June 18, 1998 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The editor of The American Spectator, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., has received lavish personal benefits paid for by the non-profit group that owns the conservative publication, according to the on-line magazine Salon (http://www.salonmagazine.com).
The article, which was written by Salon’s Washington correspondent, Jonathan Broder, and contributing writer Joe Conason, says the magazine had obtained internal papers that showed numerous examples of personal benefits that Mr. Tyrrell received through the American Spectator Education Foundation.
According to Salon, “many of Tyrrell’s living costs, from his American Express card to the lawn care and utility charges at his house in suburban McLean, Va., are covered in whole or in part by the Spectator foundation.”
The article also says that the Spectator foundation paid for a third of Mr. Tyrrell’s $598,492.68 house, as well as an apartment that he uses in New York and an athletic-club membership.
During fiscal 1997, Mr. Tyrrell took two trips to England and one to Grenada on the Spectator foundation’s tab. According to Salon, the total expense for those trips was $17,019.
Salon says that Spectator foundation officials became concerned that Mr. Tyrrell’s compensation package was in violation of laws that forbid non-profit officials from gaining improper financial benefits in connection with their charity affiliations.
The on-line magazine cites a letter from an accountant, hired by the foundation, warning that if some of the concerns over Mr. Tyrrell’s income were not dealt with, the penalties imposed by the I.R.S. could go as far as “denying us our not-for-profit status.”
In previous articles, Salon has accused The American Spectator of misusing charitable dollars to dredge up dirt on President Clinton. In response to the most-recent article, Mr. Tyrrell said that “it is another inaccurate report from the famously inaccurate Salon magazine.”
