GOP Funder Bankrolling Cheney Family Front Group, "Keep America Safe"

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Melvin Sembler

Major Republican fundraiser and Florida real estate developer Melvin Sembler is providing the financial backing behind the new political front group Keep America Safe (KAS), headed by Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. KAS serves as a mouthpiece for policies supported by Dick Cheney, who, since leaving office, has denounced the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Bush administration's use of torture, and opposed President Obama's plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. KAS is preparing to run a series of radio and Web ads criticizing President Obama'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, and served as executive director of I. Lewis "Scooter Libby's legal defense fund. Sembler also helped fund the propaganda group Freedom's Watch, which also promoted Bush and Cheney's pro-military policies.