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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Christian Coalition sued for unpaid bill January 20, 2006 The Christian Coalition goes to court today in Richmond, where the former powerhouse of the religious right faces a lawsuit filed by a Maryland moving company that says it was underpaid when it moved the group out of its Washington offices three years ago. Reese & Sons Enterprises of District Heights, which filed the lawsuit in Henrico County General District Court, says it gave the coalition a $4,580 estimate to move out of its office at 499 S. Capitol St. SW to a storage facility in Clinton, Md. But when packers and movers arrived on Thanksgiving weekend in 2002, they found more items waiting to be moved than they had seen during a preliminary visit, owner Ryland Reese said. The move, which ended up taking 271/2hours over three days, cost $6,470. Mr. Reese said he billed the group for only 191/2 hours because coalition President Roberta Combs promised to pay him in full. But when he tried to present Mrs. Combs with a revised bill later that night, she already had left for the coalition's new office in Charleston, S.C., he said. Two months later, Mr. Reese received a payment for $4,580 -- $1,890 less than the total bill. He said every time he tried to reach Mrs. Combs, her phone number had changed. Asked why he didn't retain the furniture as collateral, "I didn't think that was the right way to treat them," Mr. Reese said, "with them being the Christian organization they were." He is suing for the balance. "There's no apparent reason for them to dispute this bill," said Mr. Reese's lawyer, Jonathon Moseley. "In their mind, an estimate is a fixed price." Coalition spokeswoman Michele Combs, Mrs. Combs' daughter, said the Reese lawsuit was in dispute. "They've been paid the full amount," she said. The coalition once drew thousands of people to its biennial "Road to Victory" religio-political conferences in the District. One thousand people attended its September 2004 conference but its founder, the Rev. Pat Robertson, skipped the event. On its 2004 tax return, the coalition listed a $2.2 million debt. Several creditors are still pursuing the group. Its former law firm, Huff, Poole & Mahoney of Virginia Beach, is trying to recover $75,530 in legal services. It secured a partial $21,135 payment from a Virginia judge, but its efforts to obtain the balance were rebuffed Nov. 8 by a Charleston County, S.C., civil court. And in Tarrant County, Texas, the coalition's former direct-mail firm, Global Direct, is suing the group for $86,602 in unpaid fees. A trial is set for June 12, according to the Tarrant County Court Clerk's office. Still, Michele Combs says, "All these cases have been settled and worked out." ************************** Not the first time for unpaid bills: Christian Coalition Sued The Christian Coalition is having a spat with a vendor over unpaid bills. That could be a bad sign for an advocacy group that was once one of the most potent and well-funded forces in conservative politics. Mailing giant Pitney Bowes is suing the Christian Coalition to recover unpaid postage fees. The firm, which provides postage meters and other services, says that from September 1999 to June 2003, the organization ran up $13,643.44 in charges that it now refuses to pay. When political organizations stop or miss payments for utilitarian necessities such as rent and mail vendors, it sometimes is an indication of deeper trouble with their finances. A lawyer for the Christian Coalition, Brad Weiss, dismissed such speculation. "It is not unusual for many organizations, both profit and nonprofit, to have disputes with suppliers," he said, adding: "I have no idea what would make this noteworthy." A lawyer for Pitney Bowes declined to comment on the matter, saying it is being litigated. The coalition, which made a name for itself in the 1980s with its successful direct-mail solicitation program, disputed the company's complaints in documents filed last month in a South Carolina court. **************************** http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041202-111826-4444r.htm A Christian Coalition of America ex-official's lawsuit for $123,500 in unpaid compensation has put nepotism of the coalition's president and the acrimonious divorce of her daughter center stage in Virginia courts. ********************** Mr. Robertson tapped Mrs. Combs as executive vice president in 2001. She was Mr. Robertson's South Carolina campaign chairman when he ran for president in 1988 and headed the state's Christian Coalition affiliate in Charleston. Mr. Robertson stepped down as coalition president and turned over control to Mrs. Combs in February 2002 as the organization settled a racial-discrimination lawsuit brought by 10 black employees in the Washington office. That claim was settled with an out-of-court payment of some $300,000 to the employees. With legal costs, the coalition's insurance company paid out close to $1 million, participants in the case said.
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And more: http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=67786&ran=147201 Law firm takes action to get Christian Coalition to pay bills By JON FRANK, The Virginian-Pilot © March 20, 2004 | Last updated 11:36 PM Mar. 19 VIRGINIA BEACH — A local law firm has asked a judge to garnishee the assets of the Christian Coalition of America to collect more than $75,000 in unpaid legal costs. The order asks that $75,530.96 be paid by June 25 to the Virginia Beach law firm of Huff, Poole and Mahoney. The amount comes from $63,958.44 in unpaid bills, along with $11,512.52 in interest and $60 for garnishment costs. David M. Zobel, an attorney with Huff, Poole and Mahoney, said the fees were from “a combination of several accounts owed on several files.” “It is unfortunate that it has come to this,” said Drew McKissick , spokesman for the Christian Coalition of America. “Our accountants have been working with the firm to work this out, and hopefully it will be worked out soon.” ******** The coalition reached its zenith in 1994, when it was credited with playing a key role in the Newt Gingrich-led Republican Party’s takeover of Congress. But three years later, the coalition’s executive director, Ralph Reed, resigned. Reed, now a private political consultant recently hired by the GOP to run President Bush’s re-election campaign in Florida, had been a staple on national television talk shows such as CNN’s “Crossfire” and ABC’s “This Week.” ************* Considering Reed ran Bush re-election campaign the likelihood of Bush not knowing Abramoff is very slim.
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