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ProgressOhio has accused Murray Energy of creating signs opposing the current Democratic president reading “Stop the War on Coal – Fire Obama” without the disclaimer required by the Federal Election Commission, report the Associated Press and Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The group’s first complaint alleged the Ohio-based miner’s rally for Republican opponent Mitt Romney at the company’s Century mine in Beallsville equated to an illegal campaign contribution, because workers were required to attend and were not paid.

Murray officials continue to deny such claims.

The company told ILN Monday that the allegations were “simply an attempt to silence Murray Energy and its owners from supporting their coal mining employees and families by speaking out against President Barack Obama’s well-known and documented War on Coal” and to get him re-elected.

“At this time, we have not had an opportunity to fully review the letter, although the basis

for the request is entirely an inaccurate article attacking Murray Energy’s Political Action

Committee and Mr Robert E Murray’s private fundraising efforts that appeared in the biased and radically leftist The New Republic magazine on October 4,” officials said, adding it had previously called the publication “incorrect and untruthful”

“Thus, the allegations cited as support for the Democratic party’s request for an investigation are

unfounded and baseless.”

Vice president Rob Murray said the company had taken the allegations seriously.

“We will aggressively defend against their concocted allegations,” he said.

“But neither Murray Energy nor its owners will be silenced by President Obama or the Ohio Democratic Party, and other demonstrated enemies of the coal industry and its employees and families. It is unfortunate that there are political entities in America, such as The New Republic

and the Ohio Democratic Party, that will go to no limits to destroy innocent people to get their

candidates elected.”

Company attorneys told the Plain Dealer recently that nothing illegal had taken place and that all company fundraising was performed within FEC guidelines; the October 4 report also claimed the company’s salaried employees were coerced into donating to the Republican candidates.

Records, the paper said, showed employees routinely gave money to national and state Republicans, including about $US120,000 to GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and $60,000 to US Senate candidate Josh Mandel; both totals are year-to-date for 2012.