When terrorist Brett Kimberlin was convicted of multiple felonies in 1981,
he could have been sentenced to 230 years in federal prison.
Federal tax forms filed by convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin’s tax-exempt non-profit Justice Through Music Project (JTMP) show that the 501(c)3 group collected $1.8 million in gifts, grants and other contributions during its first six years of operation. An analysis using database research indicates that more than $300,000 of that sum came in the form of grants from tax-exempt foundations, including the George Soros-connected Tides Foundation, the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the Barbara Streisand Foundation, and the Heinz Family Foundation, connected to Democrat Sen. John Kerry’s wife.
Convicted of multiple federal felonies in connection with a string of 1978 bombings in Indiana, Kimberlin’s activities recently have come under renewed scrutiny due to his attempt to press criminal charges against attorney Aaron Walker, a blogger who says Kimberlin tried to “frame” him as part of a campaign of harassment and intimidation against conservative New Media activists.
JTMP’s 2009 IRS Form 990 (link is to PDF document) declares the “program service accomplishments” of Kimberlin’s organization: “Civil rights, social action and advocacy programs. We have created DVDs with musicians to educate youth about their voting and civil rights to get them to register and vote. We created a website to do the same, and we have held voter drives to educate youth and register them to vote.” On page four of the IRS form (question 43), the organization denied having engaged in “direct or indirect campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office.”
Walker’s complaint against Kimberlin — the subject of a 28,000-word account posted Thursday morning at the blog Allergic to Bull — sparked new interest in the convicted felon’s online activities. Kimberlin’s connections to influential non-profit charities, leading progressive bloggers and Democrat Party operatives expose what many observers believe is a coordinated effort to silence conservative activists online through intimidation and harassment. Less than six months before his death, New Media enterpreneur Andrew Breitbart warned about Kimberlin’s activities.
The most recent IRS Form 990 available for Kimberlin’s JTMP (click here to view the PDF document) shows that the non-profit 501(c)3 group reported contributions of $223,739 in 2010. Combined with cumulative totals of contributions of $1,561,066 shown on the Maryland-based organization’s 2009 IRS filing, this means the Justice Through Music Project collected $1,784,805 from its founding in 2005 through 2010.
So-called “lawfare” harassment and other intimidation tactics by Kimberlin’s apparently well-funded network, including Democrat campaign consultant Neal Rauhauser, have alarmed those who see these efforts as a key component of a larger election-year strategy by liberal activists determined to dominate media coverage.
The Lonely Conservative blog has called for “an Army of Davids” to help expose Kimberlin’s activities, invoking the title of a book, An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths by Professor Glenn Reynolds, who has shown interest in the Kimberlin case at his popular Instapundit blog.
Non-Profit Cash for the ‘Speedway Bomber’
The Justice Through Music Project’s tax form lists only two officials: Kimberlin as director, with a full-time salary of $20,250 in 2009, and Bethesda, Maryland, attorney Jeffrey C. Cohen, who reported receiving no compensation for his role as the non-profit’s executive director. The tax-exempt organization’s IRS form lists its revenue for five years:
2005 — $121,450
2006 — $428,815
2007 — $255,635
2008 — $558,543
2009 — $196,623
JTMP’s tax-exempt funding, including grants from major philanthropic foundations, is remarkable considering Kimberlin’s notorious record for violent crime and drug smuggling, as well as his convictions for perjury and impersonating federal officials. His 1978 terrorism spree — which earned him the sobriquet “Speedway Bomber” for the Indiana town where Kimberlin’s violent rampage occurred — included one blast outside a high school that maimed two people. Authorities said that, while awaiting trial, Kimberlin plotted to kill both the federal prosecuting attorney and one of the witnesses against him.
According to information available through online databases, it appears that JTMP’s funding by tax-exempt foundations peaked in 2006. That was the year Kimberlin’s non-profit received a $60,000 grant from the Tides Foundation, which has become controversial because of its funding from left-wing billionaire Soros. An analysis of database records appears to show the following foundation grants to JTMP:
2005
Farview Foundation ………………………….…… $9,000
2006
Tides Foundation …………………………………. $60,000
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift …..…. $45,000
HKH Foundation ……………………………..……. $20,000
Heinz Family Foundation ………….……..…. $20,000
Olive Branch Foundation …………….……… $15,000
Farview Foundation …………………………… $10,000
Barbra Streisand Foundation …………………$5,000
2007
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift …..…. $19,000
2008
Threshold Foundation ………………..…..… $20,000
Tides Foundation ………………………….….. $10,000
Nathan Cummings Foundation ………..… $10,000
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift …..…. $20,000
Fred Gellert Family Foundation ……………. $5,000
Silicon Valley Community Foundation ..… $5,000
Barbra Streisand Foundation ……………….. $5,000
2009
Schwab Charitable Fund ………………………. $10,000
Silicon Valley Community Foundation .… $10,000
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift …..…. $6,000
TOTAL (2005-2009) .……………………………$304,000
Kimberlin’s infamous criminal past could scarcely have been a secret to those who funded his organization. Kimberlin became a national political celebrity during the 1988 presidential campaign because of his claim, made while he was still serving time in federal prison, that he had once sold marijuana to Dan Quayle, who was then the Republican candidate for vice president. Continue reading Domestic Terrorist Now Using ‘Lawfare’? Convicted Felon Kimberlin’s 501(c)3 Raised $1.8 Million in Six Years
UPDATE: ‘Convicted of Perjury’ →
