Inside Air America: Al Franken's Lying Lies (Part of an ongoing investigative blog series)

Inside Air America: Al Franken's Lying Lies
Part of an ongoing investigative blog series

by Brian Maloney and Michelle Malkin
Sept. 7, 2005
(Part II of this installment is at The Radio Equalizer)

It belongs to Air America host and crusader for truth Al Franken. It is contained in a legal document we have obtained that exposes the Grand Canyon-sized chasm between what Al Franken says and what Al Franken does.

On July 27, our blogs first reported on a shady loan scheme between Air America Radio and the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club (which is now under investigation by both NYC's Department of Investigation and NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer). National mainstream media outlets have failed to give the deal--and Air America's continued money-flow crisis--the scrutiny they deserve.

Air America has yet to formally offer to pay back the loan in full, and knowledgeable sources tell us the liberal radio network is contemplating how to stem the lingering bad publicity. Anticipating further negative press, the company is apparently poised to "settle" the matter very soon.

Along with the network's current management and shell-game-playing owners, Al Franken has gotten a pass, even from some conservative commentators who have claimed that it's unfair to blame the liberal radio network's financial and legal entanglements on its on-air talent.

According to a November 2004 settlement agreement between former Air American head honchos Evan Cohen and Rex Sorensen and Air America's current owners and investors at Piquant LLC, Al Franken was smack dab in the middle of negotiations over the debts owed by the liberal radio network--including the Gloria Wise loan. The agreement was signed to clear the decks in advance of the questionable asset transfer from Air America's old owners, Progress Media and Radio Free America, to Piquant. (This is the transfer being challenged by Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. as a "fraudulent conveyance," which we first reported exclusively in the first installment in our investigative blog series, "A Trail of Debts.")

Far from being an innocent party with no knowledge of Air America's money woes, Franken was a signatory to the agreement. The document, published here for the first time, exposes how Franken misled his listeners and the press about his knowledge of the charity loan.

Let's flash back to what Al Franken claimed he knew and didn't know about the dubious loan deal in his August 8, 2005, Air America radio monologue:

THE TRUTH: Although Franken claims that Cohen “was a crook,” Cohen has neither been charged nor convicted of embezzling any of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club money. Franken himself acknowledges just a few moments later (see below) that he believes the money was probably used “for [Air America] operations,” including Franken’s salary. Thus, Franken’s insinuation that Cohen stole the money is unsubstantiated.

In a phone interview from Hawaii this week, Cohen (who we reached through a relative) told us: "Was what I did stupid? Yes. Illegal? No." He emphasized that "not a dime" of the $875,000 in question went to him. Apparently, Franken got at least one thing right.

THE TRUTH: Again, if the money was borrowed from Gloria Wise to cover Air America’s operating costs, as Franken imagines and Cohen alleges, then there is no basis for Franken’s insinuation that Cohen stole the $875,000 in question.

THE TRUTH: Franken signed the settlement agreement, which includes detailed information about the Gloria Wise loan, on November 22, 2004. (See signature above.) The document shows that the signatories knew about the Gloria Wise scheme and other liabilities...

In other words, Franken claimed on the air he knew nothing of the Gloria Wise "or something" fiasco nine months after he signed a legal agreement that specifically outlined the loans to Gloria Wise and required Air America to pay them back.

Cohen told us: "Al Franken calling me a crook is a little like the pot calling the kettle black."

THE TRUTH: Franken suggests that Piquant had no legal obligation to repay the Gloria Wise loan. This is patently false. The settlement agreement, which is legally binding, requires Piquant to pay back the loan. Franken signed that agreement (see above) and unless he has an evil twin, he knew exactly what he was doing and what was in the agreement--and signed it knowingly and freely:

THE TRUTH: Franken suggests that Piquant’s decision to repay the loan in May 2004 occurred at the same time that the city’s investigation began. The New York Sun, however, has reported that the city began its probe 19 months ago--5 months before Piquant LLC agreed to pay back the loan in May 2004. If the Sun’s reporting is accurate, it directly contradicts Franken’s timeline.

Also false: Franken’s claim that “the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club went belly up.” The Club is still operative.

THE TRUTH: Franken’s signature is on the settlement agreement in which Piquant LLC agreed to repay the loan. (See above.) This directly contradicts Franken’s statement that he had “nothing to do with it.”

As for Cohen, the man Franken publicly distanced himself from as a "crook," the settlement agreement that Franken and his colleagues signed secures "continuing assistance" from Cohen and his former Air America officer/business partner Rex Sorensen in any controversy or legal matter involving Piquant and provides for reimbursing them for their consulting services:

By his own word and hand, Al Franken is a man who has done and will do business with a "crook." Ain't that the truth, Al?

In his August 8, 2005 radio monologue (now we know why he sounded so nervous), Franken concluded:

We've been all ears, but Air America has not returned phone calls seeking comment on our reports. Perhaps Franken is saving it up for his new book, scheduled for release in October.

Our exposé of Franken, Air America, Sheldon Drobny, and Piquant's lies continues over at The Radio Equalizer. Don't miss it.

Part II:

Franken, Drobny, Air America: All Caught Fibbing

The Liars Club

Inside Air America: Al Franken's Lying Lies

Part Of An Ongoing Investigative Blog Series
BY MICHELLE MALKIN AND BRIAN MALONEY

(This is part two, the story begins at Michelle Malkin's Site)

Once caught, what price does a liar typically pay in our society?

Does it depend on severity and circumstances? Is it about context, or whether anyone was harmed by the person's factual misstatements?

One would imagine all of these considerations to be important.
For a smug, self-righteous "lying liars" book author who proceeds to tell one of the year's biggest, however, there should be particular contempt. When his company and its co-founder are caught up in the deception, the disgrace is compounded.

And when inner city schoolchildren suffer as a result of this blatant fraud, it becomes the icing on the cake. These newly disclosed documents go beyond casting serious doubt on Air America talk host Al Franken's recent assertions.

Six Weeks Without Consequences

Since first blowing the lid off Air America Radio's Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club scandal in July, where $875,000 in taxpayer money was apparently diverted from the nonprofit to its own account, we've watched the liberal radio network, its air personalities and supporters dismiss the mess with public excuses:

--- We're a new company (Piquant), we simply purchased the old one (Progress Media).

--- It's not fair to pin this on the talk hosts, they knew nothing about it.

--- A Republican operative from Guam, Evan Montvel Cohen, is responsible, he did this to make Air America look bad.

--- Our critics are right-wingers, why should anyone pay attention to them?

So far, they've failed to face real consequences, as their defenders blame it entirely on Evan Cohen. Is this about to soon change?

Did Media Inspire Overconfidence?

As we've shown here and in previous pieces, these excuses simply don't wash.

Yet, despite the issue's severity, few mainstream media outlets took the opportunity to investigate it. As mentioned earlier, even some conservative talk hosts resisted discussing the matter, assuming Franken and other on-air personalities couldn't be held responsible.

Did this lead to overconfidence at Air America's headquarters, that consequences would simply not follow public revelations?

Or, is so much energy devoted merely to keeping the operation from going bust, there's simply no time to worry about negative publicity?

Franken sure seemed to believe he could get away his blatant on-air lying, without the irony of his book titles smacking him in the face. Did arrogance fuel an unfounded belief we wouldn't be able to obtain the smoking gun?

If so, it proved to be a fatal miscalculation.

Franken Not Alone

It isn't just Al Franken caught red-handed lying: add co-founder/Democrat Party activist Sheldon Drobny and Air America parent company Piquant to the mix, as well. It's a rogue's gallery of liberal talk tricksters.

Piquant's rank dishonesty in the matter is now also exposed. Recall the statement put out by Air America after our story broke-- which remains on their website:

If the allegations of mismanagement and corruption at Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club are true, it is absolutely disgraceful.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal and the HBO Documentary, Left of the Dial, the company that the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club officials gave money to, Progress Media, has been defunct since May 2004. That company was run at the time by Evan Cohen who has not had any involvement in Air America Radio since May 2004.

The current owners of Air America Radio have no obligation to Progress Media's business activities. We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction.

THE TRUTH: according to the November 2004 Evan Cohen-Rex Sorenson-Air America settlement agreement, Piquant is in fact obligated to pay back the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club money.

This directly contradicts Air America's claim that its owners "have no obligation" to pay back the loan.

Air America's statement suggested they weren't sure if the allegations were true, but the 2004 document proves they knew of the situation all along.

Throwing in irrelevant references to HBO and the Wall Street Journal merely served to confuse Air America's fans into thinking this was old news. And the Even Cohen mention is obviously meant to tie him alone to any wrongdoing.

While he certainly appeared to have a role in the taxpayer funds transfer, this new evidence points to a larger group of responsible corporatevillainss.

Air America Co-founder's Role

Remember Air America co-founder/Democrat activist/ Lyndon Larouche sympathizer Sheldon Drobny? We recently detailed his background, providing a transcript of this C-SPAN appearance:

Dallas caller: Yes, I was wondering, you talk about the road to Air America, I've been reading in the New York Sun and articles by Michele Malkin that $875,000 approximately was acquired in a loan from a children's center and an Alzheimer's center in New York.

And you just mentioned you had funding and introductions from VP Gore and former president Clinton and I was wondering are you proud of the fact that you've obtained money from a partially federally funded children's center in New York and that you are now in default on that loan?

What is your explanation on that because I think that is pretty troubling.

Drobny: Well, ah, if you go to the website www.airamericaradio.com they have a very, very appropriate response. Ah, I would love to be able to answer the question and you would love my answer but the, ah, that particular transaction occurred from the previous ownership and, ah, I cannot legally talk about it although I'd love to. But that was not our loan. That was a loan to the previous owner.

Host: For those who are not familiar with the issue, can you explain?

Drobny: (cough) Well, because we had difficulty funding the project, our firm was willing to allocate up to 10 million to an all liberal radio network and, ah, we were not able to raise any more than that and we needed about 30 to 40 million dollars.

So about, ah, about August or September of 2003, and we had already hired, or got Al Franken to commit, we had our executive team and whatever, we didn't have enough money to fund the thing to the process of. We were introduced to the former owner who acquired our network at the time and, ah, supposedly had the funding to take it forward and to get it on the air.

They got it on the air but unfortunately they ran into financial difficulty and I suppose one of those difficulties was this Boys Club situation. And, ah, then they defaulted when we sold the station or network, they defaulted on our loan.

So they also defaulted on our credit. So what happened was we had to reacquire, we reacquired the, ah, the network through a different company.

Host: But as you've been reading, Michelle Malkin and others have been quick to point to it as one of the problems in the financial structure of Air America.

Drobny: That was the former ownership. We are very solid right now. And I can tell you if you just read the Air America statement it will tell you that (unclear...)

THE TRUTH: we now know $167,000 of the Gloria Wise taxpayer money was transferred to Air America on October 2, 2003. This is revealed in the settlement agreement. The Drobnys turned over the reins in November, 2003, retaking it in 2004 from Evan Cohen and Rex Sorenson.

Therefore we can prove, via hard evidence, the transfers began on Sheldon's watch. He didn't tell the truth on C-SPAN, did he?

Smoking guns sure do come in handy.

What's Next For Franken?

On October 25, Franken's unfortunately-titled, long-anticipated The Truth (With Jokes) will reach bookstore shelves. This release is key for his career and the publishing industry will be carefully watching its performance.

Will Al face any road-tour fallout over this new proof he lied about his knowledge of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls scandal?

One would expect the nature of Franken's books to make him especially careful to tell the truth in public. Somehow, defending Air America got in the way.

The other question: how does this affect his possible US Senate plans? He's said to be a potential 2008 candidate for Minnesota, his home state. From the New York Times in June 2005:

The swells who showed up before Al Franken's speech at a Democratic fund-raiser to down finger food and punch were thrilled to see him, all the more so because he continues to make threatening noises about running for the Senate here in 2008.

A former writer and performer for ''Saturday Night Live'' and more recently a radio host on Air America, Mr. Franken has used his outsider status to hurl humor-based invective and indignation at the powers that be, but he is considering becoming part of what he so frequently assails.

On Saturday evening he worked the crowd as if being accosted by strangers in a sweltering tent redolent of meatballs was his idea of a good time.

Will he still be able to mount a credible campaign, or is there simply too much baggage at this point? Are his supporters loyal, no matter what has occurred at Air America? Or will Minnesotans now look at him differently?

It will be interesting to see how Franken, Drobny and Air America collectively manage to weasel out of this mess.

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