Minutemen put trust in their finance firms

The Washington Times ^ | 21 July 2006 | Jerry Seper

[Spiff]

Minutemen put trust in their finance firms By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 21, 2006

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps' top leaders signed a letter yesterday saying they have "complete confidence in the professional firms" hired by MCDC President Chris Simcox to oversee the organization's finances, citing criticism from within and outside the group as "utterly without merit."

The letter, posted on the Minuteman Web page (www.minutemanhq.com) applauded Mr. Simcox's decision to employ "accredited and experienced professionals to assist the organization in management of our finances."

"There are those both within the border security movement and actively opposed to it who, for ideological reasons or in advancement of personal ambition, wish the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to fail," Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) said in a statement.

"Critics are obtaining false information from known racialists, anti-Semites and a small handful of disgruntled people who have been terminated from staff or from leadership involvement with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps over a year ago because they could not meet MCDC standards or adhere to our strict field standard operational procedures," the group said.

[Snip...]

MCDC has not made any financial records public despite concern within the organization and requests by The Times dating back to October.

Saying "tabloid-style gossip of this nature drives readership," the MCDC letter defended Declaration Alliance.

"The Declaration Alliance and the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps organizational entities are both in full compliance with IRS regulatory statutes and filing obligations," the statement said, adding that financial disclosure forms will be submitted by Nov. 15.

The letter accused critics of having "no actual knowledge of MCDC finances, regulatory compliance, filing deadlines, non-profit status, or other accountability matters," and described the accusations as "groundless."

[cripplecreek]

I'm confident in the Minutemen. Certainly far more confident than I am in my government's ability to handle my money.

[AppyPappy]

All they have to do is make their financial records public and the critics will be silenced.

[calex59]

Since when did the Times, or any paper, have the authority to demand records from any one?

[AppyPappy]

They don't have to?

But if they don't, they have to deal with suspicion of their spending.

[cripplecreek]

adding that financial disclosure forms will be submitted by Nov. 15.

If there's anything there the govt. will find it and we know they'll be looking.

[Amelia]

why should the HAVE to?

Because "a growing number of MCDC leaders and volunteers had questions concerning the whereabouts of money contributed to the organization over the past 15 months"?

What are they being accused of? Spending the funds on themselves?

Apparently some of the leadership has no idea what Simcox is doing with the money.

[Amelia]

Today's entertainment, provided by spiff.

Wonder what Seper's email address is? It seems to me that he could use just a bit more research.

[PDR]

probably jseper@washingtontimes.com

[Amelia]

Hey, thanks! :-)

[MikefromOhio]

All they have to do is make their financial records public and the critics will be silenced.

Exactly. And the more noise that's made to try to stall/accuse/dilute the issue, the more I think there's something there.

[cripplecreek]

Funny how the OBL in all their brilliance manages to miss the part where Simcox says that financial disclosure forms will be filed in Nov.

[Amelia]

They've got an email submission form on their webpage, too.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/staffdir.php#form

[TheDon]

"Critics are obtaining false information from known racialists, anti-Semites and a small handful of disgruntled people who have been terminated from staff or from leadership involvement with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps over a year ago because they could not meet MCDC standards or adhere to our strict field standard operational procedures," the group said.

Movements of this nature are bound to attract their share of undesirables who are confused about what the organization is trying to accomplish. And some of those undesirables don't leave quietly.

[Kimberly GG]

"All they have to do is make their financial records public and the critics will be silenced."

Oh please, they could be lilly white and walk on water and their critics would not be silenced, because they're securing the border Bush won't.

[TheDon]

"The Declaration Alliance and the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps organizational entities are both in full compliance with IRS regulatory statutes and filing obligations," the statement said, adding that financial disclosure forms will be submitted by Nov. 15.

Another non-issue blown out of proportion by the media.

[Amelia]

Movements of this nature are bound to attract their share of undesirables who are confused about what the organization is trying to accomplish. And some of those undesirables don't leave quietly.

And some of them are in the leadership.

[TheDon]

It sounds like they have gotten rid of them, including those in the leadership, and will continue to do so as they make themselves apparent.

There are people who want to stop the movement with infighting, but they are rather transparent...

[Amelia]

It sounds like they have gotten rid of them, including those in the leadership, and will continue to do so as they make themselves apparent.

Possibly. It could be that they've gotten rid of the ones who don't understand how the purpose of the organization has changed since it became aligned with the Declaration Alliance.