Western Priorities

Members of Congress blasted the Trump administration for censoring American history on Tuesday while demanding answers about how Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is using the National Park Service to facilitate corruption through the president’s “Freedom 250” group.

The hearing in the House Natural Resources Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was dominated by questions about the National Park Service’s removal of signs about slavery and Indigenous Americans, as well as questions following a New York Times report that Freedom 250 is offering donors access to President Donald Trump for $1 million and up.

Freedom 250 is part of the congressionally-chartered National Park Foundation. During the hearing, foundation president and CEO Jeff Reinbold said the foundation created Freedom 250 at the request of the Park Service, and that it will grant anonymity to donors who request it. Reinbold also said he would not provide Congress with any contracts signed by Freedom 250 donors.

Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon, the ranking member on the subcommittee, said Freedom 250’s secrecy was a problem. “Hiding the flow of money means we never get to know whether he is selling more than access to his donors,” she said.

Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association, testified that park rangers are struggling with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s order to sanitize history in the parks.

“We are citizens of a nation with a fascinating, diverse and complex history,” Spears said. “We need the leadership of the National Park Service, unimpaired, to help us enhance our understanding of our shared experiences when it comes to American history. We want the full story.”

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Quote of the day

Yes, we need to celebrate how far America has come, but how the hell do we know how far we’ve come if we erase the history? How is that patriotic?”

—Rep. Val Hoyle of Oregon, House Natural Resources Committee

 

Picture This

@thestonewallinn

Taking down a flag does not erase our history. But it does remind us why we cannot rely solely on governments to tell it.

Featured image: Rep. Jared Huffman during the House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing on America250, Freedom 250, and censorship of American history. Screen capture: House Natural Resources Committee.

The post Corruption, censorship take center stage at Freedom 250 hearing appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

DENVER—The Trump administration has hijacked the official, bipartisan organization set up to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and created a financial black box that has received at least $10 million in taxpayer funds while also soliciting millions more from donors whose identities may never be released.

Reporting from The New York Times reveals that Freedom 250, President Donald Trump’s hand-picked replacement for the official America250 celebration, is selling direct access to President Trump, including photo opportunities with the president, for $1 million and up. Freedom 250 is also partnering with right-wing political and Christian nationalist groups, including PragerU and Hillsdale College, to create content for six “Freedom Trucks” that are traveling the country at taxpayer expense.

E&E News previously reported that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum instructed the Interior department to switch all semiquincentennial branding to Freedom 250, sidelining the bipartisan America250 organization that Congress created in 2016.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss:

“It’s completely inappropriate for Secretary Burgum to force Interior department employees to take part in the blatant influence-peddling at Freedom 250. Offering governments and businesses direct access to the president for millions of dollars is un-American, and Doug Burgum needs to explain his involvement in this scheme.

“It’s even more concerning that the Interior department is requiring employees to endorse the explicitly political and religious mission of Freedom 250. The National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management should be telling America’s full story, not taking part in a Christian nationalist effort to censor history by erasing Indigenous Americans, the horrors of slavery, and the contributions of immigrants. The Freedom 250 logo, and all of the corruption that it represents, should not be in government email signatures or plastered across the visitor centers that are supposed to serve all Americans, regardless of their faith or politics.”

In today’s New York Times story, a spokesperson for Freedom 250 claimed that “Freedom 250 is not accepting foreign donations.” This is contradicted by Freedom 250 CEO Keith Krach, who spent the World Economic Forum at the Freedom 250-branded “USA House” in Davos, Switzerland, publicly soliciting foreign partners for Freedom 250.

At Davos, Krach said that Freedom 250 was “engaging our allies, partners, and institutions around the world…. not just as spectators but as participants.” Krach continued:

“So for the international leaders here at Davos and in this room: the question is not how you observe our nation’s 250th. The question is how will you shape a moment that will influence American leadership for the next generation?”

U.S. Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers asked Krach, “People here at Davos who want to get involved, who want to celebrate our birthday with us, what can they do? What kinds of things should they be thinking about and who should they reach out to?”

Krach replied, “Your imagination is your only limitation. And we would love to work with you. We’ve got toolkits for countries, states, companies, all of that. It’s all about partnership, and what could be funner than marketing America, or really, marketing freedom. So… let us know.”

The House Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday to discuss public-private partnerships in the semiquincentennial celebration. Witnesses at the hearing are expected to include representatives from the four congressionally-chartered foundations that partner with the Interior department. The National Park Foundation, which has been commandeered by Trump loyalists, is acting as the pass-through for money going to and from Freedom 250.

Featured image: The names of the 9 enslaved people who George Washington held in bondage at the President’s House in Philadelphia, National Park Service

The post STATEMENT: Interior department becomes conduit for influence peddling and history erasure appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.