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Report: Vets Charity Turns Down Trump Cash (Updated)

By Jim Swift

The Daily Beast is reporting that a small New Hampshire-based veterans charity has refused to appear at a Trump for President rally to accept a $100,000 check from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Liberty House objected to it being given to them in a public setting: a campaign rally for Trump because it might jeopardize their status as a non-profit. (See updates below.)

The Beast’s Tim Mak has more:

On Friday, Liberty House executive director Keith Howard received a call from a Trump campaign staffer, who conveyed that Trump would like to publicly present them with a six-figure check at a Londonderry rally on Monday, right before the Granite State primary. It’s an enormous amount of money for a small charity. But Howard said he wouldn’t do it—risking the entire, substantial donation on a point of principle. Howard, a 57-year-old Army vet, objected to the use of veterans for political purposes. He doesn’t believe that his charity—which clothes the homeless, feeds the needy, and provides housing to 10 formerly homeless vets—should be presented with money by a political candidate at a political rally. “This is not directed at the Trump campaign,” Howard said. “This is about any campaign.” Plus, Howard believed appearing at a political rally could jeopardize his group’s nonprofit status—something a call to an expert in the state attorney general’s office confirmed. And he found it strange that the call was coming from a Trump campaign staffer, rather than someone related to the foundation that raised money for veterans.

The money generated from Trump’s Iowa rally, as the Federalist reported, went to Trump’s personal foundation first instead of going directly to the charities themselves. The rally was set up by Trump as an alternative to the Iowa Fox News debate he skipped out on.

Read the whole story at the Daily Beast.

UPDATE: The folks at Gateway Pundit report that Liberty House has taken Trump’s donation. A staffer at Liberty House clarifies that they were asked to appear at a Trump rally today to accept the donation, but declined for risk of jeopardizing their status as a tax-exempt non-profit. She says they asked Trump’s staff if it was possible to get the donation without attending the rally, and are under the impression the donation is still going to be made by Trump. They have not received any donation yet.

UPDATE 2: Keith Howard, from Liberty House writes in: “Liberty House is pleased to receive the donation, but, on advice of the NH Attorney General’s Office, will not be part of the Trump or any other political campaign. The donation has been dispersed by Trump to a local supporter, who will deliver it to Liberty House.” A video of Trump giving the ceremonial check to that local supporter can be seen here.

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