The following letter was sent today to Chrysler Group President and CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche by Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center:

The purpose of this letter is two-fold. We ask that remarks attributed to DaimlerChrysler senior vice president Frank Fountain be withdrawn, and that DaimlerChrysler cease financial support for Jesse Jackson and his organizations.

According to CNSNews.com, Fountain stated during Jackson’s Wall Street Conference last week, “Most of [Jackson’s] critics are conservatives. They have a rather myopic view of the world.”

Even more surprising, Fountain allegedly stated, “From my fairly close knowledge of [Jackson’s] operation, they are one of integrity and beyond reproach.”

Fountain may have a myopic view of Jesse Jackson. I have enclosed a copy of a formal Complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on February 28, 2001 against the Citizenship Education Fund (CEF), which organized the Wall Street Conference. It alleges that Jesse Jackson, his family and friends have personally enriched themselves through the operation of a nonprofit organization.

The Complaint is pending. Jackson implicitly acknowledged the validity of at least one count of the Complaint when he amended CEF’s tax returns.

I am happy to report that another foreign carmaker, Toyota, has ceased support for Jackson in apparent response to a similar request I made last year.

In 2002, Toyota was a very visible sponsor of the Wall Street Conference. A Toyota executive gave a keynote speech. Toyota became the target of my criticism in op-eds that were published in newspapers all over the country and in numerous television and radio interviews.

Personal events in 2001 have greatly reduced Jackson’s moral authority as a “civil rights leader” and member of the clergy.

At a September 13, 2002 rally in Washington, DC, Jackson claimed that President Bush wants to “rule the world.”

In a September 16, 2002, speech at Michigan State University, Jackson was dismissive of the Founding Fathers and asserted that American democracy was only 37 years old, not 200-plus. Jackson stated that “democracy as we know it did not begin in Philadelphia, where a bunch of white men wrote the laws.” Jackson identified the advent of American democracy as 1965 when the Voting Rights Act passed.
 
Fountain reportedly confirmed that DaimlerChrysler had paid a “six-figure sum” to sponsor the Wall Street Conference.  Your support for Jackson is inappropriate given his most recent anti-American statements and his long-standing anti-semitism .

I can assure you that political conservatives, who include your shareholders, business partners, employees and customers, are being made aware of Fountain’s deliberate and gratuitous attack on them. I strongly urge you to fulfill my two requests without delay.

Headquartered near Washington, DC, NLPC is a foundation supporting ethics and accountability in government. www.nlpc.com