Benny Hinn submits records in Senate probe: Three ministries continue to resist Grassley's request
After several weeks of delay, televangelist Benny Hinn has submitted a “significant amount” of financial material to a Senate committee that is investigating the finances of six prominent ministries.
Jill Gerber, a spokesperson for the Senate Finance Committee, said ranking Republican senator Charles Grassley of Iowa “and his staff will evaluate whether the material responds sufficiently but are encouraged by the demonstration of cooperation.”
Rusty Leonard, the founder of MinistryWatch, a North Carolina– based watchdog organization that advocates financial accountability of Christian ministries, welcomed Hinn’s cooperation.
“We were pleased to hear that Benny Hinn has come to his senses and agreed to cooperate with Senator Grassley,” Leonard said. “We hope that the other . . . uncooperative ministries will also reach the same conclusion that answering the senator’s very legitimate questions is their best option.”
Two other ministries—Joyce Meyer Ministries in Fenton, Missouri, and Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, Texas—have already provided materials, which were reviewed by Senate staff. While the former provided substantial information, Copeland’s submitted papers did not adequately answer the senator’s queries, Gerber said.
The other three ministries—those of Creflo Dollar, Paula and Randy White and Bishop Eddie Long—have yet to provide financial records. Grassley’s investigators continue to be in contact with these ministries. –Religion News Service
