Kochs brothers help Republicans catch up on technology Themis, a secretive group reportedly bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, aims to become an analytical powerhouse for Republican campaigns, Peter Henderson reports:  Called Themis, the independent group is the most ambitious of the many conservative political technology projects now in development. People with direct knowledge of the group as well as political technology industry veterans say it is backed by the Koch brothers, although their names do not appear on an annual regulatory filing and Koch Industries spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. The Kochs own Koch Industries, the Wichita, Kansas-based natural resources conglomerate that refines oil, produces chemicals and owns the paper products company Georgia-Pacific. Chief Executive Officer Charles Koch and his brother David are worth $25 billion each, according to Forbes. Themis staffers in their twenties and thirties, clad in jeans and checked shirts, work out of a suite in a nondescript office building in Alexandria, Virginia. City records indicate that the company expanded recently, and a federal filing shows millions of dollars in the bank. Themis operates like many other Koch projects - in secrecy. A reporter retrieving a federal filing from the company was not allowed inside the unmarked front door, and Themis executives declined or did not respond to requests for comment. Read more Photo credit: A man takes pictures of Newt Gingrich with an Apple iPad during a town hall campaign stop in Plymouth, New Hampshire, January 5, 2012. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Kochs brothers help Republicans catch up on technology

Themis, a secretive group reportedly bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, aims to become an analytical powerhouse for Republican campaigns, Peter Henderson reports: 

Called Themis, the independent group is the most ambitious of the many conservative political technology projects now in development. People with direct knowledge of the group as well as political technology industry veterans say it is backed by the Koch brothers, although their names do not appear on an annual regulatory filing and Koch Industries spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.

The Kochs own Koch Industries, the Wichita, Kansas-based natural resources conglomerate that refines oil, produces chemicals and owns the paper products company Georgia-Pacific. Chief Executive Officer Charles Koch and his brother David are worth $25 billion each, according to Forbes.

Themis staffers in their twenties and thirties, clad in jeans and checked shirts, work out of a suite in a nondescript office building in Alexandria, Virginia. City records indicate that the company expanded recently, and a federal filing shows millions of dollars in the bank.

Themis operates like many other Koch projects - in secrecy. A reporter retrieving a federal filing from the company was not allowed inside the unmarked front door, and Themis executives declined or did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more

Photo credit: A man takes pictures of Newt Gingrich with an Apple iPad during a town hall campaign stop in Plymouth, New Hampshire, January 5, 2012. REUTERS/Mike Segar