MARYLAND (WBFF) — Maryland’s U.S. senators sought $4 million in federal taxpayer funding for two Baltimore nonprofits now facing scrutiny over their finances, including one raided by the FBI and another linked to a federal investigation.
The two Baltimore-based nonprofits, KEYS Empowers and the North East Housing Initiative, have been the subject of recent Project Baltimore and Spotlight on Maryland investigations, which were published after the senators requested funding on April 20.
Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen withdrew their funding requests after those news investigations examined the organizations’ financial practices and oversight. The reversals come before Congress has approved its fiscal 2027 budget.
It’s not immediately clear how thoroughly lawmakers are vetting nonprofits before recommending them for millions in taxpayer dollars.
Alsobrooks and Van Hollen both requested $3 million for KEYS Empowers, a human services organization that was raided by the FBI last month. Executive Director Mujahid Muhammad resigned from his position on the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners shortly after the raid.
The Maryland Office of the Inspector General Health previously found that KEYS Empowers needed to return more than $400,000 to the state – around half of the total state funding it received for three fiscal years. The OIGH cited overfunding, record discrepancies and inadequate supporting documentation, according to the report published on April 30.
Separately, Van Hollen requested $1 million for NEHI, another nonprofit facing financial problems. Spotlight previously reported on a federal investigation involving a cryptocurrency donation, federal tax liens, lawsuits over additional alleged debts totaling millions of dollars, and criminal and bankruptcy cases involving the organization’s CEO and president, Garrick Good, who just resigned this month.
“It’s concerning, but it’s not surprising,” said Jeremy Portnoy, an investigative reporter with Open the Books, a government funding watchdog which has called for a ban on Congressional earmarks.
Portnoy says there’s not enough oversight for the billions of dollars in federal funds that members of Congress direct toward special projects in their districts.
“It shouldn’t take Spotlight on Maryland to reveal these issues,” Portnoy said. “This is something that Congress members should be able to tell before sending federal funds to a nonprofit. But when you have senators like Senator Alsobrooks and Senator Van Hollen requesting hundreds and hundreds of earmarks year after year, it’s very difficult to perform that oversight.”
When asked what led Sen. Van Hollen to request funding for the two organizations, his office told Spotlight in an email that, similar to “all” congressionally directed spending requests, “the requests come in from the organization, and the Senator’s office received feedback from a number of state and local partners.”
Van Hollen’s office also said he “withdrew these requests upon learning of the investigations and always prioritizes the responsible use of taxpayer dollars.”
Spotlight also asked Alsbrooks why she requested funding for KEYS Empowers.
“Like any organization in Maryland looking for federal support, Senator Alsobrooks’ office followed the same process with these requests,” Meredith Happy, the senator’s director of communications, said in an email. “Upon learning of an investigation, Senator Alsobrooks’ office worked immediately to ensure that these groups would not receive any federal appropriations. Senator Alsobrooks believes all leaders have a fiduciary duty to spend taxpayer dollars carefully – and will always work to ensure every federal dollar going to Maryland will benefit Marylanders.”
Alsobrooks’ office did not respond to a follow-up question about who made the request on behalf of Keys Empowers.
KEYS Empowers and NEHI did not respond to requests for comment.
Spotlight received an out-of-office message from Muhammad after reaching out via email on Friday, and Good said he had no comment about the earmark request for NEHI.
Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bjconrad@sbgtv.com or 443-578-2126, or contact the Spotlight team at SpotlightOnMaryland@sbgtv.com or 410-467-4670. Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 News and WJLA in Washington, D.C.
This post was originally published on Fox 45 by Sinclair Media Group.
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