Investigative Report
In October 2023, a group called the Idaho Liberty Political Action Committee (PAC) spent nearly $50,000 on literature and staff targeting conservative Republican Idaho Senators Tammy Nichols, Chris Trakel, and Brian Lenney, all from Canyon County.
The Idaho Liberty PAC is a relatively new entity in Idaho, forming on April 15, 2022, and a look into the PAC’s donations, and where they spend the money, is very revealing.
As shown in the expenditure report posted above, the Idaho Liberty PAC hired September Group LLC, out of Salt Lake City, to handle the campaigns against Nichols, Trakel, and Lenney. Below are copies of the door hangers handed out by September Group’s paid workers in Canyon County in the fall of 2023.
Notice the rhetoric used in all three door hangers claiming the three senators want to turn Idaho into San Francisco, and that they voted to “defund” the police, prisons, and veterans. The sources used to support this claim are three bloated budget bills from the 2023 Legislative Session that conservative legislators voted against, which just happened to include some taxpayer money for police and veterans.
Recently, Nichols was interviewed on a program known as Freedom Bros Podcast, where she announced her reelection bid to the Idaho Senate. Around four minutes into the interview, Nichols related a story about crossing paths with one of the paid door knockers for the Idaho Liberty PAC. Apparently the worker did not recognize Nichols, as he spoke with her for a little while, sharing that he came from Utah, and that he, and his colleagues, would be back in April, before the 2024 May Primary. When Nichols asked the young man, “Who is the Idaho Liberty PAC?” he responded by saying, “Brad Little’s PAC.”
This statement, from a campaign worker out of Utah, indicates the Idaho Liberty PAC is commonly known to be linked to Idaho’s sitting Republican Governor, Brad Little. This is a claim that demands careful review, as Idaho Republican voters deserve to know who is funding campaigns against three of their party’s leading conservative voices in the Idaho Legislature.
In order to substantiate, or refute, the claim that Idaho Liberty PAC is “Brad Little’s PAC,” a close look was taken into the money trail via the Campaign Finance Disclosures on the Idaho Secretary of State (SOS) website, and it provided a wealth of information. As of this writing, the Idaho Liberty PAC has received $584,000 from 17 donors since its C-1 filing in April of 2022. Some of the biggest donations came courtesy of the Idaho Association of Realtors ($25,000), Ahlquist Development ($5,000), Richard and Peggy Larson Farms ($20,000), and Melaleuca ($70,000). However, the largest chunk of money came from an entity known as the Idaho Victory Fund, which contributed $340,000 to the Idaho Liberty PAC.
As of November 18, 2023, the Idaho Victory Fund has donated $441,545 to various candidates and PACs, including the $340,000 to the Idaho Liberty PAC. Most of their smaller donations went to candidates such as Jeff Agenbroad, Carl Crabtree, Jim Patrick, Jim Woodward, Laurie Lickley, Greg Chaney, Jim Guthrie, and other Idaho legislators whose votes on bills regularly earned poor ratings from watchdog groups, like the Idaho Freedom Foundation, and the American Conservative Union, also known as CPAC.
As of November 18, 2023, the Idaho Victory Fund has received $1,160,580 in donations since January 2020. Many of their contributions have come from the healthcare industry, and large corporations, including:
- $11,000 from Blue Cross of Idaho.
- $22,000 from the Idaho Credit Union Legislative Action Committee.
- $10,000 from the Idaho Forest Group.
- $10,000 from Melaleuca.
- $11,000 from CoreCivic.
- $25,000 from the Motor Vehicle Software Corporation.
- $9,500 from Regence.
- $11,000 from St. Luke’s Health Plan.
- $10,000 from Surgery Partners.
- $3,250 from the Mike Simpson for Congress.
However, nearly half of the Idaho Victory Fund’s war chest came from an entity called the Idaho Inaugural Committee. This organization contributed $500,000 to Idaho Victory Fund on March 6, 2023.
According to the Campaign Financial Disclosures reported on Idaho’s SOS website, the Idaho Inaugural Committee only made a single donation, the aforementioned $500,000, to the Idaho Victory Fund. Searches for the Idaho Inaugural Committee as a PAC bring up no results, but searches for the same name as a Vendor shows the entity received $72,500 from eight PACs in a span of seven weeks. This limited information is all that could be found on the SOS Campaign Finance Disclosure portal, and it remains unclear where the majority of the $500,000 originated.
Additionally, there is a PAC called the Friends of Brad Little that shares the same post office box number as both the Idaho Inaugural Committee, and the Idaho Victory Fund. The Friends of Brad Little PAC was formed on November 12, 2022, just days after Governor Little was reelected, although on the day it was filed, it was known as the Idaho Inaugural Committee.
The Idaho Inaugural Committee, the Friends of Brad Little PAC, and Brad Little’s gubernatorial campaign all share the same treasurer, Vicki Risch, wife of US Senator Jim Risch.
As of November 18, 2023, disclosure filings show the Friends of Brad Little PAC has received $789,375 since its founding. There are many familiar names on the donor list, including Richard and Peggy Larsen Farms ($30,000), the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association ($30,000), Melaleuca ($20,000), Blue Cross of Idaho ($10,000), and Regence ($10,000). One donation that stands out is $2,500 from David Little, the governor’s son and manager of the family business.
Furthermore, the initial filing for the Idaho Inaugural Committee, before it was renamed to the Friends of Brad Little PAC, was signed by a man named Hayden Rogers, who managed Little’s 2022 reelection campaign, and works in the governor’s office. As of November 18, 2023, Rogers has received nearly $78,000 from the coffers of Brad Little’s campaign, and the Idaho Victory Fund.
These pertinent facts call into question how much separation there is between the Friends of Brad Little PAC, and the governor himself.
Brad Little was sworn in for his second term on January 6, 2023. On the same day, the Idaho Inaugural Committee donated $500,000 to the Idaho Victory Fund, then filed a C-5 report dated March 8, 2023, which indicated it had renamed the Idaho Inaugural Committee, after its C-5 filing on February 21, 2023, to the Friends of Brad Little PAC.
A few months ago, Governor Brad Little mailed a letter soliciting donations to the Friends of Brad Little PAC.
As shown in the photographs posted below, the Brad Little fundraising letter indicated the monies donated to the Friends of Brad Little PAC would be used to fight President Joe Biden, and the Democrats.
Did the recipients of this letter realize that rather than fighting Joe Biden and the Democrats that their donations would be used to attack incumbent conservative Republican Senators Nichols, Trakel, and Lenney?
Let’s connect the dots — Idaho Inaugural Committee, aka Friends of Brad Little PAC, shares the same treasurer as Governor Little’s campaign, received donations from members of his family, was initially run by his campaign manager, now senior advisor, Hayden Rogers, and was the recipient of donations solicited by the governor himself.
After the inauguration, the Idaho Inaugural Committee delivered half a million dollars to the Idaho Victory Fund, which shares the same post office box number as the Friends of Brad Little PAC.
The Idaho Victory Fund has donated $340,000 to the Idaho Liberty PAC over the last year-and-a-half, including $75,000 after the cash infusion from the Friends of Brad Little PAC.
The Idaho Liberty PAC is currently spending money attacking Republican Idaho Senators Nichols, Trakel, and Lenney.
Perhaps the paid door-knocker encountered by Nichols was correct, it is not wholly inaccurate to suggest that the Idaho Liberty PAC is “Brad Little’s PAC.”
While there does not appear to be anything illegal to shuffling the campaign funds between PACs, valid questions have been raised as to how closely Governor Little works with the Friends of Brad Little PAC, including who made the decision to use the Idaho Liberty PAC money to attack conservative legislators, and whether the donors to the respective PACs knew their money would be used against three of Idaho’s top conservative legislators in the Senate.
At the very least, the funding surrounding the hit political literature raises questions about Governor Little’s priorities. He apparently solicited donations on the premise of fighting Joe Biden, only to give a large amount of money to a PAC that hired an out-of-state firm to distribute attack ads against three conservative Senators.
by Brian Almon, Ada County, Idaho
This investigative article was adapted from Brain Almon’s original publication on Gem State Substack, and is published in the Kootenai Journal with copyright approval from the author.
The Kootenai Journal reached out to Governor Little’s office by phone for comment, and followed up with an email specifying the response deadline. The governor’s office did not reply with comment by the time of publication.
