Hannity Freedom Concerts A 'Scam,' Blogger Says

[Lasher]

Source: The Huffington Post

Conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel has accused Sean Hannity's Freedom Alliance charity of unethical fundraising practices and use of money. Schlussel points out how less than four percent of Freedom Alliance's earnings in 2006 went to the nonprofit's listed causes -- college funding for the children of fallen soldiers and care for wounded veterans.

Media Matters For America points out the accuracy of Schlussel's numbers analysis, but withholds judgment on the validity of her claims, as Freedom Alliance does not openly state on its Web site the percentage of raised funds that will go to their specific programs. Nevertheless, Freedom Alliance may be hurt by Schlussel's accusations that tens of thousands of dollars were spent on private planes for Hannity's family and friends.

From DebbieSchlussel.com:

Despite Hannity's statements to the contrary on his nationally syndicated radio show, few of the children of fallen soldiers got more than $1,000-$2,000, with apparently none getting more than $6,000, while Freedom Alliance appears to have spent tens of thousands of dollars for private planes. Moreover, despite written assurances to donors that all money raised would go directly to scholarships for kids of the fallen heroes and not to expenses, has begun charging expenses of nearly $500,000 to give out just over $800,000 in scholarships.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/19/hannitys-freedom-concerts_n_505294.html

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Good links provided in HuffPo article. This story was posted at 3:48 EDT this morning here in GD (hat tip to johncoby2).

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. it would be nice to see a breakdown

[damyank913]

3. Yeah-I'm for that too.

[Lasher]

9. Like I said, good links at the HuffPo article.

From Media Matters:

According to its 2006 tax returns, Freedom Alliance reported revenue of $10,822,785, but only $397,900 (or a beyond-measly 3.68% of that) was given to the children of fallen troops as scholarships or as aid to severely injured soldiers.

<snip>

And then, there are the 2008 Freedom Alliance tax forms, which were signed in November 2009 and filed only recently. That year, Freedom Alliance took in $8,781,431 in revenue and gave $1,060,275.57 total-or just 12%-to seriously wounded soldiers and for scholarships to kids of the fallen. Remember, this is well below the 75% required to be considered a legitimate charity. And after claiming in written letters to donors that 100% of the money donated, via the Freedom Concerts or otherwise, to the scholarships would go directly to the scholarships and not to expenses, the Freedom Alliance decided to do the contrary and charge expenses anyway-charging a whopping $436,386 to give out $802,250 in scholarships. That means that 35% of the $1,238,636-all of which was supposed to go to scholarships for these kids of the fallen-went to Freedom Alliance.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201003190002

The Debbie Schlussel article is well sourced, replete with breakdowns and links that lead to them.

[truthisfreedom]

2. Typical republicon values.

[No Elephants]

12. "Family values" = using public money to fly your family on private planes.

[jberryhill]

4. Is She Some Kind Of Commie?

Good on Hannity for showing those kids they need to earn it.

[old mark]

6. Yeah - having a parent killed in a war based on lies, then used in a

scam like this will build character.
These kids should be paying HIM!!


mark

[w4rma]

5. This is exactly what one should expect from a man who makes his living conning people. (nt)

[bigworld]

7. I love it when scammers like Sean and BMW Direct eat their own.

[Renew Deal]

8. Debbie Schlussel is an ultra-right racist lunatic

Be careful with anything from her.

[Lasher]

10. I don't know about the racist part but I'll take your word for it.

But I did know she is a right winger. I think that lends some credibility to her criticism of Hannity.

[Renew Deal]

15. She is very anti-muslim

And makes the crazies sound crazy.

[SkyDaddy7]

11. The wimp would not even get water boarded for the troops...

This should only be a surprise to those who worship at FOX News.

[Ian David]

13. I am shocked! SHOCKED, I tell you, to find Hannity lying! n/t

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

14. Hey guess what. Freedom and Fraud both start with the letter F. So there

you filthy hippies. :evilgrin: :silly:

[Lasher]

16. An earlier thread on this topic was started yesterday at 4:12 PM EDT yesterday.

I didn't notice that thread before I posted this OP. On reflection I wish I would have just posted the HuffPo article as a reply to that thread, which has 158 recs. Kudos ot leftofcool for being on the leading edge!

By now the story has been picked up by a few others including Raw Story but so far nothing from what I consider the MSM (I'm not always sure where to draw that line).