BLM co-founderâs jail reform group dropped $26,000 at luxury Malibu beach resort
A review of Reform LA Jailsâ social media records shows that the group organized multiple events in the Los Angeles area in the second half of 2019, including a party at actress Jane Fondaâs house.
(Daily Caller News Foundation) â A Los Angeles-based jail reform group led by BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors spent nearly $26,000 for âmeetingsâ at a luxury Malibu beach resort in 2019, according to campaign finance records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Reform LA Jails dropped $10,179 for âmeetings and appearancesâ at the Calamigos Guest Ranch and Beach Club in Malibu, California, and another $15,593 at the Malibu Conference Center, a corporate conference facility owned by the resort, according to the records, which covered the time period between July and September 2019. Guests at the 200-acre resort, where rooms start at $600 a night, have exclusive access to a private five-acre strip of the Malibu coast.
The records show that the payments were made on behalf of the jail reform group by a consulting firm owned by Asha Bandele, a longtime mentor of Cullors and co-author of her 2018 biography, âWhen They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.â
Cullors, a self-proclaimed âtrained Marxist,â is the founder and chairwoman of Reform LA Jails, also known as Vote Yes On R. The group, which says it is âpowered by Black Lives Matter,â successfully led a ballot measure passed in 2020 that authorized the Los Angeles Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission to develop a plan to reduce the jail population in the county.
Itâs unclear why Reform LA Jails booked meetings at the luxury Malibu beach resort. The California Fair Political Practices Commission, which regulates political groups such as Reform LA Jails, states that campaign funds âmust be used for political, legislative, or governmental purposes.â
A review of Reform LA Jailsâ social media records shows that the group organized multiple events in the Los Angeles area in the second half of 2019, including a party at actress Jane Fondaâs house and a âday party + summitâ in Pasadena featuring live music and local artists.
But the DCNF was unable to locate any public records of the group holding an event at the Malibu beach resort.
âReform LA Jailsâ filings raise a number of questions,â said Peter Flaherty, the chairman of the conservative watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center. âAn audit would establish whether any campaign funds were used for personal purposes.â
Reform LA Jails did not return multiple requests for comment.
Itâs also unclear why the group booked its stay at the beach resort through a consulting firm owned by Bandele, the co-author of Cullorsâ book.
Bandele raked in nearly $260,000 in consulting fees from Reform LA Jails in 2019, representing over 18% of the groupâs total spending that year, according to campaign finance records.
Reform LA Jails boasts the endorsements of Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Maxine Waters of California.
Cullors also took in $191,000 in 2019 from Reform LA Jails, the DCNF previously reported.
The jail reform group paid Cullors through her consulting firm, Janaya and Patrisse Consulting, campaign finance records show.
Reform LA Jails previously told the DCNF that it paid Cullors through her consulting firm âmarket rate compensation for serving as the chief executive of a historic and successful $5 million dollar campaign in California, and far below when taking into consideration the fact that Ms. Cullors ran the campaign without a salary at all for all of 2018.â
âIt is sexist and racist to expect an executive level Black woman to not be paid for their work,â the statement added.
The website for Janaya and Patrisse Consulting went offline days after the New York Post reported that Cullors had purchased four homes across the country since 2016 for a total of $3.2 million, the DCNF previously reported.
A New York-based Black Lives Matter activist, Hawk Newsome, called for an investigation into BLM Global Network Foundationâs finances in April following reports of Cullorsâ real estate buying spree.
https://alphanewsmn.com/blm-co-founders-jail-reform-group-dropped-26000-at-luxury-malibu-beach-resort/