Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, filed a lawsuit this week against Black Lives Matter as part of an ongoing investigation. The lawsuit seeks an order requiring BLM to respond to a Civil Investigative Demand issued to the organization in February this year.
Rokita shared the news on his Twitter account.
I filed a lawsuit against the Black Lives Matter organization to protect Hoosiers from this house of cards. BLM has concerning patterns of behavior & we’ll do what it takes to get to the bottom of it on behalf of generous Hoosiers who have donated to them.https://t.co/5U2lJtU7cO
— Todd Rokita (@AGToddRokita) April 28, 2022
A press release from the Indiana governor’s website described what led to the lawsuit.
In February of this year, Attorney General Rokita opened an investigation into BLM’s use of funds donated by Hoosiers.
In a 2020 report published by BLM, the organization stated it raised over $90 million in 2020, while it distributed approximately $21.7 million to 30 local organizations and affiliated chapters, including an affiliated chapter in South Bend, Indiana. However, an IRS filing by BLM for the first half of 2020 listed the organization had $0 in revenue, expenses, and assets held by BLM for the time period.
Attorney General Rokita issued a Civil Investigative Demand to BLM in order to determine if the organization’s actions constitute a violation of either the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act or the Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act. The Civil Investigative Demand seeks information and documents held by the entity relevant to the ongoing investigation to ensure transparency to donors and guarantee funds donated by Indiana residents are used for their intended purpose and not for the personal benefit of BLM directors.
Under Indiana law, failure to comply with the civil investigative demand could result in sanctions against the entity, including barring the entity from any future fundraising in Indiana, among other possible remedies.
“There are many Indiana stakeholders and donors who have been impacted by these allegations. This lawsuit will allow for a court to swiftly and efficiently resolve the state’s request for information,” said Attorney General Rokita.
In an interview with Fox News this week, Rokita said that in February, there was news of “mansion buying” and other things surrounding BLM. An investigation began that BLM reportedly has not cooperated in.
“They [BLM] say they raised $90 million in 2020 alone, spent about $21 million of it. Then, when you go to the IRS filings, the partial filings that they made, they say they raised $0. So, what we’re trying to do is get the facts,” Rokita said in the interview.
“I think a lot of woke corporations who gave to them [BLM] to try to shame the rest of us into feeling guilty, or the good-faith Hoosier, who gave $10, whatever the case is, we need the facts,” he added.
“We can’t be this gullible again.”
Watch the interview below.
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