Former Thomas More College Board Member Joe Monaghan Speaks About Mismanagement and Investigation of Abuse of Columnist Robert Novak 's Minority Scholarship Program by University President Jeffrey O. Nelson.

By Don Eminizer – April 8, 2009. While every conservative under the sun cries scandal and assaults an Administration and Congress that's finally trying to fix the mess they created, it seems a scandal has been hidden at a small Northeastern School involving many of the Conservative brain trust. When conservative columnist and political commentator Robert Novak wanted to launch a scholarship at Thomas More college in New England, he was warned by school board member Joe Monaghan that his intentions to help an inner city youth get a higher education might be stymied. Monaghan stated that college President Jeffery O. Nelson, son-in-law of Russell Kirk, founder of the conservative movement, hadn't been forthright in the school's fiduciary management. Nelson's negligent acts, such as taking an unapproved loan and missing payroll while at the same time hiring relatives, were even reported to Mike Delucia, Assistant AG in charge of charitable trusts in New Hampshire, though he has largely ignored the case.

A loan issued by Digital Credit Union is particularly jarring. When taken, Nelson was months overdue on the school's budget. Board member Richard Heitmiller, since resigned, declared there'd been enough “stonewalling” and demanded action. When pushed on the reasoning for the loan that caused 5 members to resign, Nelson issued a statement directing members to sign a “Consent to Action Without Meeting” refusing to give justification, even increasing it from $800,000 to $1,000,000 2 months after the loan had already been issued using future tuition revenues and  assets as collateral. Before gaining consent to take the loan, he took it and raised the amount he'd asked for the authority to take.

Hearing this, Novak wrote Nelson:

“In our conversation, [Monaghan] described your management as “dishonest”... ” He  informed me that you had added $1.5 million to the payroll without funding it, partly to pay for two of your in-laws hired by the college. Therefore, I must at least temporarily put in abeyance my commitment for what for me would be a substantial commitment of $100,000...”

Novak was urged to contact several board members, including a former Cardinal of NY, Egan, who had resigned months earlier along with 4 other board members. However, according to an anonymous source close to the college, by the summer of 2008 the school started missing payroll until Novak finally relented and donated the $100,000 for the Scholarship. In an email from Terry Knowles, the registrar of non profit trusts for the Attorney General’s Office of NH, to an alumni in Dec 2008, it was noted that the AG’s office had opened an investigation into the finances of the College.

By Fall the school’s auditor, O'brien, Riley and Ryan of Westwood MA. refused to certify its audit. Despite taking more loans, including $400,000 at 16% interest, the college again missed payroll by December, 2008.

When asked why he thought Novak went through with the scholarship, Monaghan stated “...because Jeff Nelson markets himself as a Conservative powerhouse who can cause problems for fellow conservatives within the movement. Mr. Novak has an excellent conservative mind and makes his living from conservatives. Nelson trumpets his sway as a scion within the conservative movement as the editor of the “Conservative Encyclopedia” and in his capacity as the late Russell Kirk’s son in law. According to Monaghan, “ideologues like Jeff Nelson, and his enablers, believe that truth is second to their aims.”

More on this breaking news report is available here