A retreat attended by McDonnell, left, and Perry almost slipped by unnoticed. | AP Photos McDonnell, Perry at Koch summit

Two prominent Republican governors – Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Rick Perry of Texas – mingled with other GOP notables and some of the wealthiest conservative donors in the country at the annual summer retreat organized by the Koch brothers that began Sunday near Vail, Colo.

The conference, one in a series of semi-annual gatherings sponsored by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, drew relatively little scrutiny, with only a few dozen liberal activists gathering to protest outside the Bachelor Gulch, Colo., luxury hotel that hosted the three-day conference, which runs through Tuesday.


That’s quite a contrast to the Kochs’ January donor summit held in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The invitation for that summit leaked to the press, allowing liberal groups to organize a panel and occasionally raucous protest outside the host resort, where hundreds of demonstrators accused the Kochs of hijacking American democracy with millions of dollars in undisclosed donations to conservative political groups.

This time, the retreat almost slipped by unnoticed until McDonnell last Wednesday released his schedule for the week, which included a Sunday trip to Colorado to attend the conference.

It marked at least the eighth time McDonnell has attended one of the Koch conferences, which typically bring together about 200 conservative business titans and dignitaries hand-picked by the Koch brothers and their operatives to discuss free-enterprise conservative causes and raise millions of dollars in contributions to political groups such as Americans for Prosperity, and other non-profits favored by the Kochs.

The January California retreat raised a reported $49 million in pledged donations to such groups from the participants. The brothers reportedly hope to raise millions more in the run-up to the 2012 election.

That marks them as a major financial force in conservative politics, and sets them up as something of a more ideological counterweight to the network of non-profit groups conceived by Karl Rove and other GOP operatives who are regarded as more pragmatic in their approach.

Perry attended the retreat partly in his capacity as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. And the head of the RGA’s major donor fundraising program, Fred Malek, is also a participant.

In a Sunday speech, Perry “discussed the need to elect more Republican Governor’s around the country” and also talked about his job-creation record, said his spokesman Mark Miner, who said the trip was unrelated to Perry’s consideration of a bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

“This was no different than other speeches the governor gives talking about job creation and the economy in Texas,” said Miner, who said Perry “flew on a private plane and no taxpayer dollars were used.”

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli also attended the conference – his second such Koch summit, according to his spokesman Noah Wall, who said the trip was funded entirely with campaign funds.

Cuccinelli’s legal challenge to the healthcare overhaul signed into law last year by President Barack Obama has made him a star in tea party circles, and Wall said his boss delivered a Monday breakfast speech about federalism that touched on that suit, and one his office has brought against the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Earlier this year, McDonnell told POLITICO that the “main goal of the seminars” is “education on the challenges that face the American system of free enterprise and democracy, and what people can do about them.”

And he cast the conferences as playing an important role in the political process, saying “groups on the right, left and in the middle get together all over this great country to exercise their first amendment rights to talk about these issues – some of them are public. Some of them are closed meetings.” he said. “So, to the degree that some on the left may be trying to attack these Koch seminars is really ridiculous.”

Indeed, the liberal big donor group Democracy Alliance has held similar closed door meetings twice a year since 2005.

The Koch conferences are organized and paid for by the Koch brothers’ oil and chemical company, Koch Industries, and have taken place twice a year since 2003, with the winter meetings typically in the Palm Springs area, and the summer meetings in Colorado – so selected for their proximity to homes owned by the Koch brothers.

Those who attend are warned not to mention the meetings publicly, and – until January’s meeting in California – every previous meeting had gone off without a word in the press.

In the past, the meetings have drawn an A list of participants – politicians like Sens. John Cornyn (Tex.) and Jim DeMint (S.C.) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), as well as leading free-market thinkers including American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, talkers Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and even Supreme Court justices to mingle with wealthy donors who make up the bulk of the invite list.

Cornyn, DeMint and Cantor did not attend this week’s conference, according to their offices, nor did major GOP presidential candidates, such as former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota or Jon Huntsman of Utah or Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.