering slush fund operation.
For the record, Natural News contributed $12,000 to the YES on 522 campaign. And no, we don't have to run and hide in shame like the corporations funding the other side. Just like 522, we support transparency. The opposition operates in darkness and deceit while hoping to keep you ignorant about what you're really eating.
This battle over GMO labeling is not merely a fight about what goes on the label of foods. This is a fight for human rights versus mafia-style criminality that wants to keep us all dumbed-down, poisoned and ignorant. Today's GMO-pimping food giants are run like criminal empires, and they use all the tactics of criminal empires such as bribery, money laundering, intimidation, fraud and more.
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