DOJ WARNED BROWN HOPE, WILL NOW INVESTIGATE: Embattled racial justice nonprofit Brown Hope voted last week to keep founder and CEO Cameron Whitten in his job pending the outcome of internal and Oregon Department of Justice probes into whistleblower allegations of mismanagement at the organization. One issue: Until last week, Brown Hope’s board hadn’t met for 14 months, and the whistleblower document alleges poor record-keeping. Emails WW obtained though a public records request show that DOJ explicitly told Whitten in September 2020 to “regularly download and save all financial records” so they could be easily retrieved in future. Whistleblowers have raised questions about whether the group, which got substantial funding from city, county and state sources as well as major foundations, did that. The emails also show that Elizabeth Grant, who heads DOJ’s charitable activities section, contacted Brown Hope board president Greg McKelvey on Dec. 14. “If the organization has an attorney, please have them contact me,” Grant wrote. If not, “I believe it would be helpful to arrange a conference call.”
HOME DELIVERY COMPANIES AREN’T CHECKING IDS WHEN DROPPING OFF BOOZE: The Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission have been running a sting operation over the past year with a volunteer team of 20-somethings—they’ve ordered booze on their phones and tallied whether delivery drivers checked for proof of age. The results are now in: Deliveries were “...
For months, President Donald Trump and his allies have vowed to destroy progressive nonprofits, falsely claiming that they fund and support political violence and terrorism in the U.S. But this we...