(TheRedWire.com) – Since 1970, the MacArthur Foundation has promoted democracy, journalism, criminal justice, and climate initiatives to the tune of $7.5 billion in grants. In 1991, the nonprofit began supporting programs in the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine. Yet, in 2015, the foundation stopped its work there after the Russian parliament placed it on an “undesirable organization” list. Now, it appears the FBI took orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime to conduct a probe against the tax-exempt entity in 2004.
Despite a lack of allegations of any wrongdoing, the Russian government requested the FBI probe the foundation. It had given $4.5 million in grants to Ukraine. The Russians said they wanted the US government to confirm whether the entity existed and the legality of transactions it made to Ukrainian citizens. The FBI’s Chicago branch investigated the organization, which fully cooperated with requests for documents.
FBI probed U.S. philanthropic group at Russia's request without any alleged wrongdoing, report | Just The News https://t.co/XtpV5lOXSw
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) December 27, 2022
MacArthur Foundation attorney Joshua Mintz said the charity always provides publicly available information when the government requests it. He said the queries in 2004 were reasonable, public knowledge, and included in the organization’s tax returns. There was no indication of wrongdoing or questionable activities. Mintz stated they never knew the nonprofit was under investigation.
So, did the FBI take orders from Putin’s regime and investigate the foundation unfairly? Was there any reason to refuse the request?
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