Wednesday 18 May 2022 06:34 AM BLM spent $1.2 million lobbying Congress last year trends now

The foundation started by organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement spent more than $1.2 million lobbying members of Congress last year, including a push to impeach Donald Trump a second time, new tax filings show.

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation on Tuesday released a 63-page Form 990, covering the fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, at which point the group had $42 million in net assets. 

The filing shows that the group's lobbying spending was devoted in part to 'lobby member[s] of Congress to vote in favor of impeachment.' 

Trump was impeached by the House for a second time on January 13, 2021, a week before his term expired, on charges related to the US Capitol riot. He was acquitted in a Senate trial.

Other lobbying priorities listed in the new tax filing included campaigning against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which BLM organizers argued did not go far enough in reforming policing.

The group also lobbied in favor of the more sweeping BREATHE Act, which would abolish the Drug Enforcement Agency and end life sentences, the filings show. So far neither bill has passed both chambers of Congress.

Scroll down for the full tax document 

While tax-exempt non-profits like the BLMGNF are not prohibited from some lobbying, IRS rules prohibit them from devoting a 'substantial' part of their activities to influencing legislation.

The group's lobbying budget for last year accounted for 3.4 percent of the $37 million it spent last year, with the bulk of the funds splashed out on grants, real estate, consultants, and other expenses.

The foundation had an operating budget of about $4 million, according to a board member. 

The filing also shows that BLMGNF co-founder Patrisse Cullors was the group's only voting director for the period in question, and held no board meetings. 

Cullors later stepped down amid allegations of financial impropriety, which she denies.

The tax filing shows the group invested $32 million in stocks from the $90 million it received as donations amid racial justice protests in 2020. 

That investment is expected to become an endowment to ensure the foundation's work continues in the future, organizers say. 

The tax filing also shows that nearly $6 million was spent on a Los Angeles-area compound. 

The Studio City property, which includes a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming pool, a soundstage and office space, was intended as a campus for a black artists fellowship and is currently used for that purpose, the board member said.

As well, the document confirms that BLMGNF transferred $6.3 million to a Canadian non-profit tied to Cullor's spouse, Janaya Khan, to purchase a mansion once used as the Toronto headquarters of the Communist Party.   

This is the BLM foundation´s first public accounting of its finances since incorporating in 2017. 

As a fledgling nonprofit, it had been under the fiscal sponsorship of a well-established charity, and wasn´t required to publicly disclose its financials until it became an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit in December 2020.

The tax filing suggests the organization is still finding its footing: It currently has no executive director or in-house staff.

The documents also show how Cullors used charity funds to pay her friends and family large sums for various 'consulting' services, as well as charter a private flight.

The documents reveal that BLM paid a company owned by Damon Turner, the father of Cullors' child, nearly $970,000 to help 'produce live events' and provide other 'creative services.'

The co-founder's brother, Paul Cullors, received more than $840,000 for providing security services to the foundation. 

Leaders have attempted to justify the expense by saying the foundation's protection could not be entrusted to former police professionals who typically run security firms because the BLM movement is known for vehemently protesting law enforcement organizations.

A consulting firm run by Shalomyah Bowers, who is BLM's board secretary and has previously served as deputy executive director, was paid more than $2.1 million for providing the organization with operational support, including staffing, fundraising and other key services. 

The new filing also revealed that Cullors reimbursed BLM $73,523 for a charter flight for foundation-related travel, which the organization says she took in 2021 out of concern for COVID-19 and security threats.

She paid the foundation an additional $390 over her uses of the 6,500 square-foot Studio City property for two private events.