Lachlan Markay: Obama appointee’s foundation supported group of convicted domestic terrorist
The piece is at the Free Beacon:
President Barack Obama’s latest round of appointments includes the head of a nonprofit that gave tens of thousands of dollars to a group run by a convicted domestic terrorist.
Obama nominated Lisa Green Hall to the Treasury Department’s Community Development Advisory Board last week. She is the president and CEO of the nonprofit Calvert Foundation, which gave $30,000 over three years to the Justice Through Music Project (JTMP).
Brett Kimberlin is the director of the JTMP, which “uses famous musicians and bands to organize, educate, and activate young people about the importance of civil rights, human rights, and voting,” according to its website.
However, Kimberlin is also known as the “Speedway Bomber” for a series of eight bombings he carried out in Speedway, Ind., in 1978. He is also a convicted perjurer and has been involved in an alleged campaign of intimidation against his online critics.
why is the treasury department in the community development business
sounds pretty gay to me
happyfeet (2e6d87) — 12/4/2012 @ 6:52 amOne of the things we kept hearing was that Kimberlin was unimportant because he really did not have any connections to the Obama administration …
SPQR (768505) — 12/4/2012 @ 7:17 amI think “community development” has to do with affecting where and to whom banks make loans.
But actually this is just patronage.
http://www.cdfifund.gov/who_we_are/advisory_board.asp
http://www.cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/overview.asp
http://www.cdfifund.gov/index.asp
Sammy Finkelman (b4516d) — 12/4/2012 @ 7:29 amBrett Kimberlin is connected to some Democrats.
This is probably not too important a connection.
You have to keep looking.
Sammy Finkelman (b4516d) — 12/4/2012 @ 7:31 amOh, classic!
I’m reading the 2010 990 of the Calvert Foundation (there are a number of similarly named foundations, but this is the one that’s a private foundation), and I’m interested in finding this “donor advised fund”.
Dianna (f12db5) — 12/4/2012 @ 8:04 amOr, How to Fund Your Cronies. Did Congress authorize this? Just asking.
Patricia (be0117) — 12/4/2012 @ 9:09 amThis is a really interesting foundation. If you scroll down to pages 30-31 of the Calvert Foundation’s 990, and start looking at the grants, it makes really odd reading.
For one thing, there’s far more grants to tiny organizations on the west coast than I would have expected for an organization based in Maryland. For another, the majority of the grants are “general support”, not named projects. It’s hard for small nonprofits to raise general and operating support, so it’s not a bad choice for small amounts, but it struck me as a little different than what I’m used to reading.
JTMP sort of disappears in the list. It’s on Page 31, about a third of the way down, just under JazzSchool, in Berkeley.
Dianna (f12db5) — 12/4/2012 @ 9:15 amHow did he get out of jail again?
Pious Agnostic (7c3d5b) — 12/4/2012 @ 10:11 amOne degree of separation between Obama and a domestic terrorist.
Icy (124c 41+) (288734) — 12/4/2012 @ 10:42 amIt’s a thing.
It would be almost Earth-Shaking if one of our Good Senators actually read-up enough on this issue to ask Ms. Hall questions, and follow-ups on it.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 12/4/2012 @ 10:51 amIt would be refreshing to watch a nominee hem-and-haw over what is seemingly a minor issue, but goes to the heart of the inter-connectedness of the Radical Left in this country.
Calvert has a donor-advised fund, much like Fidelity and Schwab. Is this the mechanism by which JTM was funded?
angeleno (10ffb6) — 12/4/2012 @ 12:03 pmNote, their are no fewer then three administration officials on that board.
narciso (ee31f1) — 12/4/2012 @ 12:07 pmRead the story a little more carefully. Evidently these were donor-advised funds. If my understanding of how this works is correct, Calvert’s clients chose whom to fund.
angeleno (10ffb6) — 12/4/2012 @ 12:25 pmTBD\US Department of Commerce
narciso (ee31f1) — 12/4/2012 @ 12:31 pmWashington, DC
TBD
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Washington, DC
Eric Zarnikow
Associate Administrator for Capital Access
US Small Business Administration
Washington, DC
TBD
US Department of the Interior
Washington, DC
Dallas Tonsager
Undersecretary for Rural Development
US Department of Agriculture
Washington, DC
Rosie Rios
Treasurer of the United States
US Department of the Treasury
Washington, DC
“Read the story a little more carefully. Evidently these were donor-advised funds. If my understanding of how this works is correct, Calvert’s clients chose whom to fund.
Comment by angeleno (10ffb6)”
The 990 mentions that they use donor advised funds – Community Investment Project – and details the purpose. The funds are the property of and controlled by the Calvert Foundation. The list of grants, including the $10,000 in 2010 to JTMP, are listed and their purposes (mostly general or operating support, but some named projects), and no mention of how a fund earmarked that contribution.
Since I don’t usually read 990s for foundations that use donor advised funds, this seems a little odd to me. I’d like a little more probing by the reporter.
Dianna (f12db5) — 12/4/2012 @ 3:09 pmIt was probably part of the CRA revisions, I’ve pointed out earlier,
narciso (ee31f1) — 12/4/2012 @ 3:24 pmPatterico, you did not build that!
The Emperor (08c3d2) — 12/4/2012 @ 4:00 pmThat was bad, even for you.
JD (318f81) — 12/4/2012 @ 4:02 pmHow so?
The Emperor (09061e) — 12/4/2012 @ 4:05 pm“It is better to remain silent, and to be thought a fool, than to comment and remove all doubt.”
askeptic (b8ab92) — 12/4/2012 @ 4:08 pmThe interesting thing about the filing, is it raises the question from Richard Riehl in ‘Office Space’; what is it you do here? what objective could the Calvert foundation, have been presented as.
narciso (ee31f1) — 12/4/2012 @ 4:15 pmThe sage of the ages once said:
“That’s the way baseball go.”
Ag80 (b2c81f) — 12/4/2012 @ 9:16 pmYes, of course. But it plays no role in deciding where the donations go. That’s what donor advised funds are.
Milhouse (15b6fd) — 12/4/2012 @ 9:26 pm