New Update —

Church Militant loses control of finances in emergency Dec. 26 hearing — both buildings owned by CM will be sold, closing on Thurs. 28 Dec 2023. The buyer is friendly to Church Militant. CM will move everything into the one building that has its studio and equipment, and pay the new owner rent/lease money. Money from sale will be in escrow, in part. CM will have some money to continue operations — for how long is unknown. Voris and Sherry represented themselves; the judge told them to get attorneys.

More information in Damien Fisher’s article here: Voris faces possible criminal charges; Uninsured Church Militant looks at liquidation

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My notes about the $50k+ loan from Church Militant to Mr. Balestrieri, added to this page 12/26/2023

This publicly available court document in the case states:

“The defendants recently disclosed that Church Militant loaned Mr. Balestrieri money pursuant to an agreement dated June 4, 2022, [35] in the amount of $54,374.80, without interest on the unpaid principal, to be repaid no later than December 31, 2022. [36] The defendants state that the loan was for the purpose of paying medical expenses for Mr. Balestrieri’s mother, but the loan agreement does not state a purpose or reference medical expenses. The loan agreement also provides for additional advances to Mr. Balestrieri for up to $10,625.20. [37] The defendants represent that the loan was “alluded to” in the threatening text that Mr. Voris sent to Mr. Balestrieri on June 15, 2023. [38]”

Footnote 68 from the above court document states:

68 “In a recent filing, the defendants state that Church Militant loaned money to Mr. Balestrieri to cover his mother’s medical expenses. Doc. no. 165, at 2. Father de Laire moved for leave to file a reply that disputes the purpose of the loan. Doc. no. 166. This evidence of further entanglement between Church Militant/Mr. Voris and Mr. Balestrieri may also support inferences of actual malice.”

“On June 15, 2023, the day that Mr. Balestrieri agreed to be deposed in this case, Mr. Voris sent him the threatening text message that is quoted in the background section.65” [PDF File]

Footnote 65:

“65 As stated in the background section, Mr. Balestrieri was served with a subpoena during the hearing on the motion for summary judgment on June 15, 2023. He then agreed to appear for a deposition on July 12, 2023. Later the same day, however, Mr. Balestrieri received a text message from Mr. Voris that warned him he was committing perjury, called him “a liar and a Welch,” and stated that if Mr. Balestrieri “went through with this,” Mr. Voris and Church Militant would “rain down on [him] publicly.” Doc. no. 157-10. Mr. Balestrieri then decided not to attend his deposition.”

See the full text of the threatening email from Voris to Balestrieri here. Search for the word: Welch

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New UPDATES 19 Dec 2023; see the section on the predatory behavior of Simon Rafe and the new RTF video —

See this article by Damien Fischer on the latest at Church Militant: Fourth Voris lawyer quits, new president asks for donations

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You might want to watch this YouTube video by David Robert Gordon, former employee of Church Militant, on the problems with Michael Voris and the board: The TRUTH About the Resignation of Michael Voris and the Implosion of Church Militant.

Gordon: “Members of the board called me ‘hateful’ by the way. And I said “No”, he must never be allowed to come back, and we have to be honest with people about what caused him to go away in the first place…. We owe people honesty and transparency.”

In the video, David Gordon reported the following allegations against Michael Voris:

* that a Church Militant staffer went to Michael’s house last fall and apparently witnessed porn, featuring a gay orgy on Michael Voris’ computer.

* that Voris was recently seen three times at “Adam’s Apple”, a well-known gay bar in Detroit with a handsome younger man.

* that a screenshot of an illicit text message from Voris’ phone was found on the company’s Dropbox account (the message described masturbation to a picture).

* that dozens of shirtless selfies and muscle pics from Voris’ phone were found on the company’s Dropbox account.

* that Michael Voris was in the habit of sending shirtless selfies to multiple men inside and outside the apostolate (i.e. St. Michael’s Media/Church Militant).

* that Voris texted shirtless selfies to a potential large donor, causing the donor to refrain from large donations to the apostolate.

* that a male employee of Church Militant stated that he felt like Michael Voris was grooming him; and that several other employees notice and commented on their odd inappropriate relationship.

* that Michael Voris has received a series of unauthorized pay raises, over the course of several years, possibly not authorized by the Board; this raises the question of possible embezzlement.

* that Michael Voris was, up until “a couple of days ago” (from the date of the video on 2 Dec 2023) and may possibly still be, an advisory member of the Board of St. Michael’s Media/Church Militant.

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Here is a link to the GiveSendGo campaign to raise money for the 8 employees of Church Militant who were fired for complaining about the situation with Voris and the board. They write the following:

“We are former employees of St. Michaels Media / Church Militant who formed a fellowship in line with Rerum Novarum to save the apostolate from scandal and the corrupt board of directors.

“On December 1, eight employees with over 35 years of collective service at Church Militant were forced out of the studios in Ferndale, Michigan, with seven of our group being escorted out by local police.

“Our band of brothers was formed in light of the recent revelations that our former CEO Michael Voris had re-embraced the homosexual lifestyle while the Board of Directors attempted to cover it up.”
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Joe Gallagher spoke to The Angry Catholic podcasters.

Joe gave details to Board members Susan Vance and Marc Rivard in April, on Voris’ issues (e.g. pics sent to young men). They knew back then and did nothing.
[38 minute mark on the podcast of Angry Catholic]

This information from Joe contradicts an email from the Church Militant Board, saying, in part:

“The board was never involved in any sort of cover-up for Michael Voris, financially or otherwise, and did, in fact, ask him to resign immediately upon learning of his personal failings.”

Joe Gallagher states that he informed Susan Vance and Marc Rivard about Voris’ issues, and they did brushed it off. They did not “ask him to resign immediately upon learning of his personal failings”. So the Board has made a false public statement, which might be characterized as a type of cover-up.

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Here is a link (pdf) to the Letter sent by Church Militant employees to the Board of CM detailing Michael Voris’ behavior. The letter claims to contain the complaint of Christine Niles, sent to the board in an email. She posted that email on her X/Twitter account, with the complaint blurred out; but it is not blurred in the above PDF file.

And here is a link (jpg) to the Letter of Christine Niles to the Church Militant Board, accusing Michael Voris of possible criminal activity.

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See also this article from the “Trust But Verify” substack: The Entire Board Should Resign. The author, KRISTINE CHRISTLIEB, is a former reporter for Church Militant (2019 to 2023).

Christlieb writes the following: “This is also the same board that approved a $50k unsecured loan to a private individual, Marc Balestrieri, the man Voris threatened with ruin just days before Balesttieri was to be deposed in the New Hampshire libel case. The plaintiff’s lawyers are calling the threats witness tampering. If the board didn’t approve the loan, if Voris was issuing loans of that size on his own authority, that in itself would be grounds for his removal.”

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Kristine Christlieb’s latest article on her blog ‘Trust but Verify’ concerns the potential conflict between three organizations: St. Michael’s Media, a 501(c)3 and Church Militant, a 501(c)4, and the quasi-entity called the “Deposit of Faith Coalition”. She writes that “Sources tell ‘Trust But Verify’ that board members are planning to use funds from the 501(c)4 to keep recently-ousted founder Michael Voris in a smoked-filled back room.”

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This webpage from “Casetext: smarter legal research” has information from the court case of Fr. de Laire of a New Hampshire diocese versus Michael Voris and Church Militant (et al.) De Laire v. Voris. The dispute centers around an article and video (and other material) that the plaintiff claims was defamatory. The page states: “As explained above, Mr. Voris initially represented that he wrote the January 17 article but then named Mr. Balestrieri as the author.” Included in the information from that page is a text message from Voris to Balestrieri in which Voris wrote: “You go through with this and we will rain down on you publicly. You are a liar and a Welch.”

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See also this YouTube video by Christine Harrington of “Eternal Life Plan”, titled: The Fall of Church Militant and it’s Board. In the video, she says, in part: “The good staff, that was trying to do their very best, was kept in the dark about the finances and the mismanagement by the board. As a matter of fact, we were all kept in the dark about many things…. But the entirety of Church Militant is dysfunctional. It was held together by a Band-Aid, waiting for it to be ripped off, by a scandal that everyone inside knew was brewing… The entire board must be replaced…. In the last decade, the board members met only one time, that’s it. There were no regular monthly or quarterly meetings. The board did not vote on finances, nor hold Voris accountable for finances.”

Harrington also states, in the same video: “Here’s what happened…. The staff gave them [the board] the evidence of Michael Voris’ private life. This was substantiated by two different sources. And they sent a letter, to the board, an email to the board, stating why Voris needs to leave, or they were going to walk out…. And there were things that were found out that Michael was doing. And I’ll just point to one other thing because it’s been out there for about a year now….”

She then describes a photo of Michael Voris, shirtless, found on the company DropBox, which she says was leaked by someone to the public. Harrington then said, about this type of photo: “And why would someone do that. Well, it’s bait, to see who will bite…. I’m trying to give Michael all the benefit of the doubt, but he didn’t give the bishops and the priests the benefit of the doubt.”

In a more recent Christine Harrington video, “Statement from a former Church Militant Employee“, she asserts that she spoke to four young men who shared with her their experience with Church Militant and meeting/spending time with Michael Voris. These young men were not a part of the staff. They contacted her after seeing her first video. [Text corrected according to Comment from Christine Harrington below.]

from Church Militant who were apparently groomed by Michael Voris. She also states that Christine Niles did not coverup the situation with Voris. Niles gave a statement to Harrington, which she reads on the video, including this: “Over the past couple of years, I did not see him [Voris] much. He was in the studio for brief periods each day. We would have infrequent conversations, but that was pretty much it….”

Christine Harrington stated that she was not part time. She worked at the studio one week out of the month, but she worked at home the other three weeks of each month. She resigned in April, 2022, after “six short months”.

In a NEW video (live) from Christine Harrington, she states: “My termination quickly followed my delivering a letter to Michael (Voris) alerting him to the harassment and predatory behavior of his friend and then chief-of-staff Simon Rafe.” And Rafe was a highly-paid Director on the Board for more than 5 years.

In the same video, Harrington reads from an email from Mike Sherry (Director on the Board) to various employees, including: “The board was never involved in any sort of cover-up for Michael Voris, financially or otherwise, and did, in fact, ask him to resign immediately upon learning of his personal failings.” Harrington asserts that this is not true; that the online chatter made them came forward.

The email from Sherry also claims that they are interviewing a new person to be on the Board of Directors, who is not an employee, and that they will soon replace all the current Directors with non-employees. Harrington thinks that this will only result in bringing Voris back to Church Militant. The email refers to Church Militant as an “apostolate”, but Harrington states that CM is not an apostolate, but a non-profit org that gets a tax exemption. She accuses CM of “false reporting”.

The email then says that the Board has created a brand new “Leadership” team to run things. The email also says they have a temporary HR person now, and will be hiring a permanent HR person; they did not have one before, even though many people complained about not having an HR person for Church Militant.

Harrington states that a former staffer (she is keeping anonymous), sent a letter on 8 Dec 2023 to the Board — which were all employees except one — as well as the temp. HR person and CM’s attorney, and he received no response as of 19 Dec 2023. The former staffer wrote he had a conversation with Voris about how heavy his workload was; Voris replied, ‘that’s why most producers are alcoholics’. Young men from CM were working long hours and then asked to spend time with Voris socially. Leadership had them attend meetings on Saturdays at Voris’ place.

Harrington then showed a letter from the former staffer which states that the staffer delivered to Voris a letter accusing then Chief of Staff Simon Rafe (also a Board member) of “harassment and predatory behavior”. Soon after, the staffer was summarily fired (March 2023).

Let me just add something here, my comment on what Christine Harrington is reporting. Firing an employee for reporting sexual harassment is certainly actionable under civil statutes (i.e. you can sue). I don’t know whether one could make the argument that the non-profit benefitted Board members Voris and Rafe, who were friends, in that they were highly paid, used the org to promote their personal views, and preyed on employees sexually. A non-profit that substantially benefits Board members, other than pay for their work, might lose its non-profit status. This could result in an excise tax to be paid by Board members, especially if they were deemed grossly negligent in Board duties — i.e. if it is found to be true, the claim that they met rarely, and let ‘Leadership’ do their job for them.

Back to what Harrington is saying in the video. The former staffer and another staffer, Hunter Bradford, were both fired in March. Later that year, a group of other staffers complained to the Board about Michael Voris, and they were fired as well. The former staffer says that victims and witnesses of predatory behavior by Rafe will support what the staffer is saying.

The Simon Rafe video titled “IT’S PRACTICAL TO HAVE ENEMIES”, which is described as “Simon breaks down the need to stop worrying about people disinterested in converting. Humble them for the good of the other souls listening who might otherwise be led astray.”

The staffer insists that Voris never be allowed to return, be fired from his role as an advisor to the Board (a position Harrington thinks Voris still holds), and be banned from future collaboration or affiliation with Church Militant.

Harrington then shares an excerpt from the staffer’s letter to Voris on Simon Rafe. The letter is clearly visible in the video. Rafe had multiple roles over employees, (was a board member), did annual reviews, made content decisions, and showed predatory behavior toward female employees. Note that in the same period of time, his friend and fellow Board member Michael Voris was grooming male employees. The former staffer also states that employees, including the female victims, are afraid to come forward as they might be subject to retaliation.

My comments again: employees were sexually harassed by Voris and Rafe, who ran the org on a day to day basis, were Board members, were friends, and had sufficient power to retaliate against anyone who complained. The former staffer was fired in March 2023 for complaining about Rafe, as were a group of employees, who complained in Nov. 2023. As the Board consisted almost entirely of Voris, Rafe, and their employees, there was no one to whom the male and female victims of predatory behavior by Voris and Rafe could go to resolve their complaints. They did not have an HR persons, though Rafe acted somewhat in that role. This type of situation is sufficient for a lawsuit, and might cause St. Michael’s Media and Church Militant to lose their non-profit status.

Harrington: “There was verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual harassment going on at Church Militant.”

A 2021 news story on a scandal involving Simon Rafe: RealCatholicTV’s Voris had ‘no idea’ about internal problems (Corrected)

Another interesting video from Christine Harrington: James Grein, who went public in 2018 accusing Cardinal McCarrick of child abuse, was interviewed. Subsequently, Grein became associated with Church Militant, and spoke with Michael Voris many times. You can find multiple stories on the Church Militant website mentioning him. Grein told the story of going to Baltimore in 2021 with a group from Church Militant. At one point, in a hotel, Grein went looking for Voris, and walked in on him having sex with another man. Grein did not identify the man. However, Grein stated that a Church Militant staffer was just down the hall, and Grein described what he saw in the hotel room (Voris with another man).

Grein also stated he considered Voris was surrounding himself with a group of gay men, and Grein felt he did not fit in. Grein mentioned that Milo Yiannopoulos was one of those men. Grein also mentioned that he spoke to Fr. Paul John Kalchik about that situation.

James Grein also stated that Michael Voris sent him selfies that were later found on the company DropBox server, including the gym selfie.

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See also this video from Christine Niles, who resigned from Church Militant not long before the story on Michael Voris broke: “My statement on the resignation of Michael Voris”.

Updated to add this tweet [no longer online] and Letter to the CM Board by Christine Niles, saying in part:

Tweet: “I can no longer in good conscience encourage Catholics to give to Church Militant, until the board of directors launches an independent investigation to find out how donor money was used during the time that Michael Voris was leading a double life.”

Letter to Board: “The depth of Michael’s betrayal is breathtaking…. He ramped up fundraising over the past year, using pious, spiritual language to convince Catholics to donate, which they did in good faith believing he was faithful. And he used their money to lead a double life. Utterly wicked. There’s an argument to be made that he raised money under false pretenses and defrauded donors, which would be criminal.”

Niles calls herself a whistleblower in this tweet and here is an image of her e-mail to the Board, detailing problems with Voris. However, in the image of the letter, the things she found out about Voris are blurred out. She refuses to reveal these things to the Church Militant readers and subscribers. She also states in the letter that she initially chose to remain silent. Then, in a tweet quoted here, Niles states: “While I was technically named to the board, I had no active role in any of the decisions. I wasn’t called to a single meeting.” This speaks to the negligence of the Board as well as to her negligence as a Board member who had authority in St. Michael’s Media/Church Militant.” Calling herself “technically named to the board” is merely an admission that the Board was not really in charge.

In Niles’ image of an email she wrote to the Board, she mentions “Leadership”, which from the reports of others appears to be a group that was running St. Michael’s Media/Church Militant instead of the Board. This raises serious legal issues. In one of her tweets, Niles states: “I knew about some gym selfies. I took them to someone I trusted in leadership, and I was dismayed at the dismissive way it was handled.”

In another tweet, Niles states: “Actually, I never looked into the role of the board of directors during my time at CM.” How could she be a Board member, and not look into the role of that Board?

The other serious question is whether the Leadership group was functionally a replacement for the Board of this non-profit, a Board that reportedly never met? Were all the members of Leadership employees under Voris’ control? If so, does this illegally circumvent laws on non-profits and the duties of the Board to oversee the organization? Voris is also accused of giving himself raises without approval from the Board.

Also note that all these public tweets by various persons involved with Church Militant can be obtained for any criminal or civil court case against various persons.

In this tweet, “DawnP” says to Christine Niles: “Christine Harrington said she witnessed grooming by Michael the entire 5 months she was there. I don’t understand how you could not have.” And the reply from Niles was: “She was only there one week per month. I’m not sure what she saw. I didn’t see grooming.”
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Issues with the Church Militant Board

See this link with public financial information about St. Michael’s Media, Inc.. The information is from Form 990 required fillings with the IRS. Saint Michael’s Media (“SMM”) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, while Church Militant (“CM”) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit.

Christine Niles is listed as a paid Board member from 2017 to 2021 (5 consecutive years), with total compensation for those 5 years at $276,349. Information on 2022 and 2023 compensation and names of Board members is not available yet from Form 990s (AFAIK). Here is what she said about the Board:

Niles: “Actually, I never looked into the role of the board of directors during my time at CM. I was focused entirely on writing and reporting. It wasn’t until after I left CM that I started researching the topic and began to understand that the way the board was structured was actually a conflict of interest. I have recommended that the current board members who are also employees resign from their board and that the board be staffed without outside, neutral parties who will act in the best interests of the apostolate.” [Tweet of 5 Dec 2023]

Niles: “I was technically named to the board but had no active role nor was I called to any meetings. I resigned from the board months ago. How is that “proof” of “complicity”? Complicity in what, exactly? I had no idea of any double life then. I blew the whistle on misconduct. Stop slandering.” [Tweet of 5 Dec 2023]

If Niles resigned from the Board “months ago”, she would have been a Board member also in 2022 and possibly for some of 2023.

Niles: “I knew about some gym selfies. I took them to someone I trusted in leadership, and I was dismayed at the dismissive way it was handled. I resigned, then more evidence came to light after my resignation, which I then brought to the board. That is the timeline.” [Tweet of 5 Dec 2023]

The term “leadership” refers to a group that allegedly had authority over SMM and CM. Christine Niles, a Board member, had a very serious issue with her boss, Voris, and yet she only went to someone in “leadership” and it was handled dismissively. The question here is whether “leadership” may have functioned as a replacement for the Board, taking over its legal responsibilities. The Board is alleged to have not fulfilled its legal requirement to meet at least once a year. And then the members of “leadership” were all employees, unable to supervise Michael Voris, who as their boss, yet acting like a shadow Board.

Niles: “Michael had stopped coming in full days at the studio, and was there briefly each day. I was also working from home part of the time watching my children. I barely saw him this past year, and not very much last year either. I certainly wasn’t keeping tabs on his private life, where he was going or what he was doing. Hindsight is always 20/20. It’s very easy to judge when you’re outside the situation.” [Tweet of 5 Dec 2023]

Niles: “MV was barely ever in the studio this past year. I almost never saw him. How could any of us have known what he was doing in private? Stop accusing innocent staff for the misdeeds of their boss.” [Tweet of 4 Dec 2023]

From IRS.gov:

“Inurement: A 501(c)(3) organization is prohibited from allowing its income or assets to benefit
insiders – typically board members, officers, directors and important employees of an
organization. If an organization benefits insiders, the insiders and the organization could
be subject to penalty excise taxes and the organization could lose its tax-exempt status.”

This raises several serious issues:
1. whether SMM and CM might lose their non-profit status, as their Board appears to have been non-functioning and perhaps did not meet even once a year, but at the same time, they were compensated with several hundred thousand dollars (total for all Board members) per year. In 2021, for example, total Board compensation was $539,031.

2. whether it was legal for the members of the Board of Directors to be compensated, to such a large extent, if they did not fulfill any substantial role as Directors and seem to have been replaced by a group of employees called “leadership”? This might constitute inurement and could result in an excise tax and loss of non-profit status.

3. whether Michael Voris used “leadership” to free himself from oversight entirely, turning the non-profit into an organization for his own private interests or private benefit? Whether Michael Voris had Board approval for the raises that he received from 2017, when he was compensated $64,000, to 2021 (the last year we have information on), when he was compensated $113,094. If he was giving himself raises, without approval from a Board that rarely or never met, this might result in an excise tax and loss of non-profit status, especially since Board member Niles reports that Michael Voris “had stopped coming in full days at the studio, and was there briefly each day”. Yet his compensation had jumped considerable from 2017 to 2021.

4. Whether the Board of SMM was grossly negligent in failing to meet, failing to supervise Michael Voris, failing to fulfill any of its legal duties, and therefore whether the Board might be liable to both an excise tax on their compensation — for which they seem to have done little or nothing to earn — as well as lawsuits as individuals. Ordinarily, Board members have a measure of protection from lawsuits directed at their non-profit, but perhaps not in this case, if the allegations of financial improprieties and gross negligence are proven true.

5. Whether, as Christine Niles alleged in a Letter to the CM Board, Michael Voris may have “raised money under false pretenses and defrauded donors, which could be criminal.” Whether the allegations made by Niles in the same letter, as listed below, leave the Board open to excise tax, loss of non-profit status, civil lawsuits by former employees, donors, or subscribers to CM, and a possible criminal investigation.

In the same letter, Niles a former Board member, alleges that the Board itself:
* the Board failed in its fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the non-profit.
* the Board chose loyalty to Michael Voris over that fiduciary duty.
* the Board terminated employees in retaliation for opposing the Board.
* the Board enabled the bad behavior of Michael Voris.
* the Board was used and manipulated by Voris “for his own selfish ends”.
* the Board was deceived, betrayed, and used, by Voris, for a long time.

6. Whether Michael Voris and/or “CM leadership” approved of an unsecured $50,000 loan to a potential witness in the NH de Laire defamation lawsuit, Marc Balestrieri, with or without the knowledge of the Board, and whether this loan could be considered an attempt to influence a witness?

Niles stated, in response to the question “How much Church Militant money has Michael Voris “loaned” or otherwise given out and to how many different people?” with the following tweet:
“Why are you directing these questions to me? You know very well that I have nothing to do with any loans, past or present, authorized by CM leadership, nor am I involved in CM finances. You have CM’s contact information. Perhaps trying using it?” [27 Nov 2023]

A former employee of Church Militant, Kristine Christlieb, writes the following: “This is also the same board that approved a $50k unsecured loan to a private individual, Marc Balestrieri, the man Voris threatened with ruin just days before Balesttieri was to be deposed in the New Hampshire libel case. The plaintiff’s lawyers are calling the threats witness tampering. If the board didn’t approve the loan, if Voris was issuing loans of that size on his own authority, that in itself would be grounds for his removal.” [article title: The Entire Board Should Resign, author, KRISTINE CHRISTLIEB, NOV 29, 2023]

Christlieb also writes: “This is also the board that had to have approved using organizational funds to pursue a libel lawsuit against podcaster Mike Parrott. Regardless of the case’s merits, it was a huge distraction of the pick-your-battles variety. And even though Church Militant won the case, many ugly actions were taken against the defendant, a fellow Catholic. It is also possible the case, though won, was a net loss financially for CM.” [Ibid.]

Did the Board approve of the funds for this lawsuit? If so, how was this approved when the Board allegedly only met rarely or not at all? Was this lawsuit undertaken as a personal benefit to Michael Voris, and not to the benefit of the non-profit? Use of non-profit funds for one’s own benefit might result in an excise tax or loss of non-profit status.

A letter was sent to the Board from a group of employees, who were summarily fired for the letter and their call for an employee “walk out”.

The Letter includes this text: “Finally, in that the Board has heretofore failed to regularly meet or execute its legal duties to the apostolate, which include setting the salary of the apostolate’s CEO (see Article III, Section 7 of bylaws), it appears that Voris has received a series of unauthorized pay raises over the course of several years — all while paying his employees virtual poverty wages — and therefore could be guilty of embezzlement under Michigan Penal Code §750.174(1).”

The quote above alleges that Michael Voris received unauthorized pay raises over several years, possibly without authorization from the Board. The letter also alleges negligence by the Board, for not meeting regularly and not overseeing the non-profit and its founder, Michael Voris. The letter describes the non-profit as if it were run solely by Michael Voris, to promote his own views on religion:

“Ironically however, other times, Michael Voris transgresses the boundaries of his CEO role and improperly inserts himself into the minutiae of daily operating affairs, regularly presuming to make content decisions and appropriating for himself the roles of senior executive producer and managing editor, demanding the creation of specific content and even controlling its granular substance — at times even contradicting the directives of those whose proper role is to oversee content.”

If so, this would violate the purposes for which the non-profit were established, instead turning the organization to the private benefit of Michael Voris.

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Some more comments from me (Ron Conte).

This could end up in criminal court, as Voris is accused of giving himself repeated raises over several years, without board approval. There is also the possibility of civil lawsuits, from past employees, who probably know a great deal more than they have revealed so far. This was going on for two years, reportedly. Church Militant is looking at years of possible litigation, from employees who were hit on by Voris, underpaid — due to his giving himself raises (and an unsecured load reportedly to someone involved in a lawsuit in New Hampshire), and Niles own claim that Voris no longer worked a full day (despite the repeated raises).

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RTF “Restoring The Faith” on X/Twitter:
“Just to be clear. I couldn’t, in good conscience, release the *other* images of himself that Voris would share with junior staffers. Way too disgusting.” The same Tweet reveals the name of the large potential donor that Voris scared away by texting him shirtless selfies of himself.

RTF also states in a Tweet that: “Voris has been using CM donations for his affairs (travel, lodging, extravagant meals).”

New RTF video on The Church Militant Board. Board member Susan Vance knew of Voris’ behavior issues in April of 2023 (at least) from Joe Gallagher. He asked to explain to her why he resigned, and she refused to listen. She did not want to hear about Voris’ behavior. And she told Joe she already knew about the gym selfies (suggestive photos).

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And maybe, if you have time, there’s one more video you might take a look at:
HYPOCRITES AND TRAITORS AMONG THE FAITHFUL
Examining the failings of those charged with teaching the Faith.

That video is Michael Voris accusing other persons, not himself, of being hypocrites and traitors for their grave failings while they are supposed to be teaching the Faith.

And the video was released at Church Militant on November 21, 2023 — the same day that the Board announced the resignation of Voris, and the same day that Voris published his own video, on X, discussing the situation.

The video begins with text on the screen:
“Today’s ‘Vortex’ features an episode of ‘The One True Faith’ regarding hypocrites and traitors who appear faithful, but aren’t. Michael calls on Catholics to demand accountability from treasonous teachers while challenging their venomous actions and teachings.”

This text is a fitting description of Voris himself and his teachings, as well as the many errors and venomous false doctrines disseminated by Church Militant. They are not faithful or obedient to the Roman Pontiffs, the body of Bishops, or the Ecumenical Councils. And the “Truths” that they preach is merely a far-right conservative ideology, as proven by the fact that they will reject any teaching of the Magisterium contrary to their own ideas. This is the mark of false teachers, that their teaching opposes magisterial teaching and attacks the Pope and Bishops and Councils.