Republican group parts with Sanford after trespassing report

By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has been accused by his ex-wife of trespassing at her home and must appear in court on May 9, two days after he stands for election as the Republican nominee for an open congressional seat.

Jenny Sanford, who divorced the former governor after revelations of his affair with an Argentine woman while he was in office, returned from a trip on February 3 to find Mark Sanford leaving her home through a back door using his phone as a flashlight, according to court documents.

Mark Sanford said on Wednesday that he had gone to her house on Sullivan's Island near Charleston to watch a football game with one of the couple's four sons.

"I did indeed watch the second half of the Super Bowl at the beach house with our 14-year-old son because as a father I didn't think he should watch it alone," Sanford said in a statement.

"Given she was out of town, I tried to reach her beforehand to tell her of the situation that had arisen, and met her at the back steps under the light of my cell phone when she returned and told her what had happened," he said.

The trespassing allegation comes as Mark Sanford seeks to make a political comeback by running for South Carolina's 1st congressional district seat, which he held from 1995 to 2001.

He will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of TV comedian and political satirist Stephen Colbert, in a special election on May 7. The seat was previously held by Tim Scott, who in December was appointed to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Sanford has faced criticism for a 2009 incident while he was governor, in which he tried to cover up a trip to Argentina to visit his mistress by saying he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He is now engaged to the woman.

The Sanfords' 2010 divorce agreement states that neither can enter the other's home without specific permission, according to the complaint filed by Jenny Sanford in Charleston County court.

The complaint alleges Mark Sanford has previously disobeyed the order and "has entered into a pattern of entering onto plaintiff's property, both at her former and current residences, without her permission and against her wishes."

Jenny Sanford has "demanded that it not occur again" and also filed a "No Trespass" letter with her local police department, the complaint said.

Jenny Sanford, who used to manage Mark Sanford's campaigns, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Colbert Busch declined through a spokesman to comment about the accusation against her opponent.

"There is always another side to every story," Mark Sanford said in his statement, adding that it was his belief the court records should have been sealed.

"I agree with Jenny that the media is no place to debate what is ultimately a family court matter, and out of respect for Jenny and the boys, I'm not going to have any further comment at this time," he said.

(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Johnston and Steve Orlofsky)

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Obama to address advocacy group pushing his agenda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will speak on Wednesday night to a group created by his former campaign advisers to advocate for issues such as gun control and immigration reform, an official from the organization said.

The group Organizing for Action is holding a two-day event in Washington this week for donors who have given more than $50,000, which has raised criticism that the group is selling access to the president.

Obama's appearance before the group, Organizing for Action, was confirmed on background by the official.

"Any notion that there is a set price for a meeting with the president of the United States is just wrong," White House spokesman Jay Carney said last week.

The group has said it will not accept corporate donations and will voluntarily release the names of donors who give more than $250, even though U.S. law does not require non-profit organizations to disclose the information.

(Editing by David Lindsey and Bill Trott)

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Obama advocacy group says it won't accept corporate cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new fundraising group allied with President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that it will not accept corporate donations and will release the names of donors who give more than $250.

The announcement by Organizing for Action, a nonprofit group formed by former Obama advisers, comes amid criticism from Republicans, government watchdog groups and others that the group could be used not just to advocate for Obama's agenda, but also to sell access to the Democratic president.

Because it is organized under U.S. law as a nonprofit, OFA, as it is known, may raise unlimited funds from individuals and corporations without disclosing its donors - as long as its advocacy focuses on issues rather than promoting candidates.

Similar groups poured tens of millions of dollars into the 2012 election campaign, much of it to support conservative and Republican candidates. Obama criticized the efforts, particularly the anonymity of donors to such groups.

Now, however, Obama's allies are using the same formula to fund campaigns pressing for gun control and increased taxes on the wealthy, key parts of the president's agenda.

Organizing for Action is planning an event next week in Washington for donors who have given more than $50,000. Those who give at least $500,000 can get a seat on the group's advisory board and access to Obama and other administration officials, according to the Los Angeles Times.

That arrangement has drawn blistering criticism from some in Washington.

"Judging by recent reports, Organizing for Action should be renamed Paying for Access," The Washington Post editorial page said on Sunday.

Jim Messina, Obama's former campaign manager and the national chairman of OFA, said on Thursday that every three months the group will release the names of all its donors who give more than $250, along with how much they donated.

The group, Messina said, also will prohibit donations from corporations, federal lobbyists and foreign donors. A spokeswoman for OFA said the group will accept contributions from unions, a big supporter of Obama's Democrats.

"We believe in being open and transparent," Messina wrote in an opinion piece published by CNN.com.

'VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE IS VOLUNTARY'

Messina's statement was the first time that OFA had detailed the level of transparency the group will provide about its funding.

The move may not satisfy campaign finance reform advocates.

"Voluntary disclosure is voluntary," said Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that seeks more transparency in campaign finance. "There is no way to check whether this is where they are actually getting the money or not."

Republican strategist Karl Rove's group, American Crossroads, which spent more than $100 million during the 2012 campaign, released an online video this week mocking OFA, saying it had put the White House up for sale.

"There has been some confusion about what Organizing for Action is and is not," Messina wrote in his op-ed. "Organizing for Action is an issue advocacy group, not an electoral one."

Messina said that the group's ads would disappear from the airwaves in the months before the next congressional elections in November 2014.

"We will not advertise inside the campaign window," a period defined by election law as 60 days before a general election, Messina said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

"We are not a political organization, so the midterms don't matter to us," Messina said.

Obama supporters and campaign finance watchers predict that Organizing for Action has the potential to reach a broad audience, but Messina said that the scope and ambition of the group is still unknown even to its organizers.

One donor, a former Obama fundraiser, said the group wants to raise "tens of millions of dollars," an amount that could make it a significant player in American politics - and a counter to conservative nonprofits.

Messina declined to provide a specific fundraising goal for his group.

"We're figuring it out right now," he said as he stepped outside of an OFA board meeting late Wednesday.

(Editing by David Lindsey and Vicki Allen)

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