So why are we interested in thislatest news from CNN?
One of Washington’s most prominent lobbying firms is on the verge of shuttering after becoming ensnared by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Kimberley Fritts [who had worked for Jeb Bush!—ed], the chief executive of the Podesta Group, told employees during a Thursday staff meeting that the firm would cease to exist at the end of the year, according to two sources. Employees were asked to clear out their desks and were told they may not be paid beyond November 15, multiple sources said.One of Washington’s most prominent lobbying firms is on the verge of shuttering after becoming ensnared by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
[….]
Talk of potentially closing the Podesta Group marks a dramatic downfall of one of K Street’s most iconic and well-connected firms. In its heyday, Podesta Group was the largest non-law firm lobbying organization in Washington.Tony Podesta, the firm’s founder and chairman, helped fuel the company with work for foreign governments. He and his brother, John, founded the company almost three decades ago. (John Podesta chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He left the firm in 1993.)
Hans Van De Weerd (Dutch citizen?) is the head of RCUSA as well as a VP at the International Rescue Committee. Was it his bright idea to drop 100K on Podesta?
Even if Mueller wasn’t investigating, the Podesta Group was going to lose influence now that Hillary is a nobody!
Our interest (story here from Breitbart in case you missed it) is in the fact that, for 2017, the Refugee Industry lobbying arm (Refugee Council USA) had dropped 100K on Podesta to lobby certain Senators, including prominent Republicans, for their help in assuring they would get more refugees and more money for themselves.
Targets specifically identified in the proposal included, among others, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ)on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), all on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
I would love to know whose brilliant idea it was to spend that kind of money on lobbyists in the swamp—-lobbyists who are now on a sinking ship.
Did the refugee contractors get their money’s worth?
And, I would like to know if any of the 100K was our money—taxpayer money!
We reported here that we had heard rumblings, but Breitbart News yesterday has all the gory details from a reliable source close to the organization—Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service—headquartered in Baltimore, MD.
Read the bombshell story by Michael Patrick Leahy here.
‘Source: Claims of Financial Mismanagement, Fraud, and Harassment at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Spark External Investigation’
LIRS CEO Linda Hartke (left) with ELCA Bishop Eaton lobbying on the Hill for more refugees (aka paying clients) in March of this year.
My questions include:
~Will Trump’s federal government suspend LIRS (96% funded by taxpayer dollars) until the truth is learned?
~Will Congress have the energy and the guts to take a look at this?
~And, could this be the tip of the iceberg—is LIRS a one-off or could others of the nine federal contractors have gotten loosey-goosey with their finances too?
After all when you are ‘doing good’ who would have the audacity to question how you handle free federal money, right?
~And, here is another: If proven true, what impact do these allegations have on LIRS subcontractors (aka affiliates)?
Just to remind longtime readers and for new readers arriving here today, there are nine organizations (supposedly non-profits)*** almost completely funded with US taxpayer dollars which distribute federal money to hundreds of subcontractors working in towns and cities across America where refugees are being placed.
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is the parent organization to the offices listed below. So whatever happens in Baltimore could have a direct impact on these local “affiliates.”
For example, LSS-MN does not act independently of the Baltimore ‘mothership’ when it comes to resettling refugees. It is the Baltimore office that sends them cases and the money that comes along with the refugees. Federal taxpayer dollars simply flow through LIRS headquarters to these subcontractors. (At the heart of the allegations about federal grant funds is the issue of how much headquarters keeps of the millions of dollars it passes through.)
LIRS affiliates could see an impact if the allegations of financial wrong doing are significant enough for the federal agency (HHS in this case) to issue a ‘stop work order.’
When you read Breitbart’s investigative pieceyou might not have much concern for the internal personnel machinations/squabbles/bullying/firings/ etc, but like me, you might find anything that suggests the misuse of your tax dollars compelling. Pistachio nuts! (you will have to read Leahy’s piece to see what that means!)
Here is one bit of the detailed report from a source to Breitbart (source refers to LIRS as LIaRS):
Over the six year period from 2011 through 2016, LIaRS revenue from the U.S. government grew from $30 million to almost $65 million. During that time, under CEO Hartke’s oversight, the headquarter’s spending exploded from $8.8 million to $13.5 million with a staff of less than 100. Hartke’s salary also jumped from $182,270 to more than $293,000 last year (note this does not include her 9 percemt employer retirement plan contribution, 100% employer paid health care, and paid time off).
Given that USG revenue accounts for almost 95 cents of every LIaRS dollar, the only way Hartke could continue to spend on herself and the headquarters is through charging the USG an indirect cost recovery rate on the entire amount of their grants, even though 90 percent of the funds were simply passed through to subawards to the dozens of independent affiliates that actually do the refugee resettlement work (i.e. Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, RefugeeOne of Chicago, Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, etc.).
This is direct contradiction to the Code of Federal Regulations which only allows the ICR to be charged on the first $25,000 of each subaward. LIaRS charges it on all the money, thereby giving them millions of dollars per year to fund their headquarters for doing nothing. As an example, in 2016 of the $54 million in government funds received by LIaRS, more than $55 million was sent out in subawards to the independent affiliates to do the actual resettlement work … but LIaRS managed to charge the government the ICR rate of over 10 percent on that $55 million which brings over $5 million to be kept in Baltimore for Hartke and her office.
If I may be so bold as to tell the Inspector General at Health and Human Services what to do….
….it would be prudent for the IG to issue a Stop Work Order.
If the allegations of inflating direct costs are true and the commensurate lack of internal controls are found, LIRS financial practices raise serious questions about their ability to function as a federal resettlement agency (receiving millions of dollars appropriated by Congress!) at least until this mess is cleared up.
So what can you do?
Note that the new refugee mayor of Helena, Montana is on this board. Ask him what he thinks about the allegations! http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/11/08/liberian_refugee_wilmot_collins_elected_mayor_of_helena_montana.html
After reading theBreitbart expose’ you know that LIRS Board of Directors has launched an internal investigation in addition to whatever the federal government is doing.
See the Board members here and below. If you are of the Lutheran faith you need to have a word with anyone of them you know plus speak up to your local pastors!
From LIRS website:
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service’s board of directors sets the organization’s mission goals and ensures that we have the resources, leadership and oversight necessary to carry them out. Our president and leadership team guides the day-to-day operations of the organization as we work toward achieving our mission goals with integrity, courage and fiscal responsibility.
Board Members
The board is composed of 15 members who have knowledge of and commitment to refugees and immigrants. LIRS believes strength is found in diversity and that refugees and immigrants need a voice at the table of influence. All branches of the Lutheran Church as well as other denominations are represented on the board. There are also three former refugees or first generation immigrants on the board. The LIRS president is an ex-officio member of the board.
***These are the nine federal contractors receiving millions of tax payer dollars annually. Could any of the others not be following federal grant reporting rules? Come on Congress, time to get serious about reviewing the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program and how the contractors are spending our money!
Good Countryis promoting a one world government as you can see here on their website:
Most of the world’s problems are really just symptoms of a bigger, underlying problem: that we haven’t yet worked out how to organise ourselves as a single species inhabiting a single planet. This can change.
[….]
We need to co-operate and collaborate much more closely if we’re going to make the world work.
But, most of the time, we don’t. Why not?
Because the seven billion people who created all these problems are organised in two hundred tribes called nations. Each one is run by a government that’s totally focused on the national interest: what will make us richer, happier, safer, stronger? They don’t worry too much if that makes others poorer, unhappier, more vulnerable, weaker because, well, they’re foreigners. And foreigners can’t vote.
Can this ever change? Yes it can. It will change when we, the people who keep those governments in power, wake them up and tell them the world has changed, and their jobs have changed with it.
As we told you the other day, the Trump Administration has closed a completely illegal program at the US State Department that was created out of thin air by Obama’s team in 2014.
Obama had taken it upon himself to simply write refugee law!
Besides the fact that youths (mostly male teens) flooding north from Central America are economic migrants and in some cases escaping violence, they are NOT refugees who must prove they were being persecuted for race, religion, political persuasion etc. to be legitimate refugees.Escaping violence is not a criteria in the internationally understood definition of a ‘refugee.’
Vasquez: Ending the program perpetuates family breakdown, never mind that the parents didn’t stay home with their children! And, the parents can go home to embrace their children at any time!
And, of course, no where in thiswhiny article at Catholic News Service does it mention that the Bishops Migration Fund is nearly 100% funded by taxpayer dollars. See here.
They NEVER mention their federal funding to take care of the “children.”
Here is Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration:
Vasquez offered prayers for those affected.
“We continue to pray and express our support for parents who endure anxiety and emotional hardship knowing their children will continue to languish in violence; and to the children themselves, who will not be able to reunite and embrace their parents,” he said.
The next time someone says something like this in your presence ask, so if that parent was so concerned about the welfare of his or her children, why did they leave the child in a hell hole and illegally go to the US for a better life for themselves?
And, if they are so worried now they could reunite easily—in their home country.
The illegal parent here in America is responsible for reuniting his own family by going home!
….they fail to mention that reports coming out of their primary contractor, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (in Baltimore) indicate that maybe there is a bit of a problem there with federal audits…..
I meant to get to this news yesterday in advance of the St. Cloud City Council meeting last night where the majority of the council voted down a resolution (vote was 6-1) by one councilman who is seeking a moratorium on resettlement there in order to assess the economic and social impact resettlement by the Lutherans is having on the community. (I didn’t get to it because I don’t know if it affected all of you, but in many places in the country internet services were down.)
I realized this morning after reading thenews at the Star-Tribune that anything I said about the facts involving the Lutheran contractor and subcontractor changing St. Cloud wouldn’t matter one bit. Here is the St. Cloud Timesversion of what happened last night (you can see the text of the resolution here and maybe use it as a model where you live!).
The St. Cloud Times, clearly biased against those who want more transparency with the resettlement plan for the city, posted this factually inaccurate opinion piece from Lutheran Social Service of MN the day before the vote. No surprise that they were helping the Lutheran agency in its quest to forever change St. Cloud and supply local corporations with cheap labor.
Here is what Maureen Warren, a VEEP at LSS-MN told the citizens of St. Cloud:
Maureen Warren, who btw makes over $200,000 a year in salary and related benefits, is doing well by doing good! Has she taken any refugees to her home? http://www.lssmn.org/About-Us/Leadership/Maureen-Warren/
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota commends the new resolution supporting a just and welcoming community that passed the St. Cloud City Council on Oct. 23.
We applaud the courage and hard work by members of the City Council and others who have shown leadership and commitment to creating a strong and welcoming community for everyone.
We want to take this opportunity to correct misinformation that has surfaced in recent City Council meetings and media reports about our compliance performance in LSS Refugee Services.
On Oct. 23, the St. Cloud Times reported on a different resolution presented by council member Jeff Johnson at the last council meeting that “calls for a city moratorium on the placement of additional refugees through primary resettlement until Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota — one of six nonprofit organizations that helps settle refugees in Minnesota — demonstrates it is in compliance with federal statutes.”
We want the community to know that the LSS refugee resettlement service is subject to regular financial and service audits by the U.S. State Department and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — and LSS is in full compliance with all federal laws and regulations.
But, how about the reports coming out of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service that they may not be in full compliance with federal grant laws and regulations?
For new readers, LSS-MN does not get refugee cases or cash directly from the federal government, but the refugees are chosen by LIRS, sent to St. Cloud and LSS-MN gets its payment of federal money passed through LIRS. LIRS receives and doles out your money to it subcontractors.
A fish rots from the head down!
LIRS fancy headquarters building in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
Persistent reports coming out of LIRS indicate that the organization is in turmoil—that the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services did audit LIRS and found irregularities in its financial reporting relating to salaries and possible misuse of grant dollars.
We received a copy of a June 30th letter to the Board of Directors at LIRSfrom the Inspector General at HHS instructing LIRS to make a “corrective action plan” to account for the budget irregularities. Some of those irregularities involve ones relating to salaries of headquarters employees, sources in a position to know tell us.
Apparently that letter and subsequent internal turmoil sent the organization in to a tailspin, employees resigned, but others were given handsome severance packages in order to leave quietly, we hear.
In September the Board of Directors at LIRS announced its own investigation of the top management of the contractor that receives on average 96% of its funding from taxpayers! Here is the text of one e-mail from Board chairman Rev. Michael Rinehart that we received. Clearly whatever is going on, it is very serious. If federal grant mismanagement occurred, at minimum the organization must repay misappropriated dollars?
From: Michael Rinehart
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2017
Update:
Executive Committee convened and agreed to an investigation.
I have spoken to Linda.
The investigation team has formed. They will meet next week in St. Louis.
I have the names of three law firms with whom to talk.
Things are moving fast.
Peace, Mike Michael Rinehart, Bishop Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
We are offering an open invitation for a representative of LIRS in Baltimore (or the Board of Directors) to write a guest column for RRW to explain what exactly is going on if the reports I am receiving are in some way inaccurate!
Just a reminder that getting at the truth is our business because LIRS is almost completely funded from the US Treasury (and Congress is doing nothing to watch out for our money!).
Now to the other compliance audits that LSS-MN referenced in its St. Cloud Times piece—the State Department Service audits.
These are audits done on an irregular basis where someone shows up (usually announced!) from the US State Department to assess whether the local subcontractor (LSS-MN) is complying with its contract mostly regarding the care given to refugees.
The compliance reports that are written are kept secret from the public.
I have heard of them being obtained through FOIA requests that the State Department takes years to respond to.
If LSS-MN is now in “full compliance” surely they wouldn’t object to releasing those compliance reports where they weren’t compliant and explain to the public what they have done to satisfy the federal requirements that they apparently were not following.
And, readers, isn’t it incredible how little scrutiny they get from Washington—monitoring visits FIVE years apart! And, the 2017 visit was from LIRS in Baltimore. The US State Department hasn’t been there since 2012!
I’d like to know if there are even any penalties for not being in FULL compliance!
See my giant St. Cloud archive by clicking here. Don’t miss two posts on LIRS signing contracts with global meatpackers JBS Swift hereand Tyson Foods here. (See LSS-MN helped get this deal somehow).
Just think about it—greedy global corporations changing the demographic makeup of small heartland cities with third world-laborers, aided and abetted by the Lutherans!
