April 25, 2008
Posted: 07:45 PM ET
From CNN Internet Reporter Abbi Tatton
The Obama campaign has asked for an investigation into two unofficial Web sites.
The Web sites — named donateooobama.org and donatetobarackobama.com — were operated by a group calling itself "Concerned Citizens for Obama." The first was advertised as a sponsored link on Google searches for "Barack Obama," appearing alongside Obama's official campaign web site. As of Friday afternoon, the sites displayed nothing but a 'for sale' notice. But screengrabs taken by CNN earlier this week show what appears to be an official Obama campaign logo, a photo of the candidate, and an invitation to donate up to $2300 — the maximum contribution allowed by a single donor to a political committee during a primary campaign. In a letter dated April 24, Obama campaign lawyer Robert Bauer wrote to the Department of Justice asking for an investigation. "These activities … appear clearly intended to deceive supporters of Barack Obama into believing they are contributing funds to our Committee," Bauer wrote.
The letter, addressed to the Chief of the Public Integrity section and provided to CNN by the Obama campaign, asks the Department of Justice to "initiate an immediate investigation of Concerned Citizens and the operation of these web sites." The sites are registered to Lou Kheriaty, a resident of Bellingham, Washington. Reached by phone Wednesday, Mr. Kheriaty described himself as an Internet developer and Obama supporter. Mr. Kheriaty said he didn't believe the web sites were misleading, pointing to a banner that informed readers they were donating to “Concerned Citizens for Obama.” There is no record of the group being registered with the Federal Election Commission. FEC records show Kheriaty donated to George W. Bush in 2004. A search of domain records shows he also owns a number of URLs, including donatetogiuliani.com and donatetothompson.com, as well as anti-Hillary Clinton domain names including hillaryrevealed.net. After a brief conversation with CNN Wednesday, repeated attempts to contact Mr. Kheriaty have gone unanswered. Kenneth Gross, an elections lawyer, said the site donatetoobama.org is "engaging in highly regulated activity with a number of landmines depending on how he's spending the money." He added: "It creates confusion at the very least." – CNN Internet Reporter Abbi Tatton Related Video: Abbi Tatton takes a look at the questionable Obama websites Filed under: Barack Obama |
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