Calls Grow for DOJ Investigation into Black Lives Matter as 'Disturbing Info' Emerges
BLM caught spending millions in donation money, covering up payments
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Calls are mounting for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch an investigation into Black Lives Matter as "disturbing information" is emerging about the far-left group's handling of donation money.
As Neon Nettle previously reported, BLM was caught spending almost $6 million in donation money on a lavish California mansion.
However, the group's leaders then took significant steps to cover up the purchase in financial records.
The organization then tried to “kill” the story about the mansion from appearing on social media by pressuring Big Tech companies to block reports on BLM's spending.
Now it has emerged that the Los Angeles mansion, frequented by Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart, was bought by a real estate developer working for BLM founder Patrisse Cullors and her partner for $3.1 million just days before it was bought for almost double that amount by the organization.
Just six days after the $3.1M purchase, it was bought by BLM for $5.8 million in donation cash, according to the Daily Mail.
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The rapid price inflation "raises serious questions," ethics experts said.
The house was bought on October 27 in cash by BLM's shell company for $5.8 million - 250 percent above the average price for the area.
The purchase of the 6,500 square-foot, six-bedroom property in Studio City was first revealed on Monday by New York Magazine, amid growing questions about BLM's finances.
In February 2021, the organization said it had taken in more than $90 million in 2020 and still had $60 million on hand, but it remains unclear how that money is being managed or even where it is.
Cullors, the co-founder of the organization, resigned in May 2021 as director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF), amid scrutiny of her property empire.
She has written best-selling books and has a contract with Warner Brothers to produce content.
On Wednesday, Cullors, 38, angrily hit back at the questions over the cash purchase of the Studio City mansion, describing the criticism as "racist and sexist."
She insisted that the expansive property was bought as a "safe space" for black creatives, activists, and thought leaders, and its purchase was never disclosed because it needed renovating.
Cullors called the New York Magazine investigation "a despicable abuse of a platform that's intended to provide truthful information to the public," and said that the author had "a proven and very public bias against me and other black leaders."
When the magazine inquired about the house, BLM reportedly circulated a memo discussing the possibility of trying to "kill" the story.
She did not address the discrepancy in the home's cost nor did she provide evidence to show it is used for anything other than personal use by BLM's leaders.
Black Lives Matter's purchase of the mansion with charitable donations should spark a DOJ investigation into the politically powerful nonprofit, California Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News.
Issa says it's time for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation.
"The disturbing information that we are learning is more than enough to warrant an investigation from the DOJ — and doubtless not the end of all there is to know," Issa said.
"This definitely has the suggestion of misappropriation of charitable funds and an abuse of our nonprofit laws."
The purchase of the California house was separate from a 2021 transaction in which BLM transferred money to a Canadian nonprofit – run by the wife of BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors – to buy a $3 million house.
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Cullors attacked NYMag for its reporting in a statement she posted to Instagram on Tuesday.
"Yesterday's article in New York Magazine is a despicable abuse of a platform that's intended to provide truthful information to the public," she said.
"Journalism is supposed to mitigate harm and inform our communities."
"That a reputable publication would allow a reporter, with a proven and very public bias against me and other black leaders, to write a piece filled with misinformation, innuendo, and incendiary opinions, is disheartening and unacceptable," she added.
Cullors, who abruptly resigned from BLM in May 2021 amid mounting scrutiny of the group's finances, has previously faced criticism for living an opulent lifestyle that includes millions of dollars of personal real estate purchases.
