Neil Bush blasts Republican’s criticism of father’s Points of Light Foundation

by Cameron Joseph - 09/17/14 10:19 AM ET

Former President George H.W. Bush (R) is backing businessman David Perdue (R) over Michelle Nunn (D), but his son Neil isn’t happy about an ad Perdue is running.

{mosads}Neil Bush, former President George W. Bush’s brother, blasted an ad Perdue’s campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee is running targeting the Points of Light foundation as “shameful” and “disrespectful.” The ads says “the foundation, once run by Nunn and now led by Neil Bush, gave money to organizations linked to terrorists.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Neil Bush, the chairman of the Points of Light Foundation, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It really makes my blood boil to think that someone would make that kind of an allegation, whether it’s an independent political group or a candidate for office.”

The description comes from a leaked memo from Nunn’s own campaign warning about potential attacks on her record, which Perdue’s campaign was quick to point out.

“Michelle Nunn’s own campaign plan highlights serious concerns about her group’s association with terrorist-linked organizations. The people of Georgia will have to decide if that’s whom they want to represent them in the U.S. Senate,” said Perdue spokeswoman Megan Whittemore.

The allegations center on work the organization, acting as an independent contractor, did for eBay. The work involved validating thousands of charities that could receive donations from eBay users. Through that service, more than $30,000 was donated to Islamic Relief USA, a group that operates independently from but has links to an international group accused of having ties to terrorist organizations including Hamas.

Bush knocked the criticisms.

“Neither Points of Light nor Michelle Nunn have had anything to do with funneling money from our organization to terrorists organizations. Anyone who makes that claim needs to understand the facts and then they need to denounce those claims. To attack an organization founded by my father, whose integrity is unimpeachable, to smear our organization for political gain, is in my opinion shameful,” he said.