# Swift Boat Veterans for Truth **Swift Boat Veterans for Truth** was a political group formed in the spring of 2004 to oppose [[John Kerry]]'s campaign for president. Its members were Vietnam veterans who had served in the Navy's swift boat units; its money came mostly from three Texas Republican donors; and its product was a series of television ads and a bestselling book attacking Kerry's war record. The ads are covered on their own page: [[Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Ads]]. ## What it was The group organized as a [[527 Organization]], a tax-exempt political entity that at the time could accept contributions of any size. It filed its notice of 527 status with the IRS on April 23, 2004 and introduced itself at a press conference on May 4. The press conference drew little coverage. The ads that began in August did not have that problem. Its public face was John O'Neill, a Houston lawyer and swift boat veteran, alongside retired Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann. In September 2004 it merged with a group of former prisoners of war and renamed itself Swift Vets and POWs for Truth. ## Money According to the [[Federal Election Commission]], the group raised more than **$25 million** in the 2004 cycle. More than half of what it reported came from three men: | Donor | Amount | |---|---| | Bob Perry, Houston homebuilder | about $4.45 million | | Harold Simmons, Dallas investor | $3 million | | T. Boone Pickens, Dallas oilman | $2 million | Perry supplied the early money that paid for the first ad. He was a longtime donor to Texas Republicans and to [[George W. Bush]], and [[Karl Rove]] described him as a friend. That tie is as far as the record goes: the Kerry campaign's complaint that the group coordinated with the Bush campaign was not upheld. ## People - **John O'Neill** — spokesman and co-author of *Unfit for Command* - **[[Jerome Corsi]]** — co-author of *Unfit for Command*, published by [[Regnery Publishing]] - **[[Chris LaCivita]]** — media adviser who made the ads - **[[Ben Ginsberg]]** — counsel, who resigned from the Bush campaign in August 2004 when his work for the group became public ## The FEC case On **December 13, 2006** the [[Federal Election Commission]] announced that the group had agreed to pay a **$299,500** civil penalty. The commission found that it had acted as a federal political committee without registering as one, had failed to report, and had accepted contributions beyond what a registered committee could lawfully take. Two other 527 operations from the same cycle, the League of Conservation Voters' and a [[MoveOn]] fund, were fined the same day. The commission took no further action on the allegation of coordination with the Bush campaign. ## Why it's on the map The group existed for one election and changed how the next several were fought. It showed that a small buy from an outside group could set the agenda of a presidential race for a month, that the legal consequences would arrive years after the votes were counted, and that the fine would be a rounding error next to the spending. Its name became a verb, [[Swiftboating]], and its media adviser went on to run a winning presidential campaign twenty years later. ## Connections - [[Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Ads]] — the ads themselves - [[Swiftboating]] — the term - [[2004 Presidential Election]] - [[527 Organization]] · [[Independent Expenditure]] · [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]] - [[Political Ads Hub]]