The Morning Report
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Last month I wrote this story on the legal woes of the local chapter of the Minutemen, an anti-illegal immigration group that has been embroiled in lawsuits and internal wrangling for the last 12 months.
In that piece, I mentioned that the national founder of the Minutemen, Jim Gilchrist, had been ousted by the board of directors of the national group, who accused him of stealing $400,000 in donations.
Gilchrist had filed a lawsuit against three of the directors of the group. Today he dropped that lawsuit, according to a press release sent out by the Minuteman Project.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Gilchrist dropped the suit because it could have led to a judge appointing an independent party to investigate the group’s financial affairs.
That got the Minuteman board of directors crowing. Here’s an extract from the press release, quoting Marvin Stewart, president of the group:
“Today, we witnessed his hasty retreat. Knowing that the evidence provided to the court would ensure a receivership would be imposed, and that the financial discrepancies would be uncovered and revealed, Jim Gilchrist chose to dismiss the case rather than face the judge a third time.”
“In my opinion, rather than have the criminal malfeasance and diversion of funds rife within The Project under his leadership exposed, the Gilchrist gang seeks refuge in the shadows. Why else would he bring an expensive court battle, utilize the contributor funds, only to cancel at the last moment? Unless Gilchrist is very afraid of what the day would bring, and the court would impose… “