Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty
The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty was founded by Gary Aldrich[1] in 1997[2] and was funded largely through the Scaife foundations (see below for more). The Center described its mission as "fostering, promoting, and advocating the restoration of Liberty as the primary object of American society."[3] It urged whistleblowers to come forward so that, it said, corruption in government could be identified and fought.[4] It merged with Liberty Central in 2010[5] and had its tax-exempt status revoked by the IRS in February 2014 for "repeated statements supporting or opposing various candidates by expressing its opinion of the respective candidate’s character and qualifications."[6] It is illegal for charities to engage in political action under the tax code.
Contents
Personnel
Staff
As of March 2015:[7]
- Gary Aldrich, president and founder
Boards
As of April 2015:[8]
Directors
Advisory Board
- Mark R. Levin (President, Landmark Legal Foundation ; Popular Talk-Show Radio Host)
- Ronald E. Robinson, Esq. (President, Young America’s Foundation)
- Lt. Col. Oliver L. North (Founder and Honorary Chairman, Freedom Alliance; Fox News Contributor
- Lt. Col Robert "Buzz" Patterson, USAF Ret (bestselling author, Dereliction of Duty: How Bill Clinton Compromised America’s National Security)
- Alan E. Sears, Esq ( CEO, Alliance Defense Fund)
- Edward Fleck (Former FBI Agent, Florida Board Member, National Active & Retired Federal Employees)
- Alan P. Dye, Esq (Attorney at Law, Webster, Chamberlain & Bean)
- Craig Shirley (President, Shirley & Banister)
- Beverly LaHaye (Founder, Concerned Women for America)
- Howard Phillips (Chairman, The Conservative Caucus)
- James Fotis ( Executive Director, Law Enforcement Alliance of America
- Peter Flaherty (President, National Legal & Policy Center)
Legal Advisory Board
- The Honorable Bob Barr (Former Member, US House of Representatives)
- Peyton George (Former FBI Agent, Counselor at Law)
Funders
The Center had $343,503 in total revenue in 2012.[9][6]
Funders (1998-2006) have included:[10]
- Sarah Scaife Foundation: $275,000 (1999-2001)[11]
- Carthage Foundation: $210,000 (1998-2004)[11]
- DonorsTrust: $30,000 (2011)[12]
- Omaha Community Foundation: $25,000 (2012)[13]
- Greater Cincinnati Foundation: $20,000 (2009-2010)[14][15]
- Dorothy D. and Joseph A. Moller Foundation: $20,000 (2004-2007)[11]
- Armstrong Foundation: $10,000 (2004-2006)[11]
- Tepper Family Foundation: $8,750 (2006-2013)[11]
- Ken W. Davis Foundation: $7,500 (2010-2013)[16][17][18]
- Daniel P. and Grace I. Tully Charitable Trust: $4,300 (2010-2013)[19][20][21][22]
- Hayden Foundation: $2,000 (2009-2011)[23][24][25]
- EBS Foundation: $1,000 (2009-2012)[26][27][28]
- American Foundation Corporation: $500 (2010)[29]
- Thomas J. and Sandra L. Usher Charitable Foundation: $400 (2012-2013)[30][31]
- Emerson G. and Dolores G. Reinsch Foundation: $400 (2010)[32]
- Binnion Foundation: $100 (2010)[33]
Ties to DonorsTrust, a Koch Conduit
DonorsTrust is considered a "donor-advised fund," which means that it divides its funds into separate accounts for individual donors, who then recommend disbursements from the accounts to different non-profits. Funds like DonorsTrust are not uncommon in the non-profit sector, but they do cloak the identity of the original donors because the funds are typically distributed in the name of DonorsTrust rather than the original donors.[34] Very little was known about DonorsTrust until late 2012 and early 2013, when the Guardian and others published extensive reports on what Mother Jones called "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement."[35][36]
The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty received an aggregate of $30,000 in funding from DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund between 2011 and 2011.[37]
A report by the Center for Public Integrity exposes a number of DonorsTrust funders, many of which have ties to the Koch brothers. One of the most prominent funders is the Knowledge and Progress Fund, a Charles Koch-run organization and one of the group's largest known contributors, having donated nearly $9 million from 2005 to 2012. Other contributors known to have donated at least $1 million to DonorsTrust include the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation, Searle Freedom Trust, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation.[38]
Since its inception in 1999, DonorsTrust has been used by conservative foundations and individuals to discretely funnel nearly $400 million to like-minded think tanks and media outlets.[38] According to the organization's tax documents, in 2011, DonorsTrust contributed a total of $86 million to conservative organizations. Many recipients had ties to the State Policy Network (SPN), a wide collection of conservative state-based think tanks and media organizations that focus on shaping public policy and opinion. In 2013, the Center for Media and Democracy released a special report on SPN. Those who received DonorsTrust funding included media outlets such as the Franklin Center and the Lucy Burns Institute, as well as think tanks such as SPN itself, the Heartland Institute, Illinois Policy Institute, Independence Institute, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, South Carolina Policy Council, American Legislative Exchange Council, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, and the Cascade Policy Institute.[39]
Contact
The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty
14001C #657
Centreville, VA 20121
Phone: (703) 257-0140
Web: http://www.patrickhenrycenter.com
Articles and Resources
Related SourceWatch Articles
References
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center, Meet the Staff, organizational website, accessed March 2015.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center, History of PHC, organizational website, accessed March 2015.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, Mission Statement, organizational website, accessed 2015.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, Programs, organizational website, accessed March 2015.
- ↑ Amy Gardner, Virginia Thomas stepping down as head of Liberty Central, The Washington Post, November 15, 2010.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gregory Korte, IRS revokes group's tax exemption over anti-Clinton statements, USA Today, April 21, 2014.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, Meet the President & Staff, organizational website, accessed March 2015.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center, Board of Directors, organizational website, accessed April 2015.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, 2012 IRS Form 990, organizational annual IRS filing, November 21, 2013.
- ↑ Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty funders. Media Matters Action Network. Retrieved on 2011-04-24.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, ConservativeTransparency.org, accessed April 2015.
- ↑ DonorsTrust, 2011 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, November 14, 2012, p. 47.
- ↑ Omaha Community Foundation, 2012 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2013, p. 45.
- ↑ Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 2009 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, October 21, 2010, p. 125.
- ↑ Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, August 10, 2011, p. 97.
- ↑ Ken W. Davis Foundation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, March 3, 2011, p. 34.
- ↑ Ken W. Davis Foundation, 2012 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, February 6, 2013, p. 33.
- ↑ Ken W. Davis Foundation, 2013 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 14, 2014, p. 35.
- ↑ Daniel P. and Grace I. Tully Charitable Trust, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, April 1, 2011, p. 26.
- ↑ Daniel P. and Grace I. Tully Charitable Trust, 2011 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, April 5, 2012, p. 21.
- ↑ Daniel P. and Grace I. Tully Charitable Trust, 2012 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, April 4, 2013, p. 21.
- ↑ Daniel P. and Grace I. Tully Charitable Trust, 2013 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, June 25, 2014, p. 20.
- ↑ Hayden Foundation, 2009 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2010, p. 47.
- ↑ Hayden Foundation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 11, 2011, p. 31.
- ↑ Hayden Foundation, 2011 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, July 10, 2012, p. 26.
- ↑ EBS Foundation, 2009 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, August 20, 2010, p. 24.
- ↑ EBS Foundation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, November 11, 2011, p. 25.
- ↑ EBS Foundation, 2012 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 13, 2013, p. 25.
- ↑ American Foundation Corporation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 10, 2011, pp. 18-19.
- ↑ Thomas J. and Sandra L. Usher Charitable Foundation, 2012 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 14, 2013, p. 31.
- ↑ Thomas J. and Sandra L. Usher Charitable Foundation, 2013 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 12, 2014, p. 47.
- ↑ Emerson G. and Dolores G. Reinsch Foundation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, August 26, 2011, p. 21.
- ↑ Binnion Foundation, 2010 IRS Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, April 5, 2011, p. 27.
- ↑ Rebekah Wilce, A Reporters' Guide to the "State Policy Network" -- the Right-Wing Think Tanks Spinning Disinformation and Pushing the ALEC Agenda in the States, PRWatch.org, April 4, 2013.
- ↑ Andy Kroll, Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement, Mother Jones, February 5, 2013.
- ↑ Suzanne Goldenberg, "Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks," The Guardian, February 14, 2013.
- ↑ Center for Media and Democracy, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund Grant Recipients, SourceWatch.org, accessed November 2014.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Paul Abowd, Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states, Center for Public Integrity, February 14, 2013.
- ↑ Donors Trust, GuideStar.org, IRS form 990, 2011.
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