Former AAC Delegate/Leader David Berg, D.C. Gives $6250 to TruthAZ Which Uses Funds to Advocate Defeat of Chiropractic Supporter Sen. Linda Gray
Former AAC Delegate and leader David Berg, D.C. gave $6250 to TruthAZ on 10/06/10 which was then used to help fund the $28,101.60 TruthAZ October 2010 mailing and email campaign advocating the defeat of Sen. Linda Gray for State Senate. Sen. Gray was the lead sponsor of the ACS copay and deductible insurance equality legislation in 2007 and 2008, and was one of the two legislators that asked the Attorney General for an opinion on the legality of the copays. For many years she has been one of the leading advocates for chiropractic in the state legislature. Dr. Berg's advocacy for the defeat of Sen. Gray is completely at odds with the political goals of the chiropractic profession.
TruthAZ also filed a complaint with the Clean Elections Commission claiming that the recent ACS/Harkins Babies Movie event fundraiser was actually an illegal fundraiser for Sen. Gray since she appeared as a guest speaker. TruthAZ taped a phone conversation with Dr. Immerman and turned the transcript in to the Commission. After an investigation, all charges were dismissed with the conclusion that neither Sen. Gray nor Dr.Immerman had violated any laws. It is possible that Dr. Berg's contributions also helped fund this effort to try to entrap Sen. Gray and Dr. Immerman. On Oct. 23, 2010, the following email was sent to Dr. Berg:
Dear Dr. Berg,
The ACS Newsletter will be printing a story in the Nov. 2010 issue about your $6250 cash contribution to TruthAZ since TruthAZ spent over $28,101.60 in October, 2010 trying to defeat Sen. Linda Gray, the main supporter of chiropractic in the State Senate. We wanted to give you an opportunity to explain why you made this contribution so that we could print it in the newsletter if you indeed wanted to make a statement.
Did you, for example, know that TruthAZ was going to spend your money to defeat Sen. Gray? What was your intent in giving such a large cash contribution to TruthAZ? What were you trying to accomplish politically for yourself personally, or for the chiropractic profession? We would really appreciate answers to these questions, as would the entire profession. This is your chance to make your case in your own words.
The deadline for your statement is Oct. 28th at 5 PM. Please keep your statement to 200 words or less. We will print your statement unedited.
Sincerely,
Alan M. Immerman, D.C.
On October 28, 2010, Dr. Berg provided the following statement which is printed unedited:
"When I learned of the well publicized attempts to confuse voters in the coming elections I was offended. I believe that faith in our free and lawful election system is central to our preservation of liberty. When that faith was threatened, I contributed to defend it. The Arizona Constitution ensures our citizens "purity" in its elections. This year, 10 plus Republicans all changed party registration the same day and became Green candidates. The Honorable Dean M. Fink found: "Based on the evidence presented, the Court has no hesitation in finding that each of these candidates was recruited in bad faith with a purpose to confuse the voting public." Regarding Chris Campbell the candidate from District 10 Judge Fink continued: "plainly he was a willing accomplice to a scheme to perpetrate a fraud on voters by engendering confusion…" The Court commented on a recorded conversation, which quite clearly showed Mr. Campbell's knowledge that "just having my name on the ballot is gonna take votes away from the Democrats." He also indicates that his candidacy will benefit Sen. Linda Gray. In my opinion, it's not about Republicans or Democrats…it's about right and wrong."
Dr. Immerman issued the following statement: "ACS condemns Dr. Berg's support of TruthAZ's anti-Senator Linda Gray campaign. If any ACS member was found to have contributed so many thousands of dollars to an attack organization advocating the defeat of our most loyal and active warrior in the entire state legislature, Senator Linda Gray, I would ask the ACS Board of Directors to immediately terminate that doctor's membership in our organization. I am certain I would get a 100% vote in the affirmative. This behavior, in my opinion, is self-destructive to the profession and inexcusable. ACS demands that the AAC investigage this matter since Dr. Berg is a member of the AAC."
All campaign finance filing forms and Clean Elections Commission reports referred to in this story are posted on this webpage to provide full factual documentation for all statements made.