Vets charity allegedly funneled donations to Minn. Republicans

[marmar]

from the Minnesota Independent:




Vets charity allegedly funneled donations to Minn. Republicans
By Andy Birkey 7/15/10 12:13 PM


A veteran’s charity under investigation in five states has deep ties to Minnesota, from substantial contributions to state Republicans like former Sen. Norm Coleman and Rep. Michele Bachmann to its employment of a Minnesota lobbyist and a recently closed St. Paul operation. Officials in other states are calling the United States Navy Veterans Association (USNVA) a fraudulent charity, and its founder and sole organizer, Bobby Thompson, has disappeared in the wake of investigations alleging the group diverted charitable donations intended for military veterans to Republican candidates and political action committees.

USNVA is under investigation in Ohio, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia, Missouri and New Mexico for allegedly defrauding donors, and two weeks ago, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray was granted an emergency court order to shut down USNVA and prevent it from taking any more donations in the state.

“The closer we look at this organization, the more outrageous its conduct appears,” Cordray said at the time. “While very little concrete evidence is available how those funds were spent helping vets or their families, a great deal of information is available about political contributions made by Thompson personally to candidates or through the political action committee he created and to which he was the sole contributor, NAVPAC.”

At least $35,000 of donations from the group or its founder went to Minnesota politicians and entities, according to an investigation by the St. Petersburg Times (Fla.). In multiple gifts over several years, former Sen. Coleman took in $21,500, while Rep. Bachmann received the most recent contribution, $10,000 donated in April. The Republican Party of Minnesota received $2,000; the Minnesota House Republican Campaign Committee got $5,000, and Republican state House candidate David Carlson took in $500. Carlson, a candidate for state Senate, had listed his membership with the USNVA on his campaign website; the site was recently taken down. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://minnesotaindependent.com/61239/vets-charity-group-allegedly-funneled-donations-to-minn-republicans

[MadMaddie]

1. So is this Fraud! Is Bachmann associated with this?

She is dirty....the evidence is there....it just needs to come to the surface.

[The Magistrate]

2. A Better Head-Line, Sir: Republican Fund-Raising Con, Steals Donations For Vets For Candidates

[marmar]

3. Very true.

nt

[xchrom]

4. Recommend

[HooptieWagon]

5. I've been following the stories in the SP Times for several months.

The guy was running the scam out of a duplex in Tampa, was using commercial fundraisers (call centers) to scam the money. None of the alleged officers or members of the organization actually exist. Bobby Thompson doesn't appear to have been in the US Navy, as he claimed. VERY little money went to charity purposes. Some went to conservative candidates and organizations. Bobby Thompson appears to have kept a sizable percentage of the money. Most, of course, went to the commercial fundraisers (2/3 to 3/4 of the donations - we're talking tens of millions, perhaps hundreds). Thompson disappeared right after the first article appeared, no forwarding address. His attorney has quit, citing an inability to communicate with his client. The commercial fundraisers have since cancelled the contract. My guess is Thompson is probably out of the country by now.

[upi402]

6. k/r n/t

[MajorChode]

7. I call bullshit on this story

I did a search on Fox News for USNVA and got nothing.

[Minnesota Raindog]

8. Read the original articles about Michele Bachmann's connection to Bobby Thompson at DumpBachmann

DumpBachmann first reported the Bachmann-Bobbvy story July 6. The Minnesota Independent stuff is just a cut-and-paste job...


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