(Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) filed complaints
with both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Sean Hannity, his Freedom Concerts,
the Freedom Alliance and Lt. Col. Oliver North.
The Freedom Alliance was founded by Col. Oliver North Ret. (Fox News Host) to raise money to support
the troops and their children through Freedom Concerts along with private donations, have raised millions over the last several
years.
“FTC complaint alleges Hannity and Freedom Concerts have engaged in illegal and deceptive marketing
practices by suggesting that all money generated by ticket sales for the Freedom Concerts he sponsors each summer goes to
scholarships for children of killed and wounded service members. In fact, the concerts are staged by Premiere Marketing, which
is headed by Duane Ward – also the head of Premiere Speakers Bureau, which exclusively represents Mr. Hannity and Lt.
Col. North. After staging the concerts, Premiere donates an unknown portion of the concert proceeds to the Freedom Alliance.”
“IRS complaint against Freedom Alliance asks the IRS to consider revoking its charitable tax
status because the organization has engaged in prohibited political activities. When Freedom Alliance first formed in 1999,
the IRS conditioned its charitable tax status on the organization removing politically partisan materials from its website
and warned it not to intervene in political campaigns. Despite those warnings, Freedom Alliance’s website includes links
to Lt. Col. North’s columns, which are largely political, rents its mailing list to a communications firm that works
for organizations that “seek to reach Republicans and conservatives across the United States,” and hosts an annual
“Freedom Cruise” with Republican politicians such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Republican National
Committee Chairman Michael Steele. In addition, Freedom Alliance appears to have a relationship with Team America, a PAC formed
by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), dedicated to anti-immigration efforts and supporting conservative candidates.”
When Hannity promotes the Freedom Concerts on his TV and Radio shows he says, “Every penny, 100
percent of the donations are applied to the Freedom Alliance scholarship fund.”
The
