Former(?) Koch Operative Behind the Major New Attack Against Rand Paul?

Wow, not only does Rand have to be concerned about an attack from billionaire neocon Sheldon Adelson, but a new attack is coming via a political operative who was a major Koch brothers man.

I have already pointed out that it appears Rand was set up to be the fall guy in the killing of the investigation of Congressional fraud related to Obamacare and that a political action group is already out with an attack ad in Iowa against Rand's killing of the investigation. This is serious, well thought out activities, designed to inflict major damage on Rand's presidential aspirations.

It turns out that the political action group behind the attack ad is American Encore.

Here's what Source Watch has to say about American Encore (my Bold):

American Encore is a secretive nonprofit group (formerly known as the Center to Protect Patient Rights) organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code that funneled more than $182 million in undisclosed donations to right-wing advocacy groups from 2009 to 2012, including Americans for Prosperity and the American Future Fund. The Washington Post described it as a "major cash turnstile for groups on the right during the past two election cycles," because it received large amounts of money from Freedom Partners and TC4 Trust as part of the $400 million Koch political network.

The president of American Encore is Sean Noble. Here's what ProPublica had to say about Noble in 2014:

The Dark Money Man: How Sean Noble Moved the Kochs’ Cash into Politics and Made Millions

For a brief, giddy moment, Sean Noble—a little-known former aide to an Arizona congressman—became one of the most important people in American politics.

Plucked from obscurity by libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, Noble was tasked with distributing a torrent of political money raised by the Koch network, a complex web of nonprofits nicknamed the Kochtopus, into conservative causes in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Noble handed out almost $137 million in 2012 alone -- all of it so-called dark money from unnamed donors -- from his perch atop the Center to Protect Patient Rights, a group run out of an Arizona post office box.

Much of it was channeled to obvious destinations: Groups supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for example.

But with Noble as ringmaster, Koch money also poured into efforts that didn’t surface until long after Election Day: To a political committee backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker against a recall attempt; to a group blaming President Obama for high gas prices; even to a legal challenge to Arizona’s redistricting plan.

“I must tell you that Sean Noble from your group has been immensely helpful in our efforts,” a California multimillionaire wrote to Charles Koch in October 2012, asking Koch to give several million to support an anti-union initiative in the state. “Thanks for any consideration.”...

Much of Noble’s work in 2012 remained invisible to the public until the Center and dozens of other Koch-backed nonprofits released their tax returns late last year...

In an email, Rob Tappan, spokesman for Koch Industries, did not respond to specific questions from ProPublica about Noble or the Center, but acknowledged Noble “was a consultant for Koch in the past and attended Koch seminars.” Tappan likened Noble to Jim Messina, who was Obama’s campaign manager, and Paul Begala, a chief strategist for Bill Clinton in his first presidential run.

It is unclear if Noble still does work for the Kochs. According to Pro Pulblica, a  California investigation, coupled with poor election results, weakened Noble’s influence on the Koch network and shrank the Center’s role within it.

If he is, he is doing so with a much lower profile, But whoever is behind the attack on Rand, it is a very serious player, guys like Noble do not come cheap, and it is going to be a very serious problem for Rand.

-RW