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A lobbying firm opposed to cap-and-trade legislation sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th Dist., on the eve of the vote urging him to oppose the bill. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be so unusual. But the letter was sent on the letterhead of a nonprofit group in Perriello's district that concentrates on issues important to Hispanics, signed by a nonexistent staff member.

From the Charlottesville Daily Progress;

"They stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization," said Tim Freilich, who sits on the executive committee of Creciendo Juntos, a nonprofit network that tackles issues related to Charlottesville's Hispanic community.

Adding insult to injury, when it was exposed, officials from the lobbying group apologized for "the mistake."

“This was not a ‘mistake,’” wrote Freilich, who is also legal director of the Immigrant Advocacy Program of the Legal Aid Justice Center. “This was a deliberately and carefully forged letter that used the logo, address and name of Creciendo Juntos without authorization. Additionally, I understand from Ms. Hegyi that our organization was not the only Charlottesville-area organization whose reputations were used in an unauthorized manner to try to influence Congressman Perriello on this particular vote.”