Before he was convicted for his role in Tom Petters' $3.6 billion Ponzi scheme Frank Vennes Jr. served on the board of Minnesota Teen Challenge (now, Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge). This is how the late Karl Bremer summarized the role MNTC played in Mr. Vennes' quest for a presidention pardon in Part 3 of "Lawyers Guns & Money The Twisted Trail of the Frank Vennes Jr. Presidential Pardon":
In 2009, Senator Amy Klobuchar, who at a recent town hall meeting rejected taxpayers helping reducing the debt burden on college students, sought* an earmark for $500K for MNTC. Controversy swirled around this earmark because, besides the connection to the Frank Vennes Jr. scam, Teen Challenge had a history of controversy regarding it's claims that Halloween, Metallica, Pokemon and Harry Potter are gateways to satanism and addiction.Bachmann and Pawlenty—both of whom are running for president—and Coleman have refused repeatedly to respond to inquiries from myself about Frank Vennes Jr. But one common thread connects them—and former President George W. Bush—to the convicted money launderer: the controversial faith-based drug/alcohol rehab ministry Teen Challenge.
Teen Challenge also has a history of "praying away the gay":
The LGBT Community needs to watch out for programs like Teen Challenge and remember that it a massive organization with over 223 centers in North America with the capacity to sleep over 7,536 people, according to its website.Programs like this negatively impact a high number of gay youth. I can state from firsthand experience that Teen Challenge did some long-term damage to my self esteem.
MNTC itself, has associated itself with gay conversionist Janet Boynes as well as culture warriors Marcus and Michele Bachmann. MN Senator Scott Dibble (from the Uptake):
MNTC continues to this day to be a haven for right-wing culture warriors as evidenced by a recent fundraising gala in Minneapolis attended by several prominent right-wing Republicans and one prominent Democrat - Senator Amy Klobuchar. There is a cache of photos taken at the May 4, 2018 event at Flickr. Including photos, like this one of Senator Klobuchar giving a speech and others showing Senator Klobuchar sticking around for the meal:
Also at the gala were Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, Assistant Majority Leader. Senator Warren Limmer. Former Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek and others including the former lobbyist for Frank Vennes Jr. Judge Jamie Anderson profiled in this article by Andy Birkey.
Reporters need to ask Presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar about her $500K earmark for MNTC in light of her denial of aid to debt-burdened students. They need to ask her why she attended this 2018 fundraiser and other fundraisers in the past (see below screenshot) for this bizarre, right-wing, culture-warring, fraud-friendly ministry.
See also: Amy Klobuchar & Frank Vennes Jr.
UPDATE: Klobuchar also appeared at the 2019 MNTC Gala by video. Marcus Bachmann was in the audience. Marcus Bachmann was recently in the news (WaPo):
Genna Gazelka, 30, who uses the pronoun “they” and now identifies as bi-gender, recalled being sent to a therapist who decried same-sex relations. The therapist was Marcus Bachmann, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, a fiery conservative Christian who ran for president in 2012Genna Gazelka's father is Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka. Paul Gazelka gave a speech at the MNTC gala this year and tweeted about it.
There is no videos or audio available for Klobuchar's 2018 & 2019 speeches, but this video titled "Senator Klobuchar Praise of MN Teen Challege" is on You Tube:
*There is a question about whether MNTC received the money. There is no doubt that Klobuchar requested the earmark as reported in The Intercept and it is certain the money was granted according to this link.
