Joel Arends

Wikipedia - Veterans for a Strong America

"Veterans for a Strong America (VSA) is a conservative political action committee that describes itself as a "non-partisan action organization dedicated to educating the public, members of Congress and the Executive Branch about a strong national defense, robust foreign policy and building a military that is second to none." The group was founded by Joel Arends of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who is also the chairman and sole staffer of the group. Arends is an attorney and political consultant in Sioux Falls, where the organization is based. He previously worked as the South Dakota field director for the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign and as a consultant to the Americans for Prosperity group, affiliated with the Koch brothers. VSA has been described as a dark money group."

"Veterans for a Strong America is part of a "broader independent campaign by nonprofits linked to former Koch brothers operative Sean Noble," who runs the political consulting firm DC London. The group was formerly registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) ("social welfare") non-profit organization, but the group's status was automatically revoked by the IRS in August 2015 because it failed to submit tax reporting documents (Form 990s) for three years in a row."

"In May 2014, VSA released an attack advertisement against Arizona businesswoman Christine Jones, who was running against Arizona State Treasurer Doug Ducey in the Republican primary for Arizona gubernatorial election. The ad invoked the 2012 Benghazi attack and attacked Jones for "once writing kind words about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." Jones' campaign criticized the ad as the "act of a desperate, fledgling campaign and their dark money allies who feel the need to go to this absurd association." The ad was also produced by Nobel's DC London, which Arends called "a great partner to our organization.""

Jan. 8, 2023