Questions raised over U.S. anti-Islamist donations to PVV

Rasa - Uncertainty reigns around donations made by Jewish-American writer and anti-Islamist David Horowitz to Geert Wilders' party PVV, NRC reports. According to the newspaper's own research, it is unclear which amounts were donated to the Dutch anti-Islam party and when, as the amounts and dates Horowitz report do not correspond to those of the PVV.

News ID: 426171

Date: 30 December 2016 - 20:52

RNA - Uncertainty reigns around donations made by Jewish-American writer and anti-Islamist David Horowitz to Geert Wilders' party PVV, NRC reports. According to the newspaper's own research, it is unclear which amounts were donated to the Dutch anti-Islam party and when, as the amounts and dates Horowitz report do not correspond to those of the PVV.

Since 2013 all Dutch political parties have to report foreign gifts and donations to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Donations from 1,000 euros must be registered with the Ministry and amounts from 4,500 must be made public. A lack of clarity in these reports can lead to fines.

According to registrations with the Home Affairs Ministry, the PVV received 108,224 euros from Horowitz' foundation - the David Horowitz Freedom Center - in 2015. And in 2014 Horowitz donated 18 thousand euros to the Stichting Vrienden van de PVV (Friends of the PVV foundation). In total Horowitz donated 126,224 euros to the PVV in those two years.

The total amount donated is about the same in both the PVV and Horowitz' records, but the individual donation amounts and dates of donations differ. According to Horowitz' records,  $75 thousand was donated in 2014 and $75 thousand in 2015. The total $150,000 is about 126,224 euros, according too the exchange rate in those years, according to NRC.

Horowitz could not explain the differences to NRC. It seems that the PVV reported a too low amount to the Ministry in 2014 and tried to make up for it by reporting the difference in 2015. Why the party did this is unclear. Neither the Ministry or PVV wanted to comment to the newspaper on the Matter. Wilders himself also refused to comment.

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