Financial Incest at Fidelis? (The Catholic Right, Thirtieth in a Series)
Last week I inquired whether the Catholic League may have violated its 501(c)(3) status by engaging in tag-team attacks on Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. This week we look at their partner, Fidelis. As I previously discussed, Fidelis (a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group) has been tag-teaming with Bill Donohue's Catholic League to criticize Rudy Giuliani's position on abortion. But on May 23rd, Fidelis declared war. The days prior to the declaration of war were filled with self-important bluster in the style of Bill Donohue. Fidelis honcho, Joseph Cella, expounded: "This is the third position Rudy Giuliani has had on abortion in two weeks, and his credibility with faithful Catholics and other pro-life voters is beginning to evaporate." Cella closed his screed with this zinger, "Giuliani shares the exact same position on abortion as fellow Catholic John Kerry. As more people of faith who are pro-life begin to realize this, they will reject Giuliani's candidacy." Two days later on May 16, 2007 Fidelis announced that it was organizing anti-Giuliani protests during the GOP Presidential Debates then being held in Columbia, South Carolina . Cella also announced: 'Fidelis America PAC, the political action arm of Fidelis, will distribute flyers and stickers prior to tonight's debate. The stickers read: "Protect the Pro-Life Platform. Defeat Rudy Giuliani."'
But a little scratching below the surface reveals that these seemingly coordinated attacks on Giuliani may be driven more by plain old politics rather than by ultra-orthodox Catholic outrage. As I previously noted: It is worth noting that Fidelis's Burch and Cella both have very close ties to Pizza-man Tom Monaghan, who in turn, sits on Presidential candidate U.S. Senator Sam Brownback's (R-Ks.) Exploratory Committee. Monaghan also sits on the Catholic League's Board of Advisors. But more importantly, all this brings us to a possible legal problem for the Fidelis family, as the activities of one family member may get another in trouble. (Daddy Cella ought to know better.) At the bottom of both of the Giuliani-targeted Fidelis press releases is a statement very much worth noting:
Paid for by Fidelis America PAC_P.O. Box 277 Chelsea, MI 48118_Joseph J. Cella, Treasurer_Not Authorized by Any Candidate or Committee
These releases-very clearly designed to influence the 2008 presidential election--are posted on what appears to be the joint web site for several related organizations, Yet when the site visitor clicks on at Learn more about the distinction between these components of Fidelis we see that the Fidelis Center for Law and Policy is a 501(c)(3); Fidelis America is a hard money PAC while the Fidelis Media Fund is |