Circle of Friends for American Veterans

Lobbying Hampton said he had "hosted more than 100 members of Congress across 196 veterans shelter-themed forums in 46 cities" in rallies for these non-profits. Political action By 2015, Hampton had established a sponsoring a veterans-focused political action committee Put Vets First PAC DBA Association for American Veterans and hired Outreach Calling to do the fundraising. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), by 2018, the PAC had contributed $2000 in 2015 and $2000 in 2016. From January to September 2017, no PACs or politicians had received any funds from Hampton. However, Outreach Calling had raised $1.5 million for the PAC, keeping $1.3 million. Hampton paid himself $75,000 from the PAC. ==Related entities==

The founder of COFAV, Brian A. Hampton, founded the Center for American Homeless Veterans, also known as the "Association for Homeless and Disabled Veterans", another 501(c)(4) charity operating from the same address. He founded Put Vets First, a PAC, also operating from the same address. Outreach Calling collects money for "homeless veterans," "breast cancer survivors", "disabled police officers", and "children with leukemia", among others. In 2012, "Outreach Calling collected $6,681 on behalf of the Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation from Massachusetts residents ... and turned over $668 to the charity, according to state records." ==Controversy==

In 2014, telemarketing company Civic Development Group (CDG) was required to pay "$18.8 million, the largest penalty ever imposed in a consumer protection case" by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). COFAV was one of the F-rated charities for which CDG conducted fundraising. CharityWatch In 2016, CharityWatch gave COFAV an F assessment on a scale of A+ to F as it did not meet transparency or governance standards, for example the COFAC had fewer than five voting members. As well, for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2015, only 11% of their calculated total expenses (c. $1,600,000) were spent on programs with 89% spent on overhead. Kleiner revealed that according to the 2015 Center for American Homeless Veterans' tax returns, "it provided just $200 in grants to other organizations out of $2.5 million in overall expenditures, the vast majority of which paid telemarketers." According to an October 24, 2018, article co-published by CPI, NBC News, Public Radio International (PRI) and the Buffalo News, a former Circle of Friends staffer, turned whistleblower, asked the "IRS to revoke not-for-profit status of the Circle of Friends for American Veterans and the Center for American Homeless Veterans" because "his former employer is bilking donors out of millions of dollars—money intended to help homeless veterans". In their October 4, 2018, response, the IRS noted that this could "take several years until final resolution of all tax matters." "Charity Navigator holds that reputable charities should spend at least 75 percent of expenses on programs." ==Office of the Attorney General of Virginia (2020)==

In March 2020, Brian Arthur Hampton's The Circle of Friends for American Veterans and the Center for American Homeless Veterans were shut down by the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia because of the veterans charities had "allegedly misused $13 million in donations." ==See also==