BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Freedom Foundation, an organization describing itself as a conservative "think tank", with a stated mission to "implement innovative ideas to deplete the power of special interests and free people from government dependency" received nearly $130,000 in PPP money from the federal government.
Just this week, Idaho Freedom Foundation president Wayne Hoffman called for Boise State Public Radio to lose its funding, Idaho Freedom Foundation tweeting "taxpayer dollars shouldn't fund left-wing or right-wing propaganda. Pretty simple stuff." Yet the organization, which has made a name for itself by criticizing the use of taxpayer dollars by local and state governments, received its own $129,883 helping hand from the federal government,
Hardly. Taxpayer dollars shouldn't fund left-wing or right-wing propaganda. Pretty simple stuff.
— Idaho Freedom Foundation (@idahofreedom) November 30, 2020
In a post on the organization's Facebook page, the nonprofit refers to the issue as a fake controversy, with a statement from Hoffman reading, "the answer is obvious. The government shut down Idaho's economy, Idaho businesses, and therefore the donors who we depend on to generously support our work. Meanwhile, we also knew that pro-socialist groups would have no problem whatsoever accepting all the money they could from the government. We decided it only made sense to do the same. That's not our preference, of course, but the actions of the government left us little choice."
There has been no evidence that the federal government forced any organizations to receive the taxpayer-funded dollars and the Idaho Freedom Foundation applied for the money.
