Earlier this week we reported that Congressman Tom Perriello of Virginia got at least six letters opposing the climate bill that appeared to come from the NAACP and a Hispanic advocacy group -- letters later revealed as forgeries created by a public relations firm working for the nation's leading coal lobby.



Now Perriello, who voted for the legislation, is reporting that he's found even more forged letters opposing the bill -- these from senior citizens' and women's advocacy groups.

The Charlottesville Daily Progress, the newspaper that broke the story about the forgeries, reports that Perriello's office also received forged letters opposing the climate bill that purported to come from the Jefferson Area Board for Aging and the American Association of University Women. The letters were sent by a firm called Bonner and Associates, which was working on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

[UPDATE: We heard from Katherine Broendel, a communications fellow with AAUW, about the forgery: "On behalf of AAUW, we resent the act of fraud perpetrated against this esteemed, 128-year-old charitable membership organization," she wrote. "AAUW has worked a long time to build our good reputation and keep our name untarnished. Our members have used their collective voices to break through barriers for women and girls. The notion that someone would come along and co-opt that name, or attempt to harness that collective voice under false lights, is a breathtaking deceit."]

While ACCCE has tried to distance itself from the forgeries, big questions about the group's role remain. ThinkProgress reports:

Since the scandal broke last Friday, ACCCE has placed the blame on its contractors, the Astroturf specialists Hawthorn Group and Bonner & Associates. However, ACCCE has known and kept silent about the fraudulent campaign against the clean energy legislation since June, even as the two other members known to have received fraudulent letters, Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA) and Chris Carney (D-PA), voted against the bill.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the sponsor of the targeted climate bill, has sent a letter to ACCCE requesting more information about its role in the forgeries, according to Grist. The coal group has expressed "outrage" over the letters, but as Grist notes:

...[D]ocuments from ACCCE reveal that it knew about the forged letters two days before lawmakers narrowly approved the climate bill, yet did not make an effort to alert members that they had received the fake letters.

Perriello discussed the forgeries last night on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show:

Obviously, anything like this, where someone is claiming your letterhead and then claiming your position is just outrageous. They also did JABA, the Jefferson Area Board for the Aging, which is one of these great service organizations in our community that helps our seniors. And for them to get dragged into something like this really is, I think, a blow to folks in the area. But it's also just a turn-off again to these sorts of corporate-lobbying tactics.

You can watch the segment here: