Nonprofit launched to fund Gov. Greitens defense

A public nonprofit organization has been created to help fund the defense of Gov. Eric Greitens.

The fund was created as a 527 organization entitled “ERG Defense Fund,” referring to the governor’s full name, Eric Robert Greitens.

Ron Weiser, Shane Mayes and Sean Droke are all listed as directors of the organization.

Droke, who helped lead Greitens’ campaign, is also listed as the fund’s president.

Weiser is currently the chairman of the Michigan GOP and Mayes is the CEO of Onshore Outsourcing.

Documents said Tom Reedy serves as treasurer and Nancy Reinkemeyer, as secretary of the organization.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, there are strict outlines for how a 527 organization can operate.

The IRS chart below compares seven federal tax law attributes of five common types of tax-exempt organizations.

501(c)(3)

501(c)(4) 501(c)(5) 501(c)(6) 527 Receive tax-deductible charitable contributions YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

Receive contributions or fees deductible as a business expense YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

Substantially related income exempt from federal income tax YES YES YES YES YES Investment income exempt from federal income tax LTD*

YES

YES

YES

NO

Engage in legislative advocacy LTD YES YES YES LTD Engage in candidate election advocacy NO LTD LTD LTD YES Engage in public advocacy not related to legislation or election of candidates YES YES YES YES

LTD

The full document from the Secretary of State‘s office can be viewed by following this link.