Tom Matzzie, the former Washington director of Moveon.org and Judd Legum, the research director for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, have teamed up to create Accountable America, a group independent of the Obama campaign and the DNC that will identify, publicize, and potentially create legal headaches for donors who fund conservative attack groups.

Accountable American will "deter Swift Boating groups by discouraging contributions to the groups," said Matzzie on a conference call Friday afternoon with reporters. By publicizing the misdeeds of the groups and the sometimes sordid histories of the people who enable them, Matzzie said, the group will "create a sense of scandal around donating to these groups."

Matzzie and company have started by mailing a letter to 10,000 prominent conservative donors. Matzzie says the letter "warns donors of the risk of engaging with these… organizations." If the organizations violate the law by improperly meddling in federal elections, each contribution that funds them could an unlawful transaction. The donors are being made aware this. "We're going to put them at risk," says Matzzie.

- Mother Jones