Thread by @jtlarsen

SCOOP: I found tax records showing that a Christian charity reported incurring expenses for having Russians at the National Prayer Breakfast.

It gets better (thread to come).

Our report is here:
tyt.com/stories/4vZLCH…

Here's a closeup of the relevant filing for 2017. This is regarding the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast.

The filing doesn't specify how much was spent specifically on having Russians attend, nor what the money was used for.

But wait, there's more.

The group reporting these expenditures is called Leadership Development Seminars, a relatively small, Seattle-based charity.

It also has multiple ties to the group that runs the National Prayer Breakfast, the Fellowship Foundation, aka The Family.

For one thing, Leadership Development Seminars and the Fellowship Foundation have routinely funneled funds to each other. Most years, the Fellowship Foundation has been the ONLY domestic recipient of LDS grants.

The Fellowship, meanwhile, has given LDS more than $500,000.

Now, here's the FBI affidavit:

"The organizer of the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast promised BUTINA he would provide ten seats at the 2017 event.”
justice.gov/opa/press-rele…

And here's an excerpt from WORLD Magazine's excellent reporting last summer by @emlybelz:

"Burleigh" is Doug Burleigh, son-in-law of Doug Coe, the patriarch of the Fellowship Foundation who died in 2017.

Burleigh works with and even got housing from the Fellowship, which has an Arlington estate called The Cedars.

His focus is the former Soviet Union. Watch:

Burleigh isn't just affiliated with the Fellowship Foundation, however.

He's also listed as a compensated employee on state filings that our own @dylancdigel found for... Leadership Development Seminars.

Historically, the breakfast has been bipartisan. Co-chaired by both parties, presidents of both parties speak, etc.

Here's a look at the letterhead (sort of a host committee) of a 2010 invitation we obtained--both parties represented.

Ditto the 2016 invite we obtained.

We asked @tedlieu's office for comment. (Lieu was both on the 2016 letterhead, and has been seeking details about the Russian ties to NRA $.)

Here's what they told us: "If there's some Russian influence on the National Prayer Breakfast, we want to know about it."

(I should be clear, we asked every current office-holder on the 2016 letterhead for comment. Lieu was it. Also no comment from the Fellowship, LDS, or the two senators co-chairing the 2019 breakfast on Feb. 7, Coons and Lankford.)

Here's our video on the gist of the story -- complete with Burleigh going after Morning Joe for a discussion about "collusion" at the prayer breakfast.