Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy

HOAX WARNING RE: HARDING INSTITUTE FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

--- The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy proclaims that it is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that states on its website that it believes "in American ingenuity, a special role for America in the world, the manifest destiny of the American dream, and the importance of American leadership in the cause of freedom and liberty." The group's website states that it is headed by "M. Thomas Eisenstadt", who serves as a "Senior Fellow".

The domain name for the website was registered in early November 2007 by an internet registration company based in Pennsylvania, according to Joker.com. The website claims in a blog posting that the group's website predated this: "Due to a hard-drive crash, we've had to rebuild the website from scratch. Apologies to everyone who has contributed over the years, but sadly it may take some time to reconstruct the archives." However, there are no links that

As of June 2008, the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy is not listed with Guidestar.org as a U.S.-based 501(c)3 non-profit group.

In June 2008 blogger William K. Wolfum concluded that "M. Thomas Eisenstadt (who originally started a blog named www.michaeleisenstadt.com and was referred to as "Michael") was a hoax. As was his "think tank" called "The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy" (which seems to be a joke, being that Warren G. Harding is widely considered to be one of the worst Presidents in U.S. history)."

Funding
A blog posting from January 2008 states that funding from the Harding Family Trust will make it possible for the institute to move into a new office. However, there is no record of a "Harding Family Trust" in the Foundation Center database of funders.

Staff

 * M. Thomas Eisenstadt, Senior Fellow
 * Eli Perle, Associate Fellow
 * Stanley Rubin, Associate Fellow
 * Marwan Al Rahat, Associate Fellow

Advisory Board

 * Clifford Harding III
 * Pauline Harding
 * Paul Horowitz
 * Elliot Dundee
 * Josiah Bush
 * Hershel Smith
 * Lois L. Marshall
 * Erskine Carter

Contact
On its website the group provides no office or postal address or phone of fax numbers. It states that this is "for security reasons" and only provides an email and web address.

Email: info AT hardinginstitute.org Website: http://www.hardinginstitute.org

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Think tanks

External Articles

 * William K. Wolfrum, "Conservative blogger M. Thomas Eisenstadt is a hoax, fraud, an identity thief and perhaps more", Shakesville (Blog), June 4, 2008.
 * William K. Wolfrum, When Abrad2345 exited, M. Thomas Eisenstadt entered", Shakesville (Blog), June 10, 2008.
 * William K. Wolfrum, "Narcissist Abrad2345 releases newest video! As hoax “Martin” Eisenstadt", William K. Wolfrum (blog), June 27th, 2008.