A bizarre fight over allegations of misuse of funds within the Idaho chapter of an anti-government militia movement, the Three Percenters, just got a whole lot weirder.
Earlier this week, the Idaho Statesman broke news that several members of the 3% of Idaho were accusing their group’s president, Brandon Curtiss, of misspending nearly $3,000 in funds that were supposed to go to helping four individuals who were facing charges related to their alleged involvement in the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff.
Thirty-six members of the militia group resigned because they claimed Curtiss had spent that money on “unauthorized car accessories, car washes, camping at an Idaho state park, iTunes music downloads, gasoline and food at restaurants,” according to the newspaper.
Curtiss did not initially respond Wednesday to a request for comment from TPM. However, an individual using the pseudonym “hadjikiller” (as in, killer of Muslims who complete the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca) and claiming to speak for Curtiss sent along a press release Thursday.
“This is the current response from Mr. Curtiss and has been approved for distribution. Any further requests will be through this email and no direct contact with Mr. Curtiss will be accepted unless approved by him or council,” the emailer wrote.
A previous email from the same address warned that trying to learn or publish the identity of the sender would provoke “legal matters on a federal level.”
The long and rambling statement claims that “a complete audit is underway with an independent bookkeeper that will show there has not been and never was any misappropriation of funds.”
While the statement says that the group will not release any more information until it has fully investigated the matter, it quickly shifts blame to another former leader of the 3% of Idaho.
“Among the preliminary research, it has been found the prior interim Vice President Jonathan Casey has used funds for personal cell phone bills, groceries, several unexplainable cash withdrawals using the Organization debit card, tools and many other items,” the statement read.
Given the discord within the anti-government group, the statement instructs the media to “please be patient while we work through these concerns. Although we want to release more information immediately, we are taking the position that ALL the facts will be researched with a thorough investigation prior to being released. We will not release partial information such as a select few transactions from a bank statement that do not depict the facts.”
Read the full statement below:
