National Policy Forum

The National Policy Forum (NPF) was "founded in 1993 as a 'grassroots' think tank to develop a policy agenda through a series of 'town meetings,' i.e. policy forums, throughout thenation. The NPF was formed by Haley Barbour, then the recently elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), and others, and started with $100,000 in RNC 'seedmoney.' The NPF was structured as a nonprofit corporation under Section 501c4 of the Internal Revenue Code." 

Now defunct, the "organization is most infamous for its involvement in an RNC foreign fundraising scandal." 

Findings by the Committee on Governmental Affairs

 * 1) RNC Chairman Haley Barbour and the RNC intentionally solicited foreign money for the NPF.
 * 2) The NPF was an arm of the RNC and, as the Internal Revenue Service concluded, was not entitled to tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization under section 501c4 of the U.S. tax code.
 * 3) Barbour solicited Ambrous Young, a foreign national, and Young agreed to provide the collateral for a loan to NPF for the purpose of helping Republican candidates during the 1994 elections.
 * 4) The evidence before the Committee strongly supports the conclusion that Barbour and other RNC officials knew that the money used to collateralize the NPF loan came from Hong Kong. Barbour's testimony that he did not know about the foreign source of the loan collateral was not credible.
 * 5) As a result of NPF's default on the loan, the RNC improperly retained $800,000 in foreign money during the 1996 election cycle.

SourceWatch Resources

 * Alex Courtelis
 * John R. Bolton, President 1995-1996
 * S. Fred Singer
 * Young Brothers Development (Taipei, Taiwan)