David Bossie

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David Norman Bossie
Head shot of dark haired young man with some five o'clock shadow, wearing blue shirt, red striped necktie, and dark jacket.
Bossie in February 2011
Born 1965
Boston, MA
Residence Ashton, Maryland
Education attended University of Maryland
Known for Conservative activist
exposing wrongdoing of political opponents
Political party Republican
Board member of Citizens United
Spouse Susan
Children Isabella
Griffin
Lily Campbell
Awards 1999 Ronald Reagan Award from Conservative Political Action Conference

David N. Bossie (born 1965 in Boston, Massachusetts)[1] is an American political activist. Since 2000 he has been President and Chairman of conservative advocacy organization Citizens United.[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Bossie grew up in Massachusetts to parents he has described as "apolitical". When he first registered to vote he left the political affiliation box blank. When an employee explained to him that it was a requirement for registration in Massachusetts, he said that he wanted to be whatever Ronald Reagan was. The employee said that she wasn't permitted to tell him but gave him a newspaper and said, "Here, read this, figure it out and fill in the appropriate box."[1]

[edit] Career

[edit] Presidential Victory Committee

During the 1992 presidential election, Bossie worked for Floyd Brown at the Presidential Victory Committee, a political action committee. Bossie and a colleague attempted to show that a pregnant young woman had committed suicide in 1977, following an affair with her law professor Bill Clinton. CBS Evening News with Dan Rather alleged they had harassed Susann Coleman's family, with what Engberg called "police state" tactics.[3]

[edit] Congressional investigator

Bossie was hired as a political activist during the Whitewater scandal.[clarification needed]

Mr. Bossie worked for Fred Thompson's U.S. Senate investigation of Whitewater.[4]

After the Republicans won control of the United States House of Representatives in the 1996 elections Dan Burton, (R-IN), became chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. In 1997, he hired Mr. Bossie as chief investigator to look into Clinton campaign finance abuses.[4] By May 1998, Burton came under intense partisan pressure; even fellow Republicans complained that committee staff had published redacted tapes and transcripts of former United States Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell's prison telephone calls omitting some exculpatory passages. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pressed Burton to seek Bossie's resignation.[5] Shortly thereafter, Burton accepted Bossie's resignation.[6]

Burton fired Bossie early in the investigation for supervising the editing of recordings and transcripts so that they portrayed President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Clinton staffer Webster Hubbell in a negative light.[citation needed] Committee chief counsel Richard D. Bennett (now a federal judge in Maryland) hired a team of professional investigators to continue the House investigation into campaign finance abuses.[citation needed]

[edit] Citizens United

During his tenure at Citizens United, the organization focused increasingly on producing feature film documentaries through its Citizens United Productions division. Their films have included:

Citizens United hoped to begin distribution of the feature film Hillary: The Movie in January or February of 2008. But the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 made that an unlawful electioneering communication. They sued, unsuccessfully, for an injunction to prohibit the Federal Election Commission from enforcement of those provisions of BCRA on first amendment grounds.[7]

In a 2010 landmark decision, the Supreme Court decided Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for Citizens United. For-profit and not-for-profit corporations may now advertise and broadcast messages of a political nature without limits on how much they can spend and with few limits on the timing and nature of the messages.

Citizens United supported Newt Gingrich in the 2012 Iowa caucuses.[8]

[edit] Publications

Bossie is the author of The Many Faces of John Kerry, a critical look at presidential candidate Senator John Kerry. He has also written Intelligence Failure, a piece alleging failings on the part of the national security apparatus during the Clinton Administration in the years before September 11, 2001. Bossie is also the author of the 2008 publication Hillary: the Politics of Personal Destruction and co-author of the 2000 release Prince Albert: the Life and Lies of Al Gore with Floyd Brown.

At the Tea Party Convention, Bossie debuted his documentary Generation Zero, focusing on the 2008 financial crisis, and its basis in the selfishness of the Baby Boomer generation.

[edit] Awards and honors

Bossie received the Ronald Reagan Award from the Conservative Political Action Conference in 1999.

[edit] Personal

Bossie has served for 20 years as a Montgomery County, Maryland volunteer firefighter. He lived in the firehouse for several years before his marriage. He met his wife, Susan, through his political work. As of 2010 they reside in Montgomery County with their three children (Isabella, Griffin and Lily Campbell.)[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Bossie, David (20 February 2010). (Interview). Washington Journal. C-SPAN. rtsp://video1.c-span.org/project/c04/c04_wj100304_bossie.rm. Retrieved 2012-01-21.  (date not verified)
  2. ^ David N. Bossie biography, Citizens United official website (accessed September 21, 2008)
  3. ^ Engberg, Eric; Dan Rather (July 13, 1992). "Campaign '92 / Presidential Victory Committee / Clinton" (fee). CBS Evening News. 345331. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=345331. Retrieved 2012-01-21. "Presidential Victory Committee dirty tricks operation in support of President Bush's campaign featured; details given of anonymous letter alleging that pregnant Susann Coleman committed suicide 15 years ago after a love affair with Governor Bill Clinton, who was then her law professor; Coleman's family quoted on the matter; excerpt shown of Bush campaign ads by Presidential Victory Committee head Floyd Brown. [Coleman family FRIEND - talks about people peering in her window and being questioned.] Scenes shown of investigators Dave Bossie and Jim Murphy, who are paid by the committee. [In shadow, Coleman's HUSBAND, Coleman's SISTER - explain how the two investigators questioned them.] Excerpt played (transcription on screen) of telephone conversation between Brown and Coleman's sister."  (subscription required) via Vanderbilt University
  4. ^ a b Clines, Francis X. (March 09, 1997). "'Pit Bull' Congressman Gets a Chance to Be More Aggressive". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/us/pit-bull-congressman-gets-a-chance-to-be-more-aggressive.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  5. ^ Alvarez, Lizette (May 11, 1998). "Top Democrat Issues Threat To Head of House Inquiry". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/11/us/top-democrat-issues-threat-to-head-of-house-inquiry.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  6. ^ Schmitt, Eric (May 10, 1998). "May 3-9; A Top Aide Resigns". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/10/weekinreview/may-3-9-a-top-aide-resigns.html?src=pm. Retrieved 2012-01-21. "Under pressure from Speaker Newt Gingrich, Representative Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican who heads the House Government and Reform Committee, accepted the resignation of the aide, David N. Bossie, a dogged anti-Clinton sleuth." 
  7. ^ *U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (January 15, 2008). "Memorandum Opinion, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission". Civil Action No. 07-2240. http://moneyline.cq.com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/moneyLine/reference/20080115hillary.pdf. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  8. ^ Confessore, Nicholas (December 28, 2011). "Third-Party Groups Are Gearing Up in Iowa". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/third-party-groups-are-gearing-up-in-iowa/. Retrieved 2012-01-21. "Citizens United, has begun showing a television commercial in Iowa that features Mr. Gingrich and his wife, Callista, talking about Ronald Reagan. The group is run by David Bossie, a longtime friend and ally of Mr. Gingrich." 

[edit] External links

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