VDP Files Complaint Against Americans for Prosperity

Montpelier, VT - The Vermont Democratic Party filed a consumer complaint against a far-right, oil-funded group meddling in Vermont elections today. Americans for Prosperity, an arm of the same Koch network of organizations that funded the devastating, retrograde Project 2025, has been sending campaign-style mail to Vermonters spreading falsehoods about Democratic environmental policies in violation of business registration laws.

“The far-right trolls at AFP are lying to Vermonters about climate policies and they’re lying to Vermonters about where the mailers came from,” said VDP Executive Director Jim Dandeneau.

According to 11B V.S.A. § 15.01(a), a “foreign corporation may not transact business in this State until it obtains a certificate of authority from the Secretary of State.” AFP’s mailers claim that they were paid for by “Americans for Prosperity Vermont,” an organization that does not exist in the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division registry and does not have a certificate of authority. Simply put, AFP is spending tens of thousands of dollars lobbying Vermonters on behalf of a business that doesn’t exist.

“This is standard operating procedure for the far-right,” said Dandeneau. “They flout laws that they don’t agree with, they lie about their goals, and they undermine democratic elections with a flood of money and mistruths. It’s time Vermonters knew who was fighting against our Democratic values right here in Vermont.”