Posted on 08/15/2006 12:58:22 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
A Texas firm that manages hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps says it has not been authorized to divulge a detailed accounting of the funds, despite assurances by the MCDC's top official that it would do so.
Maureen E. Otis -- president of American Caging Inc. in Stafford, Texas, an agency hired to collect, deposit and disburse donations to the civilian border-patrol group -- told The Washington Times that neither MCDC President Chris Simcox nor the group's board of directors had given her permission to "disclose any numbers."
Mr. Simcox, who has been criticized by current and former MCDC members for a lack of leadership and financial accountability, had referred The Times to Mrs. Otis, saying she could "tell you everything" to clear up the concerns.
Instead, Mrs. Otis issued a statement saying only that all Minuteman donations have been "securely collected, counted and deposited" in MCDC bank accounts.
Telephone calls to Mr. Simcox in Phoenix, where he reportedly is on paternity leave, were routed to Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair in Virginia, who said the organization was not going to release "any unaudited numbers." She said that an audit will be completed in November and that any release of figures prior to that "is just not going to happen......."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Hmm this doesnt look like a retraction lol. Where is the retraction we were told the Wash Times was going to do.
ping
The retraction is burried under the fence.
"paternity leave"?I thought he was travelling around the country giving out money form his PAC. I uspect he will be on paternity leave alot especially when certain reporters call.
That sounds like the dodge it is.
I've been involved in trying to implement change in the political arena, through our elected officials, for a number of years, we have had a little success locally, and at state level, but DC, nothing. The MMP, and other border watch groups have gotten the DC crowd to at least pretend to do something in just over a year. That is a major accomplishment.
The MMP is Chris Simcox's organization, he can run it any way he wants as far as I am concerned. Anyone who has donated should be looking at the results, not nitpicking the accounting, or the way the donated money was spent.
The Border Watch group I belong to takes no donations, we fund the operation ourselves, to avoid a mess like this, amoung other reasons.
I think if you're soliciting donations then it is quite reasonable to ask where the money is going. Certainly you should not say you will release the accounting and then not do so. Better to say it's private info in the first place.
Good article.
For some reason this story brings to mind some of David Copperfield's best sleight of hand tricks, now you see it and now you don't.
Thanks.
Allegations are made. Therefore, figures should be released immediately? Anyone can make an allegation. Why not get fully audited results before passing judgement?
He hasn't checked that out yet?
Because then the anti-Minutemen wouldn't have anything to whine about.
It's current and former MCDC members who've been making the allegations, apparently. The entire article is instructive...for example, there's this:
In April, Mrs. Lewis and Ms. Hair declined to answer 17 written questions submitted by The Times concerning MCDC finances after several current and former Minutemen first raised questions about money coming into the organization. They also did not respond to a follow-up list of seven questions in June.MCDC has not released any financial or fundraising records since its April 2005 creation to either the public or its members. Disclosure statements promised to The Times by Mr. Simcox in October and later in April were never delivered. He since has accused critics of being racists, anti-Semites and "a small handful of disgruntled people who have been terminated."
Stonewalling, or the appearance thereof, rarely improves people's opinion of a person or group. It just makes it appear that there is something to hide.
Sounds to me as if, at most, they don't want people to know where the money is going, and at least, they have incompetent media relations people.
That stonewall the only fence I see being built.
1. They don't want people to know where the money is going. and 2. Incompetent media relations people.
If the money is in the bank, why don't they simply release a statement of their receipts and the account's balance on hand?
Are they subject to CFR laws?
add me to your ping list for this please
what fence? oh, yeah.... got it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.