Among the standout names of outfits recently whacking the Donors Trust is the nonprofit investigative journalism organization known as the Center for Public Integrity. To many,the group’s name seems presumptuous and agenda-laden,despite its insistence that it is “nonpartisan and does no advocacy work.”
Because most of CPI’s funding comes from wealthy foundations,it’s possible to investigate the investigators through the IRS Form 990 reports of its donors. Those handy documents publicly reveal everything about every grant to CPI,including the grant description —what the money is for.
The bulk of those descriptions reinforce CPI’s assertion with such purposes as “general support”and “operating support,”meaning to pay the crew,pay the rent,keep the lights and heat on,and feed the office cat. In other words,no agenda there.
There’s also $150,000 from the Public Welfare Foundation (based on the fortune of the late Texas newspaper owner and Democratic activist Charles E. Marsh) for “regulating worker exposure to chemicals”—which,when you think about it,sounds like advocacy for an anti-industry agenda.
Read more at The Washington Examiner. By Ron Arnold.