Federal Official’s Charity Faces Further Scrutiny

A nonprofit group established by the family of Michael Leavitt, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, continues to face scrutiny over its practices, with questions now focused on donations the Dixie and Anne Leavitt Foundation made to Southern Utah University, in Cedar City, reports National Public Radio.

Since 2003 the Leavitt Foundation and a company owned by the family gave $578,500 to the university for a housing program, and in a legal but controversial move, students were placed in housing owned by Cedar Development Company, another Leavitt business.

Some charity observers accused the Leavitt group of using philanthropy to further their business interests. But Dane Leavitt, the family’s spokesman, defended the practice, saying that helping Cedar will allow the Leavitts to give more to charity.

The Leavitt Foundation previously raised eyebrows when The Washington Post revealed that the foundation gave a small percentage of its assets to charity while allowing the secretary and his relatives to claim several millions of dollars in tax write-offs.