“I Didn’t Go There With a Grudge Against Romney”


The secret is out. Six months after Mother Jones first released his video from Mitt Romney’s private fundraiser, Scott Prouty has revealed his identity on MSNBC’s The Ed Show. Earlier tonight, Prouty introduced himself as “a regular guy” with a “good moral compass.”

In part one of the interview Prouty explained, “I didn’t go there with a grudge against Romney. I was more interested as a voter.” He also explained how David Corn’s reporting on Mitt Romney’s Chinese investments helped him conclude that Mother Jones was the right choice to release the video.

Prouty continued by recounting his decision to allow Mother Jones to release the entire recording, following Mitt Romney’s press conference response to the video:

In part three, human rights activist Charlie Kernighan joined the interview to describe his influence on Prouty’s decision to release the video:

Finally, Prouty joined Ed Shultz live in studio. He apologized to the company he worked for, but added “what was at stake was more important than my job.”

Following the interview David Corn appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss Prouty’s unveiling:

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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