The watchdog group is charging Fox host Sean Hannity failed to fulfill fundraising promises to help children of killed and wounded soldiers. CREW flags Hannity concert series

A Washington watchdog group formally complained to the Federal Trade Commission on Monday that Fox News host Sean Hannity has played on sympathy for wounded troops to raise money, without fulfilling promises to help children of those killed or injured during wartime.

The Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Freedom Concerts, affiliated with the Freedom Alliance, for falsely promoting that all concert proceeds would be donated to a scholarship fund for the children of those killed or wounded in war.


CREW also asked the Internal Revenue Service to look into the Freedom Alliance for engaging in political activities that are prohibited for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations such as the alliance.

“Hannity has promoted the concerts on his show, making statements such as, ‘Every penny, 100 percent of the donations are applied to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund,’” CREW said in a statement.

But according to CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan, the amounts promoted don’t add up to the amounts donated.

The Freedom Concert website says that more than $10 million has been raised for the scholarship fund. According to Sloan, Hannity has said that since 2003 the group has raised $2.5 million for scholarships, but after reviewing the spending records, the amount spent on scholarships cannot be more than $2.1 million.

“This is the kind of deceptive marketing that the FTC looks very dimly at,” Sloan said.

Since Freedom Alliance does not actually run the concerts, it’s possible it funds the scholarships by different means, she said.

Premier Marketing, a company run by Duane Ward, markets and manages the concerts. Ward also runs the Premier Speakers Bureau, which represents Hannity and retired Lt. Col. Oliver North, founder of the Freedom Alliance and now an honorary chairman.

Ward and North have a long history as well. Ward ran North’s legal defense fund in the late 1980s when North was embroiled in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Neither Hannity nor North could be reached for comment Monday. But the alliance president, Tom Kilgannon, vigorously denounced the complaints as “baseless.”

“There is absolutely no merit to the scurrilous charges launched against Freedom Alliance from two of the most left-wing organizations in the country,” Kilgannon said in a statement. “The smear-mongers who have launched this politically motivated witch hunt against Freedom Alliance will be proven wrong as we aggressively defend ourselves in the days and weeks ahead.”

It’s not the first time an independent organization has attacked the fundraising activities of the Freedom Alliance. In 2007, according to The Washington Post, the American Institute of Philanthropy, which graded various veterans’ charities, failed the alliance.

“If they’re advertising that they’re raising money for veterans’ families, I would expect that 80 to 90 percent” of the group’s proceeds would benefit the families of veterans, said Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org, which is backing CREW. “If not every dime is going to those who wore the uniform, then people have the right to know that. It really is that simple.”

“There are many wonderful charities to help troops and veterans that are completely transparent and truthful about where their donations go,” Soltz added. “If Sean Hannity and Freedom Alliance are being untruthful, that hurts all those other charities because it only causes people to hold back donations to worthy causes in the future.”

In addition to its complaint with the FTC, CREW is charging that the Freedom Alliance is participating in political activities, forbidden by the IRS.

The alliance has a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, but it’s contingent on the group refraining from politics. In 1999, Sloan said, the group was warned to steer clear of politics, but it continues to post politically charged columns on its website and host an annual Freedom Cruise, featuring prominent Republican speakers such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

“Very few charities are actually investigated by the IRS,” she added, unless someone complains.