Lobbyists in Washington have set up nonprofit organizations to tangentially represent the interests of alcohol, tobacco, and other industries, ABC7/KGO-TV reported May 3.

One of these groups, the Center for Consumer Freedom, spreads policy-targeted messages through various websites such as Fishscam.com, composed of what critics call disingenuous or blatantly false claims.

David Martosko, one of the directors of the Center, voiced one such claim: "Government statistics and independent science confirms very clearly that the drunk-driving problem in this country has been reduced to a small hard core of repeat offenders," he said. But those same "government statistics" show that most DWI arrests are first-time offenders.

"We like to call shenanigans on people when they're really off base. So we're sort of a watchdog group in that respect," he said.

The Center was founded by Richard Berman, a lobbyist for the beverage, food, and tobacco industries, who also has started several other "educational" groups. When asked how much lobbying interests were involved in the Center's function and funding, Martosko said, "I don't know the firms that send the Center for Consumer Freedom money. I don't want to know. It's not my business to know," he said.

John Stauber, founder of the Center for Media and Democracy, called the group's tactics, "Not public-interest campaigns, but smear campaigns that he brags about to muddy the image and reputation of legitimate public-interest organizations and scientists."