One of six televangelists targeted in a Senate finance inquiry is being accused of turning a recent pastors' conference into a fundraising opportunity for GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
Last week, Kenneth Copeland Ministries held an annual -- by invitation only -- ministers' conference at his headquarters in Newark, Texas. The Trinity Foundation, a Dallas-based nonprofit group that monitors televangelists, reports that during a live webcast Huckabee called Copeland and requested emergency financing. Ole Anthony, president of the Trinity Foundation, says Copeland immediately adjourned the conference and then reconvened the group in a private meeting, in order to stay within guidelines on fundraising. "They raised $111,000 in cash and maybe in excess of a million dollars in pledges for Huckabee," says Anthony. "If that isn't a violation of the law, it certainly strains at ethical positions." Huckabee's campaign released a statement saying it rented a room at the gathering for a separate event that was in line with campaign finance laws and tax regulations. And a spokesman for Copeland says the event was not an endorsement of Huckabee, although Anthony claims that Huckabee has had close ties with Copeland. He considers Huckabee's appearances on Copeland's program in November and the recent phone call to be "poor judgment" by someone who wants to be president.
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