.png)
Yesterday we exposed several concerning financial entanglements between Senator Jason Rapert, Holy Ghost Ministries (HGM), and American History and Heritage Foundation (AHHF). You can read that post here.
Today we uncovered ANOTHER questionable charity of Rapert's, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL). This organization itself isn't a big secret. It's been covered here & here. What is interesting about NACL is the filing that Rapert submitted for that "charity" on April 19, 2019. The Secretary of State shows Rapert as the registered agent for this organization.
Any guesses what he used for his own personal address on that legal document that he submitted?
Yep. You guessed it. The address is 398 Breezewood.
If you're new to our lil blog, that's the $535,000 luxury home that Rapert purchased through Holy Ghost Ministries in 2016. According the IRS, that home is supposed to be used to further HGM's exempt charitable purposes. On the HGM website they say that purpose is " Christian ministry, leadership training, missions and humanitarian projects in the United States, Africa, The Philippines and throughout the world." So why is a home that is supposedly owned by a tax-exempt charity being used as a personal address for Jason Rapert?
If Rapert is living there (and getting his lawn mowed ect...) at the expense of the charity this could be a real issue for him other than the obvious tax implications. Arkansas law prohibits gifts from lobbyists or companies that employ lobbyists. We don't know who contributed money to HGM since contributors are secret, but if it was a lobbyist or a company that employs a lobbyist that could violate the law that prohibits gifts to members of the General Assembly. It is a class B misdemeanor. The only way that we could know for sure would be if Rapert voluntarily released the donor information or if it was subpoenaed by law enforcement. The law states it is the responsibility of the prosecuting attorneys of this state to supervise compliance with lobbyist gift prohibition and to prosecute persons who violate it. In the event the prosecuting attorney fails or refuse to enforce this law when the facts are known by him or her, or called to his or her attention, any citizen of this state may bring action in circuit court to require him or her to file charges. If the citizen prevails they shall be entitled to receive reimbursements for expenses and reasonable attorney's fees. So Perry County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley and any interested citizen, you are on deck.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to sift through the public records available on Rapert's charities. If you have information we need to see, send it to illuminateAR@gmail.com
Just for fun, here's Rapert's little meltdown on Twitter last night:
Hey Rapert, we're still waiting to hear from your lawyer?
