Introduction

David Koch, executive vice president of Koch Industries, Inc., attends The Economic Club of New York on Dec. 10, 2012. Associated Press / Mark Lennihan

“Obscene amounts of cash.”

“Off to their fastest start ever.”

“Spending more than ever before to defend Boehner’s Tea Party House.”

These are among the politically charged phrases Democratic party committees used last week in numerous fundraising emails to describe the actions of David and Charles Koch, the billionaire oilmen who rank among conservative interests’ top bankrollers.

The Democrats don’t generally cite a source when making such assertions.

But they immediately follow a June 20 article by the Center for Public Integrity about the spending habits of KOCHPAC, the political action committee sponsored by Koch Industries Inc., which the Koch brothers run. The Center’s article also appeared in the Huffington Post, which one DSCC email does cite.

The following slideshow shows how Democrats, in a bid to raise big bucks themselves before 2013’s mid-year campaign finance reporting deadline, repeatedly used the Koch brothers as fundraising tools: