NPR Claims Newly Released Internal Emails Show Due Diligence on Muslim Gift Offer
- Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:20pm by
Meredith Jessup
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In the second release of secretly recorded conversations with fundraisers from National Public Radio (NPR), conservative activist James O’Keefe and his colleagues press NPR Senior Director of Institutional Giving Betsey Liley about whether donations from their fake so-called “Muslim Brotherhood front group” could be kept anonymous and under the radar of the federal government.
During the 44-minute recording, Liley speaks with “Ibrahim Kasaam,” of the fictional Muslim Education Action Center (MEAC) Trust in a phone conversation dated Feb. 28. The two talk at length about the donation process and “Kasaam” asks whether NPR could effectively hide the group’s $5 million donation from the government. Liley, who was placed on administrative leave earlier this week following Part I of O‘Keefe’s investigation, responded somewhat affirmatively, adding that she would have to check with NPR’s legal team.
In a statement released Thursday evening, NPR acknowledged Liley’s “mistakes,” calling her assertion “factually inaccurate.” The publicly funded organization also insisted all donations — whether anonymous or not — are reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). NPR also reiterated that in the end, they did not accept the fake Muslim group’s charitable offer.
Additionally, NPR has released several select internal emails to try and back up their claims.
In the early afternoon hours of March 3, (now former) NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller sent an internal email message regarding “Kasaam” to several colleagues (including Liley), noting that he “repeated again that they want to deliver the check. I said that’s very generous but we really need to sort out these issues first,” referring to necessary confirmation of the group’s 501(c)3 charitable status. Additionally, Schiller says she notified “Kasaam” that NPR would have to report the group‘s donation and the charity’s name to the IRS.
Schiller adds: “We should have a discussion about this gift this (sic) offline…”
Later that same day, an email sent to Ms. Schiller from “Kasaam” insists the false group will provide all necessary tax forms NPR requests to complete the transaction, but insists they will not release a complete list of their contributors.
In a March 4 email, Joyce Slocum, NPR General Counsel and SVP, responded directly to “Kasaam,” thanking him for MEAC’s monetary donation, but once again reiterating NPR’s “need to verify certain information with respect to any organization that proposes to make a significant gift to NPR.”
Slocum explains that NPR needs to verify that “Kasaam”’s 501(c)3 is in compliance with necessary IRS regulations in order to protect NPR from being caught up in any later compliance activity.
“In most instances, we’re able to verify this information without troubling the donor organization by using publicly accessible information,” she explains. “Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate the necessary information about the Muslim Education Action Center, and so we need to ask that you provide it.”
Slocum’s correspondence suggests NPR was in fact following through with necessary legal precautions before pressing forward with any monetary exchange — a fact contrary to O‘Keefe’s assertions that NPR was not only going to accept the gift, but would also hide it from the government.
It is hard to gauge what kind of red flags may have been raised by the fictional MEAC organization or how NPR may have responded, however, as NPR did not release more of their correspondence. In addition, none of the released emails seem to directly address Liley‘s earlier suggestion that NPR may be able to shield MEAC’s donation from government auditors.
NPR’s claims that these few emails demonstrate “repeated refusal” of MEAC’s charitable gift do not seem to be supported, anymore than O‘Keefe’s videos suggest the organization’s willingness to blindly accept the gift. Instead, the emails show NPR taking necessary precautions to effectively vet MEAC as a potential donor.
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TaterSalad
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 3:49pmOut with old and In with the new. Except the new is the same as the old:
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2011/03/meet-the-new-bo.html
Report Post »steve5150
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:50amI will agree to fund NPR when they appoint Ann Coulter as their new director.
Report Post »An AmericanMom
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:44amIs anyone really shocked by these NPR officials?
Report Post »They should be totally UN-funded by taxpayer’s money…they have NEVER been fair or balanced about their political views!
Never
Praise
Republicans
dizzyinthedark
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:42amHow many red flags does it take for all to see before you will be convinced that NPR should be defunded?
It reminds me of citizens calling for a ‘stop’ sign to be put in place on the corner to slow the traffic as kids lives were threatened and it wasn’t until a child ended up in the morge, the cities Councilmen took their citizens seriously.
Report Post »CaptainSpaulding
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:15amNPR has been shown to lie to cover their asses.
Why should we believe them now?
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:57pmThis is suppose to change my mind, you people make me sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:50pmDefund NPR and then audit them.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:17pmthey can tread water all they want, but America knows all about their rotted core anti-American values now.
Report Post »Rollo2
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:10pmElitist, liberal , progressive clowns.
Report Post »They really don’t “get it”.
elhatton
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:56pmThere is a new page on FB, Pieces of the Puzzle, that will link to informative posts and important news articles which is ran by young women and mothers in the heartland of America. If you have an interest in wanting to know what makes us tick, please find us here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pieces-of-the-Puzzle/190920557595529?ref=ts
Report Post »Posts from The Blaze will be reposted with us quite often.
Buttercup
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:55pmIf your analogies “are meant with all due respect,” yet they offend, then why use them at all?
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:52pmI have no problem with NPR existing or presenting their point of view. Just do it with out tax dollars at any level, and they abide by the same rules and regulations the other broadcasters do.
Report Post »brickmoon
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:51pm“We don’t care if you guys support bombing civilians or stoning rape victims — but we just don’t want to get ourselves in any legal trouble if we take your check.”
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:58pm“We don’t care if you guys support bombing civilians or stoning rape victims — but we just don’t want to get ourselves in any legal trouble if we take your check, we do it all the time and we have perfected it so much that even the IRS and government auditors turn a blind eye .”
Report Post »GoingBeck
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:44pmOff topic:
Report Post »aarondav
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:39pmLiberals epitomize the age of ‘non-reason’…..
Report Post »rawbender
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:35pmWhat happened to my succinct post, mod-person?
Report Post »rawbender
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:24amoops
Report Post »rawbender
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:33pmI hate the fact that people just don’t get it. The Republicans who are screaming to eliminate funding have something to hide. Something about squeaky wheels and grease. The Democrats use this minuscule point to say ALL Republicans are bad and hate social programs. They both suck, they don’t care about me and you and as long as the Vote Counters are appointed by the politicians, there will not be a fair count.
And no I am not a Dem. But I am leaning on independence….AGAIN….because the Reps are being hi-jacked……AGAIN……IMO by the Evangelical Religious.
And yes I believe in God Jesus, but I respect all other religions. Including Muslims. But I don’t like this nation of Islam. They are not true Muslim. They are a cult. Think about it. They’re brainwashed poor simpletons.
Kinda, oh god you’re not going to like this, but, kinda like the Catholics are to Christianity.
MMMMMMM……MMMMMMM……MMMMMMM
But that is their collective business. NPR needs to stay so we can keep an eye on the same org that drove out the UPI.
Report Post »Sorry if my analogies offend, but they are meant with all due respect.
Showtime
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:15pm“The Republicans who are screaming to eliminate funding have something to hide.”
Like WHAT? We’re angry at NPR for a number of reasons. Every dime not given to NPR (and Planned Parenthood) is a dime SAVED.
And this doesn’t have anything to do with religion.
What’s your problem?
Report Post »aLinedog
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:00amIslam calls for the destruction of all non-believers. The moderates (considered ‘non-believers‘ or ’misguided’ by the Faithful, are not respected as Learned nor Worthy) are tolerated as a necessary candy to make swallowing the poison easier. They are an in-road, a weakness inserted into our moral fabric. And if any of that ****** someone off, I hope that person realizes this.
Report Post »The degredation and subjugation of any person based on gender, race, or similar congenital condition is immoral and Anti-American.
A+B=C
Islam is Anti-American.
-Line
rawbender
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:42amFor showtime, who’s responses are usually right on. But I disagree on this.
” Every dime not given to NPR (and Planned Parenthood) is a dime SAVED.”
Really??????? All of these elected officials are really going to put the money back in the bank? Fat CHANCE….bwahahahaha
“And this doesn’t have anything to do with religion”
.
Report Post »Yeah the abortion thing has nothing to do with religion…..right. But mine was a comment on NPR. And how the religious freaks have hi-jacked the Rep party.
But if you want to argue that point, IMO cutting all funding is really going to help NPR. Then they can have even more op eds like MSNBC. As far as Planned Parenthood, to expose the rat, they have to follow the money and the ones who are guilty need to be weeded out and prosecuted. But that won’t EVER happen, eeven if we had an AG who is Republican.
CatB
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:31pmNPR .. took the meetings.
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:36pm“The publicly funded organization also insisted all donations — whether anonymous or not…”
Your public funding is going away NPR, get used to it!
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:37pmSo the NPR execs were telling a muslim donor that NPR will help him hide his org’s identity from the PUBLIC ( since it is National PUBLIC radio that works within the Corporation for PUBLIC Broadcasting and teams with PUBLIC Broadcasting Service ) once they verify the org’s tax-ID .
Report Post »NPR execs seem to be verrrrry confident about how IRS will be cool with everything they do
Thats some due diligence .
The impression i get from these tapes is that NPR does the relevant paper work as they are required to do , but has no qualms about what it has to do in exchange for the.. ahem…donation
cheezwhiz
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:46pma fact contrary to O‘Keefe’s assertions that NPR was not only going to accept the gift, but would also hide it from the government.
Report Post »————-
I didn’t hear / read any exec saying
“ No we will not take your money ”
All they are saying / writing can be summed up as
“Let us fill out the required paper work, provide us the requisite supporting documents , and then everything is good to go”
Whatever these execs were saying/writing was aimed at finally scoring the donation, they just wanted the paper work done right .
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:56pm@Cheezwhiz
Dead on, we need to have the auditing of NPR done completely and without any merecy; do it with at least two seperate groups going over the books, with any and all discrepincies looked into for any violations of the law and statutes, especially for any 501 (c) 3 non profit organizations.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:03pm@ Snowleopard
Report Post »Anyone who deals with 1099s and tax-exempt entities on a daily basis as part of doing business in the private sector would have completed this whole process in less than 2 business days , and with absolutely NO errors and NO support staff to bounce e-mails around like clueless dimwits
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:07pmCome on, there wasn‘t’ a crime, no money changed hands,….wait, what do you mean, conspiracy to commit a crime?
You can’t touch me, I’m King Kong.
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:07pm“Brown Relief”: NPR Analyst Daisy Hernandez glad Jared Lee Loughner Was a ‘Gringo’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkAobYRzFmY
Defund NPR NOW!
Juan Williams was fired because he said that seeing Muslims in full dress in the airports boarding his plane, made him nervous…AND Daisy Hernandez gets away with this comment? You’ve got to be kidding me!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:10pmThey did not show all of the email, nor did they release anything else.
“…Beyond a reasonable doubt?” No.
Report Post »They fired two and put this cookie on administrative leave.
cheezwhiz
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:15pmDarmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Report Post »Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:07pm
Come on, there wasn‘t’ a crime, no money changed hands,….wait, what do you mean, conspiracy to commit a crime?
You can’t touch me, I’m King Kong
——————-
After listening to the way NPR’s exec details how NPR helps basically launder suspicious donations from shady entities , in amount of several million dollars , on a regular basis,
NPR should be indicted under RICO.
aLinedog
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:37pmDarmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 11:07pm
Come on, there wasn‘t’ a crime, no money changed hands,….wait, what do you mean, conspiracy to commit a crime?
You can’t touch me, I’m King Kong.
Report Post »______________________________________
I AM THE POLICE!!!!!! ::thumping chest::
Loved that film. Denzel should play the villain more often. Clever handle, btw.
-line
restorehope
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:03amNPR has been caught red-handed and all the back-pedalling in the world will not erase this blooper. They sat down with this Muslim group and showed “intent” to get in bed with them. Referring to the need to verify information is just blowing smoke. NPR is saavy enough to know that they had to “cover their posteriors” until the check was in the mail. Sorry, gig’s up NPR.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:47amNPR is simply guilty of hiring people who misrepresented them. That’s all. Just like Planned Parenthood and Acorn.
The corruption is a bug, not a feature. Sure are a LOT of bugs though. We might need to smoke bomb the entire institution.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:24amcooking the books again…
Report Post »GODSAMERICA
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:07amWell, since those emails from NPR could be faked easily enough as to the time sent and everything and they did not give them out immediately. They would have had time to make them up.
Report Post »