At least two U.S. organizations have provided financial assistance to the anti-Muslim Dutch politician Geert Wilders, Reuters reports. One group gave to Wilders’ legal defense funds after he charged with inciting racial hatred while another paid him for speeches in the United States.
Daniel Pipes, director of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, said his organization gave to Wilders’ legal defense fund in 2010 and 2011. It sent the undisclosed amount of money directly to Wilders’ lawyer.
David Horowitz, a conservative activist who edits FrontPage Magazine, told Reuters he paid Wilders “a good fee” for making speeches in Los Angeles and at Temple University. He also paid for security costs and for hotel accommodations for Wilders’ Dutch bodyguards in 2009.
Both Pipes and Horowitz told Reuters they did not fund Wilders’ political activities because both of their organizations are non-profits that cannot give to political parties or candidates under U.S. law. But Horowitz said he did not remember how much money was raised from auctioning off Danish cartoons that depicted the Prophet Mohammed during one of Wilders’ visits and said he didn’t recall what happened to the proceeds.
Wilders’ Freedom Party is self-funded and is not subject to the same disclosure requirements as parties that receive government money in the Netherlands, according to the report.
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