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The Department of Justice is facing scrutiny after it awarded grants that defied recommendations from outside reviewers of which non-profit organizations deserved its money for an anti-human trafficking effort.
The DOJ passed on two top tier grant applicants—Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach and Chicanos Por La Causa of Phoenix—in favor of two other organizations whose applications weren't recommended by the outside reviewers.
One of those two organizations?
Hookers for Jesus.
Hookers for Jesus is a Christian anti-sex trafficking safe house for women. The organization forbids secular magazines, limits the people its residents can call, and reportedly mandates Christian religious celebration.
Whistleblowers from the Justice Department brought the odd decision to award lower ranked organizations to the DOJ union's attention.
Hookers for Jesus presents a unique problem due to the mandated religious activities described in its manual. Federal funding can't be allocated for strictly religious ceremonies.
Annie Lobert, the founder of Hookers for Jesus, insisted that there are no mandatory religious celebrations.
"We are not going to discriminate towards anyone, but we are Christian. And there is an understanding before they come in here that we are Christian."
The other organization, The Lincoln Tubman Foundation, is a South Carolina non-profit that—according to Reuters—"was launched by the daughter of a prominent local Republican who supported President Donald Trump as a delegate at the 2016 convention and is close to South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott."
The grants awarded to the organization totaled more than a million dollars.
The allegations signalled further corruption from the Trump administration.
Your tax money goes to “Hookers for Jesus.” Why? Because the other groups competing for the DOJ grant didn’t suppor… https://t.co/b3Zp6ESx2V— Richard W. Painter (@Richard W. Painter) 1581426273.0
If you want to go beyond just laughing that “Hookers for Jesus” is trending, you can see that it’s actually quite s… https://t.co/sSCRlAJeXW— appropriately whelmed 🥑🧦🌹🔰 (@appropriately whelmed 🥑🧦🌹🔰) 1581377441.0
Not the Onion. And I’m less disturbed by the name Hookers for Jesus than I am by the fact that the organization is… https://t.co/3kF7QftEtf— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (she/her) (@Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (she/her)) 1581426997.0
I know “Hookers for Jesus” is a funny name and all that but can we please remember that sex work and human traffick… https://t.co/OO02KRxbj8— Pro-Intersectional Feminism (@Pro-Intersectional Feminism) 1581381753.0
Also, Hookers for Jesus is against decriminalizing sex work (which, ironically, would help decrease human trafficki… https://t.co/njBSVkE04c— Tris Mamone ⚧️ ☸️ (@Tris Mamone ⚧️ ☸️) 1581376698.0
$1 million in federal grants split between ‘Hookers for Jesus’ & another unqualified organization headed by former… https://t.co/Y1phpm3tZe— Alexandra Chalupa (@Alexandra Chalupa) 1581385555.0
Whistleblowers strike again.