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By Michael Sluss and Laurence Hammack
RICHMOND
Ohio's attorney general is seeking an emergency court order to shut down solicitations in his state by the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a nonprofit organization that also is under investigation in Virginia.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced Thursday that he has applied for temporary restraining orders to halt solicitations by the association, saying he has "every reason to believe it is a phony outfit." Cordray said he is seeking a court order because the association chose not to comply with a cease-and-desist order his office issued last month.
Cordray said the association provided "false and misleading information" on its registration documents and added that state investigators have been unable to locate any of the three people listed as having custody of contributions the association raised in Ohio. Similar complaints have been cited by authorities in other states that are investigating the embattled organization.
"Since 2003, Ohioans have contributed close to $1.9 million to the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. However, the evidence is mounting that the operation is misrepresenting its mission," he said. "It is trading on the good name of our armed forces and patriotic Americans to solicit funds that it says will be used to assist veterans directly. Instead, it appears the funds are going to political campaigns. That is fraudulent and deceptive."
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services launched an investigation last month, citing concerns raised by news accounts of the association's activities in Virginia and other states.
Virginia launched its investigation after signing a state law that could enable the association to solicit contributions without filing annual registration reports with the state. The association lobbied for the law, which will take effect July 1.
The association's national director, Bobby Thompson, contributed $67,500 to Virginia candidates last year, including $55,500 to the campaign of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli said last week that he would freeze the money he received in a restricted account until the state's investigation is complete.
Michael Sluss, (540) 981-3373, mike.sluss@roanoke.com
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Questionable
A fund raising organization that is doing everything it can to avoid talking to state investigators, won't talk to reporters and ignores a cease and desist order . . . sounds shady to me. Could it be an ACORN of a different color? The organization should be forced to shut down operations completely until it comes completely clean and answers all the questions the different states' attorneys general want them to fully answer.
Except
ACORN has been completely exonerated of any wrongdoing by Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger and the Government Accountability Office and the courts have struck down the Congressional funding ban as an unconstitutional bill of attainder.
ACORN
"The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) of ACORN has found no evidence the association or related organizations mishandled the $40 million in federal money they received in recent years."
ACORN was also exonerated by a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service for the House Judiciary Committee and by the California Attorney General.
Krazy Ken better loosen his tie
Because the noose is tightening. Saw in the Navy Times where Hawaii is also going after these scam artists with the same MO: 85 directors none of whom can be identified or located; Bobby Thompson and his "spokesmen" have left no forwarding address; can't produce any records of having given anybody anything; photoshopped thank you letters addressed to a different organization; 99% of it donations are spent on administration and overhead (doesn't sound very charitable to me). I know, sdougan, you want a written confession in front of three eyewitnesses before you'll be convinced that this guy (Thompson -- if that's his real name) is a crook and Krazy Ken wants a criminal conviction before he gives the money back. He may not need to wait much longer.
Wake up!
Will Cuccinelli take note, or sit on the sidelines hoping that they are wrong? Stay tuned for further developments.
Zzzz...
Cuccinelli was paid $55,000 to sit quietly on the sidelines.
Besides, he's busy investigating climate scientists and defending us against health reform.
nice timeline against your legal theory
Was the Cuccinelli the Attorney General or the candidate for Attorney General when the campaign donation came in?
Does US Navy Vets have any office or property in Virginia? If they don't then why are you wanting to waste Virginia money on an issue that some other state has jurisdiction?
Did the appropriate department - Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) find any Virginia laws or regulations that were violated? VDACS is in charge of charities in Virginia, not the Attorney General.
Did anyone ever let you know that the Attorney General by office is not the criminal prosecutor - that is the purview of the Commonwealth Attornies?
And for the post about Mann - why not publish all the raw data? The only reason not to share is to hide something, otherwise the desire to share knowledge is much stronger.
The Department of
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has oversight responsibility for solicitation of funds by charities from the general public - not the making of possibly improper campaign contributions to candidates for statewide office. That would be within the purview of the Virginia Elections Commission. Those contributions by themselves provide an adequate nexus for establishment of jurisdiction in Virginia.
The only involvement of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services would be in the filing process for charities within the state - the very filing requirement from which this organization sought and received a statutory exemption after having made political contributions to statewide candidates.
Since you correctly observe that the Attorney General has no criminal enforcement authority, the Commonwealth Attorney's Office in Richmond (which is delegated responsibility for prosecution of offenses overseen by state agencies) should in fact be making independent inquiries as to applicability of criminal statutes involving the organization's contributions.
I see that you have tied US Navy Vet's activities together with Cuccinelli's investigation of Dr.
Response to portworker
Cuccinelli was a candidate at the time he received the donation as was McDonnell, who did the right thing and gave the money to a legit veterans charity. US NAvy Vets is legally authorized to solicit donations in Virginia; that's the whole point of the article. The AG's office provides legal advice to VDACS as it does to all other state agencies. The commonwealth's attorney can't intiate a criminal action in this case without a referral from the AG's office as it's a state regulatory agency (Cuccinelli's client)that's investigating. This has nothing to do with Mann's research, which has been published and is out there for all to see, but an attempt by a politician to stifle academic research for political gain.
MONEY WELL SPENT
You mean climate scientists like Al Gore, Paul McCartney and Rosie O' Donnell?
Please David dont sugar coat stuff just to make it sound magical, call it what it is. Health Reform...Get Real. It is Government take over of all healthcare. Be proud about it, beat your chest, yayyy more Government.