Tea party rebuts Fox

The Cincinnati tea party is disputing allegations by Fox News that the organization tried to profit off of an event featuring cable network host Sean Hannity. Fox pulled Hannity from a Tax Day protest on Thursday amidst reports that the tea party group was raising money off of Hannity’s planned appearance. But the tea party activists say they never had any intention of cashing in on Hannity’s plan to broadcast from the rally, and that it charged for admission only to help offset the cost of the event. “No member of the Cincinnati Tea Party has personally profited from any event,” said Justin Binik-Thomas, a spokesman for the group in a statement. “The cost of tickets was designed to offset the cost of the event — we did not make a profit.” The spokesman said that the event cost roughly $60,000 and that more than $4,000 worth of tickets were given away. Binik-Thomas also estimated that more than 13,000 hours were volunteered by tea party activists to plan and staff the event. Additionally, the Cincinnati tea party only found out that Hannity was leaving, the spokesman said, through local media reports...more