How to Get Rich Suing For Jesus

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Getting rich suing for JesusAn examination of tax returns for the American Center for Law and Justice, which Sekulow founded with Pat Robertson in 1990, and for Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Sekulow’s other charity, which was was founded in San Francisco in 1992, suggest that the two groups funnel millions of dollars into Sekulow’s coffers.

Both charities, oddly, use the name “American Center for Law and Justice” and share a website, ACLJ.org. But the incestuous relationship doesn’t end there.

ACLJ and CASE’s stated objective is to “protect religious and constitutional freedoms” by providing legal services to allegedly persecuted Christians, such as the videographers who secretly taped the Planned Parenthood employees, but the considerable wealth with which they have blessed the Sekulow family seems to be more than just the fortuitous byproduct of carrying out the Lord’s work.

Now, none of what the Sekulow’s charities are doing is illegal: They are rated as a C+ by CharityWatch, a non-profit watchdog group. But charity work has certainly made the Sekulow family a lot of money and, of course, the charity status makes them free and clear of federal taxes.

In 2005, the Legal Times reported that Sekulow had “multiple homes, chauffeur driven cars, and a private jet that he once used to ferry Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.” Six years later, in 2011, another investigation—this time by The Tennessean—revealed that Sekulow and his wife, Pam, owned three homes, in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, totaling more than $1.6 million.

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