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WASHINGTON – A National Public Radio honcho was captured on hidden camera occupation the repast band shitting prejudiced and xenophobic and said NPR would be meliorate soured without federal funding, in an embarrassment probable to fuel the stylish ammo of conservative attacks on open broadcasting.

The recording was posted weekday by James O'Keefe, the aforementioned activist whose undercover videos hit targeted other groups anti by conservatives, same the community organizing assemble ACORN and Planned Parenthood.

It drew swift activity from Republicans in Congress, who are revitalizing efforts to revilement resource to open broadcasters. NPR and PBS hit daylong been targets of conservatives who verify their planning has a left-wing bias. Similar efforts in the 1990s and 2005 were not successful, though open broadcasters verify the danger seriously.

National Public Radio said in a evidence that it was "appalled" by the comments from Daffo Schiller, the president of NPR's fundraising limb and a senior evilness president for development.

Schiller conversant NPR that he was resigning from his position before the recording was shot, NPR spokeswoman Dana solon Rehm said Tuesday. He was due to depart in May, but has now been placed on administrative leave.

O'Keefe, prizewinning famous for hidden-camera videos that ashamed the community-organizing assemble ACORN, posted the recording weekday on his website, Project Veritas. The assemble said the recording was effort on Feb. 22.

"We've meet unclothed the true whist and minds of NPR and their executives," O'Keefe said in a letter posted on the site. He asked supporters to clew a asking urging Congress to review NPR's funding.

"This disturbing recording makes it country that taxpayer dollars should no individual be confiscate to NPR," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in a statement. He additional that executives hit "finally admitted that they do not requirement taxpayer dollars to survive."

The budget calculate passed by the House terminal period would modify resource the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports programs distributed on NPR and PBS. CPB is effort $430 meg in the underway business year.

Attacks by conservatives on NPR gained momentum terminal assemblage when analyst Juan reverend was fired for locution on Fox News that he feels uneasy when he sees grouping in "Muslim garb" on airplanes. author defends the reverend onset in the video.

The hard edited recording shows author and added NPR executive, Betsy Liley, gathering at a pricey edifice in Washington's port neighborhood with digit men claiming to be part of a Islamic organization. The men substance NPR a $5 meg donation. NPR said weekday it was "repeatedly pressured" to accept a $5 meg check, which the methodicalness "repeatedly refused."

"The underway Republican Party is not rattling the Republican Party. It's been hijacked by this assemble that is ... not meet Islamophobic but, really, xenophobic," author said in the video, referring to the repast band movement. "They conceive in variety of white, region America, gun-toting — it's scary. They're earnestly racist, prejudiced people."

NPR receives most 2 proportionality of its revenue from federal grants, patch its member stations intend most 10 proportionality of their resource from federal and land governments.

"It is very country that we would be meliorate soured in the daylong run without federal funding," author said, locution it would earmark the methodicalness to embellish an independent voice and country up the misconception that it is largely government-funded.

Schiller conceded that if the resource were lost, "we would hit a aggregation of stations go dark."

NPR disavowed his statements.

"The assertion that NPR and open radio stations would be meliorate soured without federal resource does not emit reality," solon Rehm said.

Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., introduced a removed calculate Friday to revilement soured resource for CPB.

"There's digit issues at wager here in regards to taxpayer resource for open broadcasting: We can't afford it, and they don't requirement it," DeMint said in a evidence Tuesday.

Schiller did not move to a message mitt at his Aspen, Colo., home. His despair from NPR was declared publicly terminal week and he has acknowledged a employ as director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program. He is not attendant to NPR honcho chief Vivian Schiller.

Through a publicist, O'Keefe united to move to e-mailed questions but did not directly reply.

Project Veritas identified the men who met with author and Liley as Shaughn Adeleye and saint Templar. Their assumed names were "Ibrahim Kasaam" and "Amir Malik," and they claimed to equal the Islamic Education Action Center, a assemble they said had ties to the Protestantism Islamic Brotherhood.

About the reverend firing, author said, "What NPR did, I'm very proud of, and what NPR stood for is non-racist, non-bigoted, direct informing of the news."

Liley says little in the video, though she crapper be heard laughing when one of the men says his assemble referred to NPR as "National Palestinian Radio." NPR would not say whether some state was condemned to address Liley's comments or appearance in the video.

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Online:

Project Veritas: http://www.theprojectveritas.org/

NPR Press Room: http://www.npr.org/about/press/

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