By Lisa Myers, Jim Popkin and Rich Gardella, NBC News
Gov. Mike Huckabee, vastly outspent so far in his bid for the presidency, has turned for funding to a controversial televangelist who is under active Senate investigation. Late last month, Gov. Huckabee held a fundraiser at the Texas estate of millionaire televangelist Kenneth Copeland, his spokesman tells NBC News.
The U.S. Senate currently is investigating Copeland, and five other televangelists, amid allegations that they are improperly using millions in charitable donations for their personal benefit, and, in the process, fleecing their flock. Copeland and the other televangelists have strongly denied those allegations.
“The Huckabee Event was not hosted by Ken Copeland or anyone employed by the church,” a spokesman for Kenneth Copeland Ministries tells NBC. “The Huckabee campaign rented a room at our facility and hosted a private function,” the spokesman says.
The event raised about $100,000 for Huckabee's campaign and nearly $1 million more in pledges, according to a blog report by Doug Wead, a former Republican strategist with close ties to the evangelical community. A Huckabee spokeswoman did not dispute those figures but would not disclose any amounts. "Any funds raised by Mr. Copeland will be fully and properly disclosed in Governor Huckabee's FEC report," a Huckabee spokeswoman tells NBC.
At the time of the private fundraiser, Copeland was hosting a national ministers’ gathering at his headquarters. Hundreds of evangelical ministers were in town. Copeland’s spokesman says the fundraiser took place at the same location, but while the ministers’ gathering was out of session. “The Huckabee event was convened by his campaign and occurred while the church conference was not is session,” the spokesman says.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent lengthy letters last November to Copeland and five other televangelists seeking hundreds of documents. Grassley, the lead Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, says he is following up on complaints from the public and the news media about the popular ministers. “The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces,” Grassley writes.
Copeland’s critics accuse the “prosperity-gospel” televangelist of high-flying ways. His donors helped him purchase a $20 million private jet, a Citation X, in 2006, according to his website. And Grassley’s 6-page letter to Copeland asks him to justify the Copelands’ alleged use of the ministry jet for “layovers in Maui, the Fiji Islands and Honolulu.” Grassley writes, “Provide an explanation of the tax-exempt purpose of each layover…”
Last November, Copeland hosted Gov. Huckabee on five of Copeland's televised programs. At the ministers' conference last month, Copeland effusively praised Huckabee and said that Huckabee had pledged to support him despite the Senate investigation.
"He [Huckabee] said, 'Kenneth Copeland, I will stand with you.' He said, 'You're trying to get prosperity to the people, and they're trying to take it away from 'em.' [Huckabee] said, 'I will stand with you, any time, anywhere, on any issue.' That settled that. I said, 'Yeah, that's my man. That's my man, right there.' "
Copeland also quoted Gov. Huckabee as saying: "Why should I stand with them [Senate] and not stand with you? They only got 11 percent approval rating."
In an interview today on his campaign plane, Gov. Huckabee described Copeland as a “friend” and said all the recent donations are legal. In an e-mail to NBC, a Huckabee spokeswoman elaborated: "Governor Huckabee and Ken Copeland are long-time friends. Governor Huckabee has stated that he will not disavow his friendship with Mr. Copeland because of these [Senate] allegations. The important legal doctrine is 'innocent, until proven guilty,' which applies to Christians too. It’s easy for Congress to launch an investigation, but Governor Huckabee is confident that his friend Kenneth Copeland will be fully vindicated.”
Copeland says he’s done nothing wrong. In an e-mail statement to NBC, a spokesman for Kenneth Copeland Ministries (KCM) says: “KCM has always operated with integrity and according to the laws as they apply to churches. For example, KCM is diligent to comply with all applicable federal income tax laws and IRS regulations. KCM is careful in maintaining financial accountability and has in place longstanding policies and procedures to make sure it maintains financial integrity, including an annual certified independent audit.”
He adds: “Despite false, incomplete & misleading media reports, KCM did in fact respond to the Senator’s requests in good faith and as completely and accurately as we could without compromising the constitutionally based privacy, confidentiality, and other rights of churches that apply to KCM and all other churches."
According to Federal Election Commission records, Copeland family members and other employees of KCM personally donated a total of $18,320 to Huckabee’s campaign last year.
Huckabee has raised $9 million in his presidential bid, FEC records show, as compared to $41 million raised by GOP frontrunner Sen. John McCain.
The Trinity Foundation, which monitors televangelists, has posted video clips of Copeland's comments, above.
