Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President of Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco recently joined NTD News to discuss Fidelity Charitable’s discrimination against conservative and religious groups.
In a June letter to Fidelity Charitable, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody accused the company of discriminating by refusing to facilitate donations to mainstream conservative groups including ADF.
As Tedesco explains, activist groups are amplifying unfounded accusations from discredited groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center to pressure Fidelity Charitable into imposing a “political litmus test for giving.”
If a donor wishes to give to a conservative or religious organization, especially one on the SPLC’s discredited “hate map,” Fidelity Charitable refuses to approve the transaction unless the donor agrees to sacrifice their anonymity, Tedesco said. If a donor wishes to give to a left-leaning organization, however, their transaction is approved smoothly.
Over 15 donors in 12 different states have received messages requiring them to give up their anonymity – statistics Tedesco cited as pointing to a broader policy at Fidelity Charitable.
Tedesco commended Attorney General Moody’s letter to Fidelity Charitable, which asked the company to confirm that they would stop discriminating against donations to conservative or religious organizations. In the letter, Moody warned the company that its actions violated a new Florida law blocking banks from discriminating based on religious or political views.
Tedesco agreed with Moody’s take, calling Fidelity Charitable’s actions a “violation” of its “promise to the donors that they are cause-neutral and that they won’t take the religious or political or philosophical beliefs of the organization you want to give to in[to] account when they’re deciding whether to approve a grant or not.”
Tedesco concluded simply, “They need to stop it.”
Watch the whole interview here.