A pair of Clinton family allies have left the board of Black Lives Matter just days after its co-founder Patrisse Cullors admitted to lying about not using the group’s $6million mansion for fun.
Cullors, 38, told the Associated Press Monday that she used the opulent seven-bed Studio City compound – purchased in cash by BLM in October 2020 – for her own recreation twice.
Now, Minyon Moore and Marc Elias, two close allies of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, have stepped down from the board of the national organization, according to the Washington Examiner.
Moore, who worked under President Bill Clinton and was a member of Hilary Clinton’s inner circle for her two failed presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2016, was announced as a board member just this February.
There was some controversy over that news, as Moore worked on President Joe Biden’s transition team and served as a ‘nomination advisor for engagement’ to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
A pair of Clinton family allies have left the board of Black Lives Matter just days after its co-founder Patrisse Cullors (pictured) admitted to lying about not using the group’s $6million mansion for fun
Minyon Moore (pictured second from left), who worked under President Bill Clinton and was a member of Hilary Clinton’s inner circle for her two failed presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2016, was announced as a board member just this February
Marc Elias – general counsel on Clinton’s losing 2016 campaign – was revealed that same month to have taken over the organization’s books and finances on behalf of his law firm
Meanwhile, Elias – general counsel on Clinton’s losing 2016 campaign – was revealed that same month to have taken over the organization’s books and finances on behalf of his law firm.
However, on BLM’s latest registration filings submitted to Florida and Oklahoma on April 28, Moore and Elias are nowhere to be found.
Black Lives Matter, Moore and Elias Law Firm have all either declined or not responded to requests for comment.
The first instance of Cullors holding extracurricular activities at the mansion saw her hold a party to toast Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s inauguration as president and vice president in January 2021.
Then, in March the same year, she commandeered the luxury property – whose purchase has sparked fury among other racial justice campaigners – for her school-aged son’s birthday party.
However, on BLM’s latest registration filings submitted to Florida and Oklahoma on April 28, Moore and Elias are nowhere to be found
Cullors said of her earlier decision to lie: ‘I look back at that and think, that probably wasn’t the best idea.’
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She previously issued a statement denying that she’d ever lived there or used the property for her personal gain after its purchase was revealed by New York magazine, triggering allegations of racism from BLM.
The purchase of the 6,500 square-foot Studio City property – which officials previously said was reserved exclusively for official foundation business – was disclosed last month by NY Mag.
News of the previously under-wraps transaction – made more than a year and a half ago – triggered a firestorm of criticism concerning the financial practices of the foundation’s top brass, which have already come into question in recent months.
Black Lives Matter raised $90million in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, and still has an impressive $60million of cash at hand.
Explaining the reason behind the luxurious purchase, Cullors told AP: ‘We looked at commercial buildings and we looked at homes and then we found this really amazing space that’s a sweet spot between commercial and residential.’
She went on to justify its purchase by highlighting how the mansion had a soundstage which enabled BLM to produce podcasts.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, pictured here during an interview with The Associated Press in Los Angeles last week, has admitted she lied when she said she had only ever used the group’s $6million LA mansion for official business. The interview saw the former BLM leader – who resigned last spring -address claims she misused donated funds
This is the luxurious Studio City property BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors has now admitted she used for personal, non-BLM business, after previously denying doing so
The property was bought as a haven for black artists – but Cullors commandeered it to host a Biden-Harris inauguration party, and to celebrate her son’s 21st birthday, she revealed in an interview last week
Cullors threw a birthday party for the son she has with Damon Turner (pictured at left with the BLM cofounder in 2020) at the $6million Southern California mansion in March 2021. A charity run by Cullors donated $86K to Turner’s clothing company the year prior, after the foundation garnered nearly $100million in donations in 2020
After receiving the email asking for comment on the house’s existence last month, BLM officials reportedly circulated an internal memo with possible responses to the outlet’s query concerning the alleged purchase.
The responses ranged from: ‘Can we kill the story?’ to: ‘Our angle – needs to be to deflate ownership of the property,’ the magazine reported.
At the time, Cullors – who attested the property was bought as a ‘safe space’ for black creatives, activists and thought leaders, and that its purchase was never disclosed because it needed renovating – angrily hit back at her detractors, describing criticism she was facing since the purchase was made public as ‘racist and sexist.’
Cullors, meanwhile, defended the purchase while speaking to the AP last week, arguing that the opulent home was bought to bring further value to the BLM empire.
‘We really wanted to make sure that the global network foundation had an asset that wasn’t just financial resources,’ she said, ‘and we understood that not many black-led organizations have property. They don´t own their property.’
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