JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Senate Finance Committee chairman called on Jacksonville-based charity, Wounded Warrior Project, to release accounts of its spending.
It comes in the aftermath of a News4Jax I-TEAM investigation into questionable and lavish spending by the charity on staff members instead of injured veterans.
Recommended Videos
Iowa Senator Charles Grassley sent a letter to Wounded Warrior Project on Friday. The letter points to a meeting Senator Grassley's staff had with former WWP Chief Executive Officer Steven Nardizzi once reports of inappropriate spending came to light.
"In that meeting, we were assured that WWP was allocating its donation income appropriately towards serving veterans," the letter states. "However, significant questions remain as to whether or not WWP is properly performing its side of the bargain for veterans and taxpayers alike."
In the letter, Senator Grassley asks for the charity to provide the Senate Finance Committee with any accounts of spending that would not be listed on tax forms. That includes money spent on travel and meetings. WWP is also asked to provide a "detailed breakdown of the 80.6 percent of donations which the WWP claims are spent on programs and services for veterans."
According to a New York Times article, WWP has said in a statement that it planned to cooperate. The article also points out the charity is not legally obligated to respond to Senator Grassley's requests. However, other nonprofit groups have complied with requests in the past. Senator Grassley has requested his questions be answered by April 4, 2016.
Senator Grassley has been working for years to improve the oversight of nonprofit groups, as part of his work on the Senate Finance Committee.