As a result of the brouhaha Anthony Shreeve and I have been causing these last few weeks with the release of inside information regarding Tea Party Nation and the National Tea Party Convention, Judson and his newest generation Advisory Board were forced to release a statement late, late last night. Aside from the slap in the face they delivered The Wall Street Journal by grouping it alongside World Net Daily in their exclusive, limited list of media organizations approved to cover the event, the group tried to downplay those of us who are now coming forward to expose corruption as some kind of minor, disgruntled employees.
Between last February and the present, Tea Party Nation has seen members come and go. We have tried to deal fairly with our present and former relationships, however, not without some criticism. This criticism has been unfortunate and we believe, unwarranted. However, it is the policy of Tea Party Nation not to focus on past challenges, but to stay focused on the task of advancing the conservative cause and defeating liberalism.
With that in mind, we will not be making any comments regarding former members.
Well, I’m glad to see they’ll be taking the high road now; up to this point Judson’s had a nasty proclivity to eject employees and threaten lawsuits following dissent within the ranks. It warms my heart to see… wait, what’s that? You mean to tell me that less than 12 hours after “taking the high road,” Judson went on record to call me a liar?
In a conversation with NationalJournal.com, Phillips, a Nashville attorney, called Smith a “liar” and defended the legitimacy of the organization. He said that ticket sales for the convention are going to a PayPal account owned by Tea Party Nation corporation.
I suppose it would’ve been nice for the author of the article to at least attempt to reach me for comment, but I’m not really all that worried. (After all, his best response is akin to playground trash-talk.) I’m much more interested in this– Do you see that nice little trick Judson played? He defends TPN and its handling of finances by saying that ticket sales are going into a PayPal account owned by TPN rather than someone’s personal account, but that was never the accusation I made. I know nothing firsthand about their current state of affairs. From my post yesterday (emphasis added):
The suggestion then was made by several in our little tea party group that we needed to set up a donation box online as we would need funding very, very soon to pay for things like the leased server, the printed Tea Party Nation banner, etc. We couldn’t wait for advertising revenue to roll in. We quickly set up a ChipIn box on the site and tied it to Judson’s wife’s PayPal account. Admittedly, I thought this was odd. I told Judson that this would make many, many potential donors really uncomfortable, but he assured me that it was just temporary since he hadn’t yet been able to get us a bank account or a PayPal account.
This occurred back in late April 2009.
See? His defense is to set up a straw man and rip it to pieces. Notice I said nothing about the convention. The truth is, donations in April 2009 to Tea Party Nation absolutely went into Sherry Phillips’s personal PayPal Account. Any of the more than 160 donors from that time period can attest to this.
Since my post on Tuesday, more and more former associates of Judson have been contacting me with information about the inner workings of Tea Party Nation in recent months. Just a suggestion: you may want to keep checking this blog over the next few days.
UPDATE: From the comments, Wanda says:
I can tell you I have an email sent to me from Sherry Phillips, that tells me how to pay for my sponsorship for the convention, and it says to send it to the Paypal account of sherry@teapartynation.com so that sounds to me like it is still a personal account not one for the organization.
No doubt this looks shady, but it’s certainly possible that this is merely the result of an extremely poor business decision to make Sherry the owner of the legitimate PayPal Business account for Tea Party Nation. I say it’s a poor decision because a publicly-facing method for accepting payments should feature more official contact information such as paypal@… or tickets@… But then again, I’m not sure Judson has been accused of making great decisions lately.
UPDATE II: Judson tells MSNBC that I’ve just got “an ax to grind.” (Glad to see we can trust him to keep his own promises, especially ones that were made only a day before.) “He’s got a motive for doing this.”
You know what? He’s absolutely right. I made my motive pretty clear in my post a few days ago:
I was approached by one of my fellow liberty-loving friends who reminded me that fraud, corruption, and deceit like this exists in Government because good men who are fully aware never stand up and say anything. How can I honestly object to this same behavior in my Government and demand they clean up Washington when I am unwilling to risk the personal and political injury it takes to expose the fraud, corruption, and deceit to which I am privy?
I cannot reiterate strongly enough that this is the cancer that can take this movement down if we let it. We are not just searching for something “good enough” to beat the current powers-that-be. We hold ourselves to a higher standard, and corruption from the inside will not be tolerated.
He used to tell us that you put the chip-in box on the site without his permission….that this was not his idea. The money we raised at the July 2 and Bristol event we never saw. We never saw a break-down of where that money went if it went anywhere other than his pockets. And the things we voted on to put that money never, to my knowledge, ever made it where we agreed. Not only that, he called some folks “employees” in the Post Politics article. What employees? He told us you were paid (“after Kevin extorted money from us and threatening to hold our site hostage”) but those of us, like Rob and I and the other lady who was event coordinator and Tony never got paid. Throughout our tenure Judson was “struggling with a lack of work” so we all were sympathetic to that. But, we were all struggling. Rob and I lost a lot of money to this cause. For all our hard work, we were kicked out when we started asking too many questions and balking at what was going on. We did not like the lack of vision, we were concerned about the prospect of selling advertising though we tried to offer suggestions, we thought it unethical that some would want to make a living at tea party, we were concerned about the advice they may or may not have been getting from without…..they told me I had no vision and was wanting to warp their intentions, desiring to take over TPN as president….really? When that failed they accused me of wanting to splinter with Mark Herr and Sherrie demanded I stop talking to anyone unless permission granted from her and that I could not write anymore forums unless approved by her. The forums I did write was in response (at that time) to others who were questioning vision and action plans (or lack thereof). I questioned her about her intentions to censor me. She just told me they didn’t trust me anymore…..I did not hold to the same values. Really? I was accused of the vilest things….after Rob and I worked 12-16 hour days 7 days a week for them. Now, whenever anyone mentions our names or is seen with us, they kick them out too. Supposedly we were voted out…but polling some who sat on the advisory council after we left told me they voted us out after a meeting with the group and then the vote took place secretly with just a few. We were never told why we were banished. Since that time they ran around smearing us to anyone who would listen. We are still trying to salvage relationships. Rob did just last night at a meeting outside Davidson County. We have moved on with our own efforts for the cause but this has been a stumbling block for anything we do past several months. We are forever dealing w/ TPN in all of it. Because of their banishment of many patriots, many are sick of tea parties. Those who knew us well and worked with us followed us out the door (sooner or later). Many, it took awhile for them to finally get it and they were banned for asking questions or finally saw the writing on the wall. Jesse Lee Peterson (July 2 event) waived his honorarium of $2000—being a great guy. Whenever I attempted to take the extra cash we raised and suggested we try to give his organization some money, I was ignored. Whenever we suggested that some of the funds raised go to pay back those who had paid in, the money just disappeared. It may be a small thing to you, but I have emails from Sherrie saying another lady and I could have our tickets to Smart Girl Summit (2 emails) and then a “vote” was taken that I would lose my ticket. “You can either pay for it or we will take it from you.” I had earned that and paid for it over and over again. Indeed, I bought another ticket so I could attend. The other lady just lost her’s….after giving many hard days over months to “their” cause. She left TPN for their treatment of me and everyone. From then on, whenever anyone went on the site and started asking difficult questions, they are berated, called every name in the book, accused of being “trolls” and according to World Net Daily, Judson is now calling those folks “liberal trolls”. I happen to know that recently when folks innocently mention helping us, their posts are instantly removed. They can do what they want to “their” site, but I also happen to know this site’s logo and name has never been trademarked. And all the time “we” put into it….who’s site is it?
I can tell you I have an email sent to me from Sherry Phillips, that tells me how to pay for my sponsorship for the convention, and it says to send it to the Paypal account of sherry@teapartynation.com so that sounds to me like it is still a personal account not one for the organization.
Well said, my friend. Exposure is the better part of valor….I must say. To allow oneself to be exposed and to face exposure is the better part of mankind. If one cannot allow themselves to be so exposed, admit to being exposed and naked, and to face redemption, be redeemed, and reconciled, then what? Those who cannot admit to their own state of fallenness can never face that redemption and repair. Those like this individual, even when confronted with it, cannot face themselves or the other. That being said, as I am waxing poetic, did anyone see the interview w/ A Colmes? He was left completely bereft. Why is it so difficult to answer one simple question….how much are you paying Palin? He does not want to answer this. If she is now free, how much money do you make off this Convention? If it was $125K, and now nothing, hmmmm….And what about the grassroots? Why are they not invited? These folks don’t have the kind of money you are asking for? (He NEVER answered the question) This is for organizers that want education we are offering. We are offering training for SERIOUS organizers. (Phillips) Really? There are a few hundred of us here in Tennessee that won’t be coming….we have been kicked out. I am listening to this interview again and it is really sad. Another thing that is sad….the first time I have ever appreciated Alan. What a trip.
Blowhards like this never make arguments. All his public statements are logical fallacies as Kevin exposes:
Ad hominem, straw man, bandwagon, etc.
Grow a logical syllogism, Judson, and stop extorting things that don’t really need profits.
While we come from rather divergent sides of the political spectrum insofar as our personal leanings go, I must tell you that I have an enormous amount of respect for you, Mr. Smith, and others like you and Mr. Shreeve who had stepped up to tell the truth about what went on in your movement and with Tea Party Nation Corp.
Justice and equality, fair governance and freedom, is what all of us – Republican, Independent, Democrat, Progressive, etc. – truly want when it comes down to brass tacks. Though I may not agree with many of the tea party initiatives I have read to date, I still feel sorrowed that your honest, grassroots movement has been hijacked – or has attempted to be so – by corporate greed and an over-eager party platform looking for a breath of new life.
Stepping out and speaking publicly and so openly as you have done here on this blog is to be commended. I have nothing but respect for you after reading your story for the last 45 minutes and it is my sincere hope that the truth will come out in the end, signaling the downfall of Mr. Judson and his slave-labor corporation built upon the backs of well-intentioned, hard-working volunteers and donors; true American citizens fighting for a cause they believed in.
I wish you and those like you who have been used, abused, and then shunned and vilified by Judson Phillips and Tea Party Nation Corporation all the best and urge you to continue bringing the truth to light.
I`m curious if anyone has taken the time to “warn” Sarah Palin about this bogus organization and what her involvement could do to harm the larger real movement.