Melvin Sembler

Major Republican fundraiser and Florida real estate developer Melvin Sembler [3] is providing the financial backing behind the new political front group [4] Keep America Safe [5] (KAS), headed by Elizabeth Cheney [6], daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney [7]. KAS serves as a mouthpiece for policies supported by Dick Cheney, who, since leaving office, has denounced the U.S. Department of Justice [8] investigation into the Bush administration [9]'s use of torture [10], and opposed President Obama's [11] plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility [12]. KAS is preparing to run a series of radio and Web ads criticizing President Obama [11]'s policies on national security in the districts of vulnerable Democratic members of Congress. In addition to bankrolling KAS, Sembler is a former chair of the Republican National Committee [13], and served as executive director of I. Lewis "Scooter Libby [14]'s legal defense fund. Sembler also helped fund the propaganda group Freedom's Watch [15], which also promoted Bush and Cheney's pro-military policies.