Matthew Whitaker Led Foundation That May Have Violated Tax-Exempt Status

[Rogue Valley]

Matthew Whitaker Led Foundation That May Have Violated Tax-Exempt Status

Trump USAG appointee Matthew Whitaker

11/10/18
Matthew G. Whitaker, the nation’s new acting attorney general, repeatedly chided presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in public statements during 2016 while he was speaking for a group that is barred by its tax-exempt status from supporting or opposing political candidates during a campaign. Before coming to the Justice Department in 2017, Whitaker was president and executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a charitable organization that styles itself as nonpartisan government watchdog promoting ethics and transparency. The tax-exempt group — known by its initials, FACT — is supposed to serve the public interest under Section 501c3 of the U.S. tax code, without directly or even indirectly supporting or opposing specific candidates for office. Yet the group has engaged in one partisan pronouncement after another, mostly directed at Democrats. During the last presidential race, Whitaker argued in July 2016 newspaper opinion pieces that Clinton should be prosecuted for her handling of her private email server — a favorite talking point of Donald Trump. The opinion pieces identified Whitaker as FACT’s leader. In September 2016, Whitaker argued that Clinton had acted shamelessly by appointing her charity’s donors to boards of the State Department when she was secretary of state. “I don’t think anybody in the history of our country that served in the administration has been this bold in their private fundraising and their sort of giving favors,” he said in a radio interview posted on YouTube by his group.

Daniel Borochoff, president of CharityWatch, a Chicago-based group that monitors the nonprofit world, said that statement appears to violate the IRS ban on engagement for or against a particular political candidate. “It’s highly critical of a candidate, and he ought not to be doing that, because it’s a political partisan comment,” he said. FACT was founded in 2015, tax filings show. Whitaker drew a sizable portion of its budget as his salary as president and executive director — in 2016 he earned more than twice what leaders of similar groups were paid on average that year, according to data from another watchdog group, Charity Navigator. In 2015 and 2016, Whitaker earned a total of $654,000 from FACT — 30 percent of its entire spending of $2.2 million over that two-year span. His 2016 salary was $402,000; the average CEO or executive director at 380 advocacy or education charities in that year made a salary of $173,099, according to Matthew J. Viola, a vice president at Charity Navigator.

Whitaker's tax-exempt FACT organization received ~80% of its revenue from another organization called Donor’s Trust which is a conservative trust designed to hide the identity of financial donors. Apparently, Whitaker skimmed off exorbitant amounts as his salary. Whitaker also served on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a Florida-based “scam that has bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars,” according to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Trump said on camera yesterday that he doesn't know Whitaker and never met him. But this is contradicted by phone and meeting records, and past on camera statements by Trump saying Whitaker is a wonderful person.

Whitaker should perhaps be residing at Rikers Island rather than running the DoJ. This newest Trump Swamp-Creature™ is the reincarnation of shady Scott Pruitt.

 

[Winston]

Matthew Whitaker Led Foundation That May Have Violated Tax-Exempt Status

Trump USAG appointee Matthew Whitaker



Whitaker's tax-exempt FACT organization received ~80% of its revenue from another organization called Donor’s Trust which is a conservative trust designed to hide the identity of financial donors. Apparently, Whitaker skimmed off exorbitant amounts as his salary. Whitaker also served on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a Florida-based “scam that has bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars,” according to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Trump said on camera yesterday that he doesn't know Whitaker and never met him. But this is contradicted by phone and meeting records, and past on camera statements by Trump saying Whitaker is a wonderful person.

Whitaker should perhaps be residing at Rikers Island rather than running the DoJ. This newest Trump Swamp-Creature™ is the reincarnation of shady Scott Pruitt.

Is Whitaker currently overseeing a criminal investigation into World Patent Marketing?

 

[Unitedwestand13]

Is Whitaker currently overseeing a criminal investigation into World Patent Marketing?

He is the acting attorney general

 

[haymarket]

This guy is turning out to be an absolute train wreck.

That makes him perfect for a spot in the Trump administration.

 

[Unitedwestand13]

This guy is turning out to be an absolute train wreck.

That makes him perfect for a spot in the Trump administration.

But he is making trump look bad.

That is what ultimately proved to be Scott Pruitt’s undoing

 

[Winston]

But he is making trump look bad.

That is what ultimately proved to be Scott Pruitt’s undoing

Sure, but nothing almost looks worse than an indictment

 

[Common Sense 1]

The mud slinging is off and running. Can't wait to hear all the horror stories about Mr. Whitaker.

You can go down the list the dems use to smear people. Another thread with wild allegations with no
facts to back them up.

So good that he is in charge of Muller. They need to be reined in some.

 

[Mycroft]

This guy is turning out to be an absolute train wreck.

That makes him perfect for a spot in the Trump administration.

Calm your heart. He's only a place holder. You should save your outrage for the REAL AG.

 

[haymarket]

But he is making trump look bad.

That is what ultimately proved to be Scott Pruitt’s undoing

Good point -- the Whitaker toilet tissue will have to be flushed..... but only after Trump puts it to good use.

 

[haymarket]

Calm your heart. He's only a place holder. You should save your outrage for the REAL AG.

My outrage is there for anyone who merits it.

 

[Xelor]

Matthew Whitaker Led Foundation That May Have Violated Tax-Exempt Status

Just add him to the too, too long list of Trump Administration/campaign senior personnel who've been involved in some sort of illegal or unethical behavior.

As noted in the news:

Donald Trump promised to drain the Washington swamp. Instead, he has surrounded himself with family members, appointees and advisers who’ve variously been accused of:​

• 
  [*=1]conflicts of interest,
  [*=1]misuse of public funds,
  [*=1]influence peddling,
  [*=1]self-enrichment,
  [*=1]working for foreign governments,
  [*=1]failure to disclose information, and
  [*=1]violating ethics rules

Some are under investigation or facing lawsuits. Others have resigned, and five have either been convicted or pleaded guilty, including three for lying to government officials. Scandals plague all administrations, but Trump’s isn’t two years old and the allegations keep on coming.​

 

[JasperL]

Matthew Whitaker Led Foundation That May Have Violated Tax-Exempt Status

Whitaker's tax-exempt FACT organization received ~80% of its revenue from another organization called Donor’s Trust which is a conservative trust designed to hide the identity of financial donors. Apparently, Whitaker skimmed off exorbitant amounts as his salary. Whitaker also served on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a Florida-based “scam that has bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars,” according to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Trump said on camera yesterday that he doesn't know Whitaker and never met him. But this is contradicted by phone and meeting records, and past on camera statements by Trump saying Whitaker is a wonderful person.

Whitaker should perhaps be residing at Rikers Island rather than running the DoJ. This newest Trump Swamp-Creature™ is the reincarnation of shady Scott Pruitt.

So what you're saying is that this guy is a perfect fit for the Trump administration!

Ethically challenged, who was paid $650,000 by someone to be a political hack, and of course we don't know who that was or why they'd reward this guy with that kind of salary to run a nothing 501(c)(3). It would be awfully nice to know who has our new AG in his hip pocket.