A retired Navy SEAL told
Newsmax TV Wednesday co-called veterans charities are ripping off the generous American public.
Carl Higbie told "The Hard Line" host Ed Berliner the system is rife with problems.
"Veteran causes are actually the most abused causes out there of anything," Higbie said.
"They're used for employment farms, they're used to circumvent some way to just pad people's pockets and the reason being is because the American public is so supportive of our veteran network and our veteran causes that they're willing to give money in large checks to any organization that says they support veterans, regardless of what they do."
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Higbie was asked about J. Thomas Burch, the CEO and founder of the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation — which was given
a zero-star rating (out of four) by Charity Navigator. The group gave less than 2 percent, or $122,000, to veterans last year, records showed.
Burch, as it turns out, also works for the Department of Veterans Affairs as an attorney.
"This is the culture of the people of the VA right now," Higbie said. "There are some good men and women there, but there are a large number of people who are complete turds that are willing to rip off the American public for this crap.
"This guy is a complete disaster, PR thing not only for the VA but also for veterans' charities going nationwide. It is really a travesty because I cannot understand how in the world this guy has not been fired or prosecuted right now."
Higbie added, "there's no accountability whatsoever in the VA and we can't fire anybody because it's almost impossible."
Higbie said he's on the advisory board for Heartbeat for Warriors, which donated 92 percent of money raised to veterans last year.
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