Report: GOP, outside groups used Twitter to share polling info

CNN is reporting Republicans and outside groups used Twitter accounts that were hidden in plain sight to share polling data ahead of the midterm elections, which raises questions about coordination that is banned under campaign finance law.

From the CNN report, citing "a source with knowledge of the activities":

A typical tweet read: "CA-40/43-44/49-44/44-50/36-44/49-10/16/14-52-->49/476-10s." The source said posts like that — which would look like gibberish to most people — represented polling data for various House races.

CNN, citing its unnamed source,  said at least two outside groups and a GOP campaign committee had access to the information posted to the accounts, which were deleted after the network's reported contacted the House GOP campaign arm with questions.

The organizations named by CNN include American Crossroads, the super PAC founded by GOP strategist Karl Rove; American Action Network, a non-profit advocacy group; and the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign operation. Those organizations did not comment to CNN.

One account, @brunogianelli44, made reference to Bruno Gianelli, the fictional character from  TV's The West Wing played by actor Ron Silver. Gianelli managed the second-term campaign of President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen). The other account was @truthtrain14.

Kenneth Gross, a former Federal Election Commission lawyer, told CNN it was as though Republicans needed a "some sort of Ovaltine decoder ring" to figure out the information. But, he said, the government has to prove there was coordination among the groups to share the information.

Here's why this Twitter activity is significant, from the CNN story by Chris Moody:

The practice is the latest effort in the quest by political operatives to exploit the murky world of campaign finance laws at a time when limits on spending in politics are eroding and regulators are being defanged.

The law says that outside groups, such as super PACs and non-profits, can spend freely on political causes as long as they don't coordinate their plans with campaigns. Sharing costly internal polls in private, for instance, could signal to the campaign committees where to focus precious time and resources.