Steven Emerson directs the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), a group dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamist infiltration in America through investigative journalism. But his career, as discussed in CAP’s new report “Fear, Inc.,” is marked by shoddy reporting and suspicious financial arrangements [...]]]>
Steven Emerson directs the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), a group dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamist infiltration in America through investigative journalism. But his career, as discussed in CAP’s new report “Fear, Inc.,” is marked by shoddy reporting and suspicious financial arrangements between private companies, in some cases listing him as the sole employee, and the nonprofit foundations which collect tax-exempt contributions to support his work.
Emerson got his start as an investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1976 to 1982 and, after serving as an executive assistant to Sen. Frank Church (D-ID), left public service in 1986 to join U.S. News & World Report. In 1990, he joined CNN as an investigative correspondent where he reported on terrorism. In 1995, Emerson left journalism and founded the Investigative Project on Terrorism, which claims to be “one of the world’s largest storehouses of archival data and intelligence on Islamic and Middle Eastern terrorist groups.”
But Emerson’s supposed expertise in researching terrorist networks have frequently been questioned due to his propensity for making false accusations against Muslims and his sloppy approach to investigative reporting. Most notably, in 1995, Emerson claimed that the Oklahoma City bombing showed “a Middle East trait” because it “was done with the intent to inflict as many casualties as possible.” And in 1998, Emerson was tied to a false report that Pakistan was planning a nuclear first strike on India.
Emerson’s weak credibility hasn’t stopped him from building a mini-empire from his offices at the well-funded IPT. But his penchant for secrecy — his office location is secret, employees refer to it as “the bat cave,” and journalists who visit it have been blindfolded en route — has raised serious questions about management of IPT’s finances.
As reported first by The Tennessean, IPT helps fund Emerson’s for-profit company, SAE Productions. IPT paid SAE Productions $3.33 million to “study alleged ties between American Muslims and overseas.” SAE Productions is a private company so no data is available on how the money was spent but Emerson’s role as SAE’s sole employee raises serious ethical questions.
Emerson’s finances took an even more bizarre turn when grants directed to the “Investigative Project” or “IPT” were contributed care of the Counterterrorism & Security Education and Research Foundation (CTSERF). A LobeLog investigation into CTSERF’s tax filings revealed that, much like the Investigative Project, all grant revenue was transferred to a private, for-profit entity.
When asked about the IPT-CTSERF relationship, Ray Locker, the Investigative Project’s then-managing director acknowledged to LobeLog that a relationship “exists” but would not elaborate further on how or why IPT donors send funds care of CTSERF.
“Fear Inc.” examines Emerson’s role as a a key “expert” in the Islamophobia network and tracks over $5 million in grants to CTSERF and IPT.
IPT donors include: the Donors Capital Fund ($400,000); the Russell Berrie Foundation ($100,000); the Anchorage Charitable and William Rosenwald funds ($10,000); the Fairbrook Foundation ($25,000); and the Newton and Rochelle Becker affiliated foundations ($25,000).
Donors to CTSERF include: the Richard Scaife foundations ($1.575 million); the Russell Berrie Foundation ($2.736 million); The Anchorage Charitable and William Rosenwald fund ($15,000); and Newton and Rochelle Becker affiliated foundations ($4.526 million).
]]>Emerson, a self-styled expert on terrorism, came under fire after the Tennessean newspaper ran a lengthy investigative piece exploring the relationship between the Investigative Project, where Emerson is the executive director, and SAE Productions. In 2008, SAE took a $3.4 million dollar payment from the Investigative Project, a tax-exempt non-profit.
An investigation of donor tax records from 2001 to 2007 reveals an even more intricate web of organizations. The records show more than $1.6 million in contributions to the “Investigative Project,” “Investigative Project on Terrorism,” and “IPT” in care of a largely unknown group called the Counterterrorism & Security Education and Research Foundation (CTSERF).
Much like the Investigative Project, CTSERF tax forms list the transfer of all grant revenues to a for profit entity, the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP), in the form of “grants for research on issues of terrorism and counter-terrorism.” It is difficult to determine how the money is disbursed or used after it is transferred, since the IACSP, unlike the CTSERF, is a private for-profit entity.
While the grants are directed to The Investigative Project care-of the CTSERF, neither CTSERF, IACSP nor the Investigative Project’s websites make any mention of a relationship between the CTSERF and the Investigative Project.
“This is a convenient arrangement for avoiding disclosure and allowing tax deductions,” Daniel Borochoff, president of the watchdog group American Institute of Philanthropy, told me.
“[The tax deductible donations] are publicly subsidized money that the non profit is receiving. There has to be accountability on what was accomplished with this publicly subsidized money,” Borochoff continued.
When contacted for comment about the relationship between the IACSP/CTSERF and the Investigative Project, Ray Locker, the Investigative Project’s managing director, would only say that a relationship “exists.” He added: “It’s all above board and passes muster with the IRS.”
In a follow-up email exchange, Locker said, “We don’t discuss our sources of funding because of the nature of the work we do. Our founder, Steven Emerson, has received death threats in the past, and we are trying to protect his security and that of the organization.”
Despite the lack of detail, Locker was upfront about the relationship. However, Emerson would not confirm a connection between the groups when I queried him in 2008 about the listing of IACSP’s web address at the bottom of a 2007 Investigative Project press release.
Emerson e-mailed that he had “no idea how the IACSP website address got listed on the Lexis-Nexis version of our press release. We are not a project of IACSP although we have frequently published material in their magazine” – the Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International, a quarterly journal published by the association.
“As for funding questions, other than what we have stated on our website, that we take no funds from outside the U.S. or from governmental agencies or from religious and political groups, we have a long standing policy since we were founded not to discuss matters of funding (for security reasons),” wrote Emerson.
The IACSP describes itself as “a center of information and educational services for those concerned about the challenges now facing all free societies, and promoting professional ethics in the counterterrorism field.” CTSERF’s stated mission is to “develop education programs and materials for security professional and the general publics that will enhance our understanding of the causes of terrorism and the measures necessary to deter and combat it.”
Both organizations are headed by Steven J. Fustero, who serves as the chief executive of the CTSERF and the President of the IACSP. When contacted for comment about the grants directed to the Investigative Project by the CTSERF and the transfer of all grant revenue to his for-profit entity, the IACSP, Fustero responded, “I originally founded IACSP in 1986 so I’ve been in the counter-terrorism industry for almost 25 years. During this entire period I’ve never publicly discussed how people or various think tanks in the industry, including IACSP, conducts their affairs, aside from what the IRS obligates me to disclose – for example in the 990s, where I’m sure you see that we disclose that CTSERF ‘was established by the officers the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP). The research and education designated funds are therefore transferred to IACSP, which in turn makes the research grants.’”
An examination of CTSERF tax documents from 1999 to 2008 show the group receiving $11,108,332 in grant revenue and transferring $12,206,900 to the IACSP.
Grants written to the CTSERF and directed to the Investigative Project included a total of $400,000 over four years from the Russell Berrie Foundation and $1,225,000 from the Carthage Foundation over a six year period.
Neither the Carthage Foundation nor the Russell Berrie Foundation responded to repeated calls for comment.
Other high profile donors to the CTSERF include casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, whose foundation contributed $250,000 in 2006, and billionaire Obama supporter Lester Crown, whose foundation wrote grants totaling $75,000 between 2006 and 2007. Neither Adelson nor Crown specified the Investigative Project as the end recipient of their funding.
]]>