The Insider-Payment Chart and the Missing 990s (Claims)
:::caution Attributed claims only Hiring a direct-mail vendor, having a family member on a nonprofit board, and reporting related-party transactions on a Form 990 are all lawful — the 990 asks for that disclosure precisely because it is expected. No filing, auditor, regulator, or court has alleged any of what follows. Every person named is living and accused of no crime. :::
Claim snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| The claim | Ten years of insider-directed payments totaling $15.2M+, plus missing 990s for three TPUSA entities |
| Raised by | @theleahfiles (the chart); George Webb (the 990s) |
| First surfaced | Undated in source |
| Rests on | Anonymous post; no filing, page number, or year cited |
| Evidence rating | SPECULATIVE |
What is alleged
The investigation file reproduces a viral thread attributed to @theleahfiles alleging ten years of insider-directed payments at Turning Point USA. Its components, as the thread states them:
$9M+ to "Resource One" — which the thread says is not a printer but a DBA of Moore DM Group, described as a large political direct-mail conglomerate. $999K to "Clocktower LLC", described as dissolved in 2022, for a research project with no public deliverables. $2.7M+ allegedly routed through entities the thread links to Stacy Sheridan, TPUSA's Senior Advancement Director, while she was also salaried. And Erika Kirk's mother, Lori Frantzve, described as serving on the board while $15.2M+ allegedly flowed to insider-controlled companies.
The thread's framing is rhetorical rather than evidentiary — it calls the arrangement a "tax-free money machine" and asks "Double-dipping fraud?" — and it closes by directing readers to watch an episode of a Candace Owens docuseries. The investigation file preserves the thread verbatim without verifying a single figure in it. Separately, George Webb claims 990s for TPUSA Endowment, Turning Point Action, and Turning Point Americas are missing.
No underlying 990 page, page number, or filing year is cited anywhere in the file for any figure above.
The ordinary explanation
Every element described is lawful and common. Nonprofits routinely use direct-mail vendors whose registered legal entity name differs from the trade name on the invoice — that is what a DBA is. A vendor entity dissolving after a completed contract is unremarkable. Family members serving on nonprofit boards is legal, and it is disclosed on the 990 rather than hidden by it. A staffer's related-party payments are reportable, not automatically improper — reporting them is the system working.
The thread's headline also contains a plain arithmetic error. The line asking "where's the other $615M paid?" conflates the vendor's total revenue across its entire industry client base with money TPUSA specifically paid it. That is not a finding; it is a category mistake. And on the 990s: nonprofit returns are routinely filed late under automatic extensions and are not "missing" in any legal sense until a deadline has passed. Finally, the thread is monetized content promoting a rival media product, which is a reason to check its numbers rather than repeat them.
What would settle it
- Pull the actual TPUSA Form 990s for the years in question and cite the specific schedule and line for each alleged payment.
- Check Schedule L (transactions with interested persons) against the thread's claims about Stacy Sheridan's entities.
- Confirm from IRS records whether the Endowment, Action, and Americas returns are late, extended, or filed.
- Ask TPUSA what the $999K research contract produced and whether a deliverable exists.
Sources
- @theleahfiles thread, reproduced verbatim in the investigation file. No URL is cited in the file for the thread or the chart.
- George Webb (@RealGeorgeWebb1) on the missing 990s
- No Form 990 page, filing year, or line item is cited anywhere in the investigation file for any figure on this page.