- Morans Musk and Flynn:
A century-old Omaha nonprofit that receives federal funding to provide substance abuse and mental health services found itself caught up in a political firestorm when a Trump administration official amplified claims, without evidence, that it was engaged in money laundering.
“It’s been a little bit of a hectic 24 hours,” said Chris Tonniges, president and CEO of Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska.
Michael Flynn, who briefly served as national security advisor to President Donald Trump during his first term in office, first made the unfounded allegation on social media Saturday.
Flynn shared images of millions in payments made to Lutheran Family Services affiliates across the country, including $3.3 million to Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, suggesting they amounted to “money laundering.”
The allegation was then amplified when Flynn’s post was reshared by Elon Musk, the businessman who is leading Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
“The @DOGE team is rapidly shutting down these illegal payments,” Musk wrote.
Tonniges was not familiar with the payments listed but said they were most likely for substance abuse, mental health and behavioral health services — the only services for which his agency receives direct payments from the federal government.
The charity also receives indirect funding through its national parent organization to help resettle and assist refugees and other immigrants who are in the country legally. And it receives funding from the State of Nebraska and other local agencies to provide family services, including foster care and the facilitation of adoptions.
The posts on X by Flynn and Musk led to negative calls that were “disheartening and disappointing, to say the least,” Tonniges said.
It also produced calls from supporters who questioned whether Flynn and Musk understood Lutheran Family Services and the assistance it provides for those in need.
The most “heartbreaking” calls, Tonniges said, were from clients currently being helped by the agency who worried that its funding was about to get cut off by the Trump administration. One mother of a child receiving therapy services said she was concerned that the nonprofit would no longer be there for her son. Tonniges offered her assurances services would continue.
Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska was first founded 133 years ago by two Lutheran pastors to operate orphanages in Omaha and Fremont. It later moved into adoption, foster care and a variety of other family services.
Tonniges said all the funding the nonprofit receives is public information through government agencies and its annual federal nonprofit disclosure form, and it’s also audited.
But it received enough calls by Monday that it felt the need to respond publicly to the allegations.
“So, we strongly encourage Gen. Flynn and Mr. Musk to visit us to learn more,” the nonprofit said in a press release. “Learn about who we serve, and how we transform federal grant funding into children, families and lives saved.”
Omaha nonprofit caught up in political storm after Trump administration allegations
A century-old Omaha nonprofit that receives federal funding found itself caught up in a political firestorm when Elon Musk amplified claims, without evidence, that it was engaged in money laundering.
