Four years ago, Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon gave the Washington Times to his eldest son. Now, following a year of turmoil and uncertainty at the publication, he is considering paying millions to buy it back, the Washington Post reports.
Citing former Times staffers with knowledge of the negotiations, the newspaper reported Moon may pay millions of dollars to purchase the conservative publication that he founded in 1982. His son, Preston Moon, has threatened to shut down the newspaper.
Politico reported late Tuesday that the Preston-chaired News World Communications, the paper’s parent company, and News World Media Development, a LLC with ties to other factions within the Unification Church, had reached an agreement. The agreement allows both sides to conduct due diligence over the next 30 days, after which the paper will be sold, if both sides still want to go forward.
Rev. Moon, known as “True Father,” said in a sermon in September that “The Washington Times has to take responsibility for people going to hell in America.”
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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