4 PM UPDATE:
Readers:
Information regarding Freedom Alliance that appeared earlier in
this spot was innacurate or misleading and has been removed. Any
further mention of this material as having appeared in this post
will either mention or disavowal or be deceiving to
readers.
— R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.
Click
here for the update to this story.
Click
here for the statement released by Freedom Alliance.
3:30 PM UPDATE: Just to be clear, the
story below appears to be fundamentally flawed. You’ll see that
if you follow through the links at the bottom, but I wanted to
add a note up here so no one is
misled.
This is disgusting. Apparently Sean Hannity’s Freedom
Concerts, which are supposed to raise money for the children of
soldiers killed in action and for severely wounded veterans, are
scandalously inefficient:
In fact, less than 20%–and in two recent
years, less than 7% and 4%, respectively–of the money raised by
Freedom Alliance went to these causes, while millions of
dollars went to expenses, including consultants and apparently
to ferret the Hannity posse of family and friends in high
style. And, 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.
It gets worse the deeper Schlussel
digs:
The stories of injuries to troops and how
much Freedom Alliance gives them–$200 for a soldier from a poor
neighborhood who lost three limbs–is heartbreaking.
Soldiers with traumatic brain injuries, severe wounds to the
face from disfiguring burns and explosions, and multiple
amputations got $1,000 or less, with only a handful of
exceptions.
Click through for all the details. As Schlussel points out,
reputable charities are expected to run with overhead of no more
than 25%; these concerts are running with overhead of as much as
96%. I suppose it’s possible that Hannity himself wasn’t aware of
what the balance sheet looks like, but a source tells Schlussel
that Freedom Alliance founder Oliver North confronted Hannity at
one point about how much of the charity’s money was being spent
on private jets, luxury SUVs, and hotel suites. If that’s true,
Hannity has a lot of explaining to do.
UPDATE: I’m hearing from reliable sources that
Schlussel’s suggestion that Freedom Alliance pays for Hannity’s
travel expenses is wrong. There’s little doubt that, if the
numbers she cites are correct, the charity is seriously
mismanaged, but it might not be as bad for Hannity personally as
Schlussel’s report makes it look. Stay
tuned.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Further
exculpatory information here. Schlussel’s story seems to be
falling apart.
