logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofits, Transparency, and the DOJ: Could Anyone Be Worse than Sessions?

Marian Conway
November 26, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

November 20, 2018; Washington Post and The Hill

As regular NPQ readers may remember, the ties between former attorney general Jeff Sessions and the private prison industry provide real insights into many of the policies he later pursued. (We wrote about this here, here, and here.) With the appointment of Interim Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, the American public is treated to a smokescreen that obfuscates some of his most critical relationships, thanks to his 2014–2017 employment by a nonprofit. Ironically, the current stated mission of the organization is to expose unethical conduct by public officials.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), reportedly founded in 2014, has a K Street address in Washington, DC. While he was FACT’s president, reports the Washington Post, Whitaker was on television and radio, such as Fox TV and CNN, as a legal analyst, representing the organization, which is part of a conservative network of tax-exempt nonprofits. He often targeted special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Of course, Whitaker now oversees the Russia investigation led by the special counsel, raising questions on both sides of the aisle about his ability to do so fairly and ethically. According to the New York Times:

FACT has raised nearly $3.5 million since its inception in 2014, according to tax filings, which show that the group’s largest single expense was Mr. Whitaker’s salary.

There is very little publicly available information about FACT’s financing.

DonorsTrust, a conservative foundation that allows other conservative foundations to mask their giving, provided much of FACT’s seed funding—$1.1 million donated in 2014 and 2015—but the original source of that donation is not clear.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Another expense on FACT’s 990 is a contractor, America Rising, from Arlington, Virginia, making $500,000 from 2015–2017. The company’s “sole purpose is to hold Democrats accountable and expose any hidden hypocrisy.”

A FACT spokesperson, who spoke to the Washington Post on condition that his name would not be disclosed, cited the First Amendment as the reason they need not disclose the sources of their tax-exempt funds.

“Like nearly all nonprofit organizations—including those with similarly stated missions—FACT does not and is not required to release its donor information,” the spokesman reportedly said. “This protects free speech rights of all of these groups’ supporters as outlined in the First Amendment.”

Neither Whitaker nor Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec issued a statement on the matter.

The origins of FACT as an organization are a little confusing. Raymond Wotring created the Free Market American Educational Foundation. Six weeks after the IRS approved the group in July of 2014, it changed its name to Working for Rights to Express & Communication. It changed again in October that same year to FACT, according to Virginia state records, and Whitaker became its leader. However, David Nelson, specialist on nonprofit organizations and a former tax partner at the Ernst & Young accounting firm, reviewed the organization’s 990s for the Washington Post and concluded, “It’s very possible that this organization is misusing its status as a charity.”

“It appears the IRS never gave approval to FACT,” Nelson continues.

In its federal tax filing for 2014, FACT declared that it had not changed its name or its mission that year, records show, and there was no mention of the prior names. The spokesman for FACT declined to provide documents that he said showed it had notified the IRS of the name change.

Considering that the nonprofit was led by a lawyer, there are a lot of questions about the organization begging for answers. And there are more questions for Whitaker, the man presently representing the United States in legal matters. But the biggest questions remain for Congress and the American public. Just how much do we need to know about the closest financial influences on our attorney general, and why won’t Whitaker voluntarily disclose his?—Marian Conway

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Marian Conway

Marian Conway, the executive director of the NY Community Bank Foundation, has a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies, Writing and a Ph.D. in Public Policy, Nonprofit Management. She has discovered that her job and education have made her a popular person with nonprofits and a prime candidate for their boards. Marian keeps things in perspective, not allowing all that to go to her head, but it is difficult to say no to a challenge, especially participating in change, in remaking a board. She is currently on eleven boards of various sizes and has learned to say no.

More about: donor disclosureNonprofit NewsPolicyTransparency

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity for Black Women
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn
The Human Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis Must Be Understood—And Acted Upon
Anmol Irfan
Black Americans Need Reparations: The Fight for the CTC Highlights the Roadblocks
Jhumpa Bhattacharya and Trevor Smith
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of Mutual Aid
Steve Dubb

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of...
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.