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{{#badges:Koch Exposed|front groups}}'''Concerned Veterans for America''' (CVA) is a [[501(c)(4)]] non-profit whose major funders through the years have been the [[Koch brothers]] and their donor network; as such Sourcewatch.org considers CVA to be a Koch Brothers front group.<ref name="koch players">Matea Gold, "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-players-in-the-koch-backed-400-million-political-donor-network/2014/01/05/714451a8-74b5-11e3-8b3f-b1666705ca3b_story.html The players in the Koch-backed $400 million political donor network]," ''Washington Post'', January 5, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref> The Koch donors network appears to use CVA to advocate for reductions in federal spending, to attack the 2010 Affordable Care Act and to advance other "free market" policies.
{{Template:KochConnection}}__TOC__ [[File:W-kochnetwork.jpg|thumb|alt=The $400 million Koch network.|The $400 million Koch network uses a maze of nonprofit groups and LLCs =Ties to conceal donations and campaign activity<br>the Trump Administration== ===CVA Has a 'Seat at the Table'Source===In a post on its website, CVA touted that it has a "seat at the table with the Trump administration."<ref>Katy Abram, [https: Robert Maguire //cv4a.org/icymi-cva-has-a-seat-at-the-table-with -the Center -trump-administration/ ICYMI: CVA HAS A SEAT AT THE TABLE WITH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION], ''Concerned Veterans for Responsive PoliticsAmerica", April 10, 2018. Matea Gold and Cristina Rivero</ref> In particular, CVA reports that Trump is receptive to CVA's push to privatize the Veterans health care, "The Washington Post.Trump administration has been open to the idea of 'VA Choice,']]allowing veterans to access private care in their communities."
__TOC__===Former CVA Employees in Trump Administration===As of April 2018:<ref>Propublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/organizations/concerned-veterans-for-america Concerned Veterans for America], ''Trump Town'', April 2018.</ref>*Darin Selnick (former Senior Advisor), Veterans Affairs*William Joseph Turenne (former Director), Department of Energy*James B. Wilkinson Jr. (former Regional Director), Department of Transportation*Richard A. Youngblood (former Ohio State Director), Department of Housing and Urban Development
From mid-2011 The majority of CVA's budget appears to mid-2012, be funded by the Koch-linked Kochs' [[TC4 Trust]Freedom Partners] gave $1,968,000 to CVA, according to research by ''ProPublica''. <ref>Al Shaw, Theodoric Meyer, and Kim Barker, "[http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/koch How Dark Money Flows Through the Koch Network]," ''ProPublica'', February 14, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref> This would appear to be almost all of the revenue CVA reported to the IRS for its 2011-2012 fiscal year.
From November Here are CVA's known funders:*[[American Encore]]: [https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Encore $32,062] (2012-December 2014, CVA and its related organizations received at least )*[[Freedom Partners]]: [https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Freedom_Partners#Funding $2044,980580,000 in funding from ] (2013-2016)*[[Freedom PartnersTC4 Trust]]: $1,968,000 (2011-2012)<ref name="freedom partners 2012 990>Al Shaw, Theodoric Meyer, and Kim Barker, "[http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/><ref name=koch How Dark Money Flows Through the Koch Network],"freedom partners 2014 990"/> which ''PoliticoProPublica'' has described as the Koch funding network's "secret bank, February 14, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014."</ref name="secret bank"/> That appears to comprise the vast majority of CVA's reported revenues for the same period.
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"|-! scope="col" | '''Funder'''! scopeCore Financials="col" | '''Amount'''! scope="col" | '''Recipient'''! scope="col" | '''Period Reported'''|-| [[TC4 Trust]] || $1,968,000 || TOHE, LLC<ref name="2011 990">TC4 Trust, [https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2013_06_EO/36-7519719_990O_201206.pdf 2011 Form 990], organizational IRS Filing, May 14, 2013. On file with the Center for Media and Democracy.</ref> || July 2011-June 2012|-| [[Freedom Partners]] || $5,245,000 || TOHE, LLC (Concerned Vets for America)<ref name="freedom partners 2012 990">Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, [http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments%5C/2013/453/732/2013-453732750-0aa49565-9O.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], FY covering 11/1/2012-10/31/2013.</ref> || Nov. 2012-Oct. 2013|-| [[Freedom Partners]] || $3,000,000 || TOHE, LLC (Veterans for Economic Freedom Trust)<ref name="freedom partners 2014 990">Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, [https://freedompartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/FreedomPartners-2014-990-Form.pdf 2014 IRS Form 990], 2014 calendar year.</ref> || 2014 calendar year|-| [[Freedom Partners]] || $12,735,000 || Vets for Economic Freedom Trust (501(c)(3))<ref name="freedom partners 2014 990"/> || 2014 calendar year|-</table>
As of July 2016:<ref>Concerned Veterans for America, [http://cv4a.org/advisory-board/ Advisory Board], organizational website, accessed July 6, 2016.</ref>*Darin Selnick, Executive Director of CVA’s Fixing Veterans Health Care Taskforce and Senior Veterans Affairs Advisor for Concerned Veterans for America*Karen Vaughn, Senior Military Families Advisor*Jason Beardsley, Special Operations Advisor for Concerned Veterans for America*Jason Redman, Military Advisor===Field Staff===
===National As of April 2018:<ref>Concerned Veterans for America, [http://cv4a.org/staff/ Field Staff===], organizational website, accessed July 6, 2016.</ref>*Jordon Daniel, Colorado Coalitions Director*Josh Stanwitz, Arizona Coalitions Director*Rick Disney, Florida Senior Field Director*Steve Burkhalter, Ohio Field Director*Russ Duerstine, Texas Senior Field Director*Adam Miller, Senior Ohio Field Director*Ben Rangel, Texas Field Director*John Byrnes, North Carolina Coalitions Director*Tom Greer, New Mexico Field Director*Tim Tyler, Georgia Field Director*Diego A. Echeverri, Florida Field Director
As of July 2016:<ref>Concerned Veterans for America, [http://cv4a.org/national-staff/ National ===Former Staff], organizational website, accessed July 6, 2016.</ref>===
*Dan Caldwell, Vice President, Political and Legislative Action
*Nathan Anderson, National Field Director
*Tom Greer, New Mexico State Director
*Tim Tyler, Georgia State Director; U.S. Navy Reserves from 1990-2000
*Diego A. Echeverri, Florida State Director; U.S. Army from 2002-2006
1405 S1310 N. Courthouse Rd. Fern St, #197Suite 700<br>Arlington, VA 2220222201<br>Phone: (703) 678224-46643200<br>
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An investigation by ''ProPublica'' found that Concerned Veterans for America submits its IRS filings under the name Vets for Economic Freedom Trust. Those documents list former [[Koch Industries]] managing director [[Wayne Gable]] as a trustee.<ref name="TOHE">Kim Barker and Theodoric Meyer, "[http://www.propublica.org/article/who-controls-koch-political-network-asmi-slah-tohe Who Controls the Kochs’ Political Network? ASMI, SLAH and TOHE]," ''ProPublica'', March 17, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref>
The former CEO, [[Pete Hagseth]], was the former executive director of the pro-Iraq War [[Vets for Freedom]]<ref name="staff">Concerned Veterans for America, [http://concernedveteransforamerica.org/staff/ Staff], organizational website, accessed February 9, 2016.</ref> and as of June 2014 was finance chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.<ref name="new finance chair">Cyndy Brucato, "[http://www.minnpost.com/party-politics/2014/06/new-gop-finance-chair-pete-hegseth-comes-out-swinging-va-management New GOP finance chair Pete Hegseth comes out swinging on VA management]," ''Minnesota Post'', June 4, 2014. Accessed June 24, 2014.</ref> Hegseth appears to have attended at least one [[Koch network]] summit meeting.
==2015-2016 Election Cycle==
An investigation into CVA by ''ProPublica'' revealed that one of CVA's trustees is [[Wayne Gable]],<ref name="TOHE"/> a former managing director of federal affairs at [[Koch Industries]], president of the [[Charles G. Koch Foundation]], and a board member of [[Freedom Partners]]. Gable has also been involved with the Koch network groups [[Citizens for a Sound Economy]] and [[Americans for Prosperity]].
{{Template:KochConnection}}
[[File:W-kochnetwork.jpg|thumb|alt=The $400 million Koch network.|The $400 million Koch network uses a maze of nonprofit groups and LLCs to conceal donations and campaign activity<br>
''Source: Robert Maguire with the Center for Responsive Politics. Matea Gold and Cristina Rivero/The Washington Post.'']]
==Activities==
*"Military Voting Reform" through the Safeguarding Elections for our Nation’s Troops through Reforms and Improvements (SENTRI) Act of 2013 (S. 1728/H.R. 3576)
==Funding from Secretive Trusts==
As a [[501(c)(4)]] nonprofit, CVA is not required to disclose its donors. However, CVA appears to have received the vast majority of its revenues from [[Koch network]] funding vehicles, structured to keep donors secret and the public in the dark.
“My guess is that we’re looking at various forms of disguise — to disguise control, to disguise the flow of funds from one entity to another,” said Gregory Colvin, a tax lawyer and campaign-finance specialist in San Francisco who reviewed all the documents for ProPublica.”<ref name="TOHE">Kim Barker and Theodoric Meyer, "[http://www.propublica.org/article/who-controls-koch-political-network-asmi-slah-tohe Who Controls the Kochs’ Political Network? ASMI, SLAH and TOHE]," ''ProPublica'', March 17, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref>
'''<big>2014</big>'''<ref name="2014 990">Vets for Economics Freedom Trust, [https://pp-990.s3.amazonaws.com/2016_09_EO/45-3593119_990O_201509.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=Core FinancialsAKIAI7C6X5GT42DHYZIA%2F20180423%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20180423T140219Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=f2f20172e1cdefbcc88e488d6f9881238c8c30a2e6592b7cdc6f79c77cd0abda 2014 IRS 990], organizational tax filing, August 15, 2016.</ref><br>* Total Revenue: $14,174,523* Total Expenses: $13,997,969* Net Assets: $399,706
'''<big>20142013</big>'''<ref name="2014 2013 990">Vets for Economics Freedom Trust, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2015_09_EO/45-3593119_990O_201409.pdf 2013 IRS 990], organizational tax filing, August 15, 2015.</ref><br>'''For the period October 1, 2013-September 30, 2014'''<br>
* Total Revenue: $15,703,141
* Total Expenses: $16,131,623
* Net Assets: $223,152
'''<big>20132012</big>'''<ref name="2013 2012 990">Vets for Economics Freedom Trust, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_09_EO/45-3593119_990O_201309.pdf 2013 2012 IRS 990], organizational tax filing, August 13, 2014.</ref><br>'''For the period October 12, 2011-September 30, 2012'''<br>
* Total Revenue: $3,796,235
* Total Expenses: $3,926,591
* Net Assets: $651,634
'''<big>20122011</big>'''<ref name="2012 2011 990">Vets for Economics Freedom Trust, [http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1006621-990-2012-vets-for-economic-freedom-trust.html 2012 2011 IRS 990], organizational tax filing, August 30, 2013. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref><br>'''For the period October 12, 2011-September 30, 2012'''<br>
* Total Revenue: $1,969,994
* Total Expenses: $1,188,004
==Personnel==
===Advisory BoardNational Staff=== As of April 2018:<ref>Concerned Veterans for America, [https://cv4a.org/national-staff/ National Staff], organizational website, accessed April 2018.</ref>*Dan Caldwell, Executive Director*Nathan Anderson, Deputy Executive Director*Shannon Hough, Special Projects Manager
*Jae Pak, President and Chief Operating Officer
*Joe Gecan, Executive Vice President of Strategy Development
*Tal Coley, Director of Legislative Outreach & Research
*Cody McGregor, National Outreach Director
*Commander [[Eric Berryman]], US Naval Reserve (ret.)*Captain [[Frank Brayton Harris]], US Navy (ret.)*Major General [[Robert Hollinsworth]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*General [[P. X. Kelley]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*Sergeant Major [["Gene Overstreet]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*Vice Admiral [[Robert J. Spane]], US Navy (ret.)*Former Captain [[Wade Zirkle]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*[[Pete Hegseth]], Former CEO of CVA and former executive director for [[Vets for Freedom]].<ref name="staff"/>*[[Wayne Gable]], Trustee<ref name="2012 990"/>*[[Langhorne C. Sias]], Director of Operations<ref name=Field Staff=="2012 990"/>*[[Kathryn Pomeroy]], Director of Communications<ref name="2014 990"/>*[[Kathleen Volandt]], North Carolina State Director<ref>Concerned Veterans for America, "[http://www.concernedveteransforamerica.org/2014/06/09/concerned-veterans-america-names-kathleen-volandt-north-carolina-state-director/ Concerned Veterans for America Names Kathleen Volandt as North Carolina State Director]," organizational press release, June 9, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref>As of July 2016:*[[Emily Laird]], media contact.<refname="summer tour">Concerned Veterans for America, "[http://cv4awww.concernedveteransforamerica.org/staff2014/04/21/concerned-veterans-for-america-and-madison-rising-announce-defend-freedom-summer-tour-2014/ Field StaffConcerned Veterans for America and Madison Rising Announce Defend Freedom Summer Tour 2014]", organizational websitepress release, April 21, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref> Laird appears also to have served as a Media Manager for [[Public Notice]].<ref>LinkedIn, [http://www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-laird/25/510/545 Emily Laird], personal profile, accessed July 6June 17, 20162014.</ref>
*Nathan Martin, Regional Director, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio & Texas; Army National Guard from 2001-2005
*Jeb Wilkinson, Regional Director, Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania & Nevada; U.S. Navy from 1985-1990, active 1991 Navy reserves
*Matt Dobson, Arizona State Director; US Army
*Paul Passaro, North Carolina State Director; U.S. Army from 1970-1992, Lieutenant Colonel
*Roger Wilkins, New Hampshire State Director
*Leo Garcia, Nevada State Director; U.S. Air Force from 1986-1994
*Tina Kingston, Louisiana State Director; U.S. Army National Guard from 1983-2012, Lieutenant Colonel
*Frank Crocker, Colorado State Director; U.S. Marine Corps 2011-2015
*Eve Allen, Pennsylvania State Director
*Paul Carlson, Minnesota State Director
===Former StaffAdvisory Board=== *Commander [[Eric Berryman]], US Naval Reserve As of July 2016 (ret.No longer list on website as of April 2018)*Captain [[Frank Brayton Harris]], US Navy (ret.)*Major General [[Robert Hollinsworth]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*General [[P. X. Kelley]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*Sergeant Major [["Gene Overstreet]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*Vice Admiral [[Robert J. Spane]], US Navy (ret.)*Former Captain [[Wade Zirkle]], US Marine Corps (ret.)*[[Pete Hegseth]], Former CEO of CVA and former executive director for [[Vets for Freedom]].<ref name="staff"/>*[[Wayne Gable]], Trustee<ref name="2012 990"/>*[[Langhorne C. Sias]], Director of Operations<ref name="2012 990"/>*[[Kathryn Pomeroy]], Director of Communications<ref name="2014 990"/>*[[Kathleen Volandt]], North Carolina State Director:<ref>Concerned Veterans for America, "[http://www.concernedveteransforamericacv4a.org/2014/06/09/concerned-veterans-america-names-kathleen-volandt-north-carolina-stateadvisory-directorboard/ Concerned Veterans for America Names Kathleen Volandt as North Carolina State DirectorAdvisory Board]," organizational press releasewebsite, June 9accessed July 6, 2014. Accessed June 18, 20142016.</ref>*[[Emily Laird]]Darin Selnick, media contact.<ref name="summer tour">Executive Director of CVA’s Fixing Veterans Health Care Taskforce and Senior Veterans Affairs Advisor for Concerned Veterans for America*Karen Vaughn, Senior Military Families Advisor*Jason Beardsley, "[http://www.concernedveteransforamerica.org/2014/04/21/concerned-veterans-Special Operations Advisor for-america-and-madison-rising-announce-defend-freedom-summer-tour-2014/ Concerned Veterans for America and Madison Rising Announce Defend Freedom Summer Tour 2014]", organizational press release, April 21, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2014.</ref> Laird appears also to have served as a Media Manager for [[Public Notice]].<ref>LinkedIn*Jason Redman, [http://www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-laird/25/510/545 Emily Laird], personal profile, accessed June 17, 2014.</ref>Military Advisor
==Related Organizations==
==Contact Information==
Concerned Veterans for America<br>
Email: press@cv4a.org<br>
Website: http://cv4a.org<br>
Twitter:https://twitter.com/ConcernedVets<br>
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConcernedVetsforAmerica
==Resources==
===IRS Form 990 Filings===
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==References==
