By JONATHAN M. KATZ and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers on December 17, 2005 and edited by Stony Joe
WASHINGTON - Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's AIDS charity paid nearly a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle, according to tax returns providing the first financial accounting of the presidential hopeful's nonprofit. Frist is president of the charity. The returns for World of Hope Inc. also show the charity raised the lion's share of its $4.4 million from just 18 sources. They gave between $97,950 and $267,735 each to help fund Frist's efforts to fight AIDS. The tax forms, filed nine months after they were first due, do not identify the 18 major donors by name. The group's 2004 tax return was due April 15, 2005, but it filed for two extensions and only reported its activity to the IRS last month. The tax forms show at least 11 of the charity's 18 biggest donors gave $97,950 each, that one gave $100,000 and that the rest gave more than $245,000 each. Frist's lawyer, Alex Vogel, said that he would not give their names because tax law does not require their public disclosure. The donors include corporations with frequent business before Congress: insurer Blue Cross/Blue Shield, manufacturer 3M, drug maker Eli Lilly and the Goldman Sachs investment firm.
World of Hope gave $3 million it raised to AIDS causes, such as Africare and evangelical Christian groups with ties to Republicans � Franklin Graham's Samaritan Purse and the Rev. Luis Cortes' Esperanza USA. Cortes is an influential evangelical leader who hosted Bush at this year's National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast. Franklin Graham is the son of the Rev. Billy Graham.
The rest of the money went to overhead. That included $456,125 in consulting fees to two firms run by Frist's longtime political fundraiser, Linus Catignani. One is jointly run by Linda Bond, the wife of Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo. The charity also hired the law firm of Vogel's wife, Jill Holtzman Vogel, and Frist's Tennessee accountant, Deborah Kolarich. Kolarich's name recently surfaced in an e-mail involving Frist's controversial sale of stock in his family founded health care company. That transaction is now under federal investigation.
Jill Holtzman Vogel, who is raising money for a run for the state Senate in Virginia in 2007, has received thousands in contributions this year from Catignani & Bond and from her husband, among numerous other sources, according to data released by the Virginia Public Access Project.
The size of charity's big donations and its consulting fees raise questions about whether the tax-exempt group benefited Frist's political ambitions. "One of the things people who are running for president try to do is keep their fundraising staff and political people close at hand. And one of the ways you can do that is by putting them in some sort of organization you run," said Larry Noble, the government's former chief election lawyer who now runs the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Kent Cooper, the Federal Election Commission's former public disclosure chief, said the big donors' motives are also suspect. "These tax deductible gifts were earmarked through Senator Frist. They were raised in the political arena at the 2004 Republican Convention and the natural question is were they given to the Senate majority leader to gain favor or were they given for true charitable purposes?" Cooper said the fees were "excessively high" and that they were "paid to primarily political consultants also raises questions about the long-range strategic benefits for the 2008 presidential race."
Frist formed the charity in 2003. It drew attention in August 2004 when it held a benefit concert in New York during the Republican National Convention at which President Bush was nominated for re-election. Vogel said Catignani was paid the fees because he helped arrange the New York concert that featured country stars Brooks & Dunn, handling both the event arrangements and fundraising. The tax forms show Catignani's fundraising firm, Catignani & Bond, was paid a total of $276,125 and his event-planning arm, Consulting Services Group, was paid $180,000. The amount Catignani was paid by Frist's charity in 2004 is roughly the same as what his firms received over the past three years for work for Frist's political action committee, Volunteer PAC. The firm collected $523,666 in fees from the PAC since 2003, FEC records show.
Frist has worked and traveled extensively with Samaritan's Purse in Africa as well as during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Weeks before Frist's convention fundraiser, the senate leader traveled to Chad, Sudan and Kenya on a trip underwritten by Samaritan's Purse, Senate records show. Samaritan's Purse spokesman Jeremy Blume said the $490,000 that World of Hope donated to Samaritan's Purse in 2004 was spent on AIDS programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
A charity could lose its tax-exempt status if it is found to be involved with political activity, said Marcus S. Owens, a former director of the Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organizations Division. "If the IRS were to conduct an examination, they would look for the relationship between the organization and any incumbent politician or candidate. They'd be particularly interested in transactions of money or assistance of any kind being provided."
Ukrainian couple has 17th child, lays claim to largest US family
SACRAMENTO, United States (AFP) - Complete with proud smiles and self-conscious glances, Vladimir and Zynaida Chernenko's seventeen children were introduced to the world. Cradled delicately in Vladimir Chernenko's thick arms was his baby, David, whose birth on December 7 gave the Ukrainian-American family the largest brood in the United States, according to the Russian language newspaper The Speaker.
"When we got married back in the Ukraine, for six month we had no children and thought we wouldn't have any kids at all. I never thought I would have such a family."," Vladimir told reporters.
Vladimir said he was serving in the Ukrainian army when his wife wrote in a letter that she was pregnant. "I said how could this happen, me in the army and she is at home pregnant? I was young then and didn't take into account we had lived together a while."
The family emigrated and settled in California seven years ago, the couple said. Vladimir is a security and maintenance worker for a charter school and the family lives in a seven-room house in Sacramento. "It's a lot of work, and we all get tired, and it's difficult from financial point of view. But we overcome the fear by looking forward to our children with love."" Zynaida Chernenko conceded when asked if having such a large family was difficult.
The children, the eldest of which is 22, share duties and responsibilities, with the older ones filling in for their parents at times, the mother said. It also helps to have a 15-seat mini-van and a huge dinner table, the family confided.
"Our goal is to raise the children so when they grow up they will not be afraid of anything in life," Zynaida said. "I think if every family approaches it that way, we will have a very healthy society."
The siblings do not squabble about portion sizes, television channels or other matters because their dad has driven home the importance of putting aside selfishness in order to survive as a family, 17-year-old Anatoliy said.
"We sit all together, put out the food and eat like a regular family," said 16-year-old Lyudmila "Sometimes we wait for each other to finish, and then feed the little kids." The father and mother said it was difficult to estimate how much they spend weekly on food, because the money goes out as quickly as it comes in.
The huge family group appeared to be thrilled by the presence of reporters and the notion of being on the television news. The couple expressed thanks for the support they have received from Russian and American business people, along with their church. "It's cool to be called the biggest family in America." When asked whether David would be her last baby, Zynaida replied: "I can't say. I am grateful for all my children, my wonderful husband, my friends. And, I'd like to thank my doctor."
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