Ethics Group Calls On Obama To Boycott National Prayer Breakfast

Calling it a recruitment tool for "the shadowy Fellowship Corporation," aka The Family, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington is calling on President Obama not to attend next month's National Prayer Breakfast.

The Fellowship, also known as “The Foundation” and “The Family,” is run by Doug Coe, a spiritual advisor to past government officials who uses the organization to push his unorthodox brand of Christianity within government circles. The Fellowship operates the infamous C Street House, a congressional residence and meeting place on Capitol Hill that has been a frequent haunt of some ethically challenged elected officials, including Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and former-Rep. and now-Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC). The organization operates under an intense veil of secrecy, staying largely out of the public eye and hiding its donors’ identities. The Fellowship has used its government clout to facilitate backdoor meetings between U.S. and foreign officials, improperly claimed tax exempt status for the C Street House, and has persuaded members of Congress, including Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) to conduct Fellowship-sanctioned evangelizing while traveling at taxpayer expense. Members of the Fellowship also have been involved with legislation in Uganda calling for the death penalty for gays.

RELATED: The president is coming under increasing criticism from the wingnut press because the Obamas have yet to begin attending any Washington DC church. Which is sort of a riot, because wingnut hero Ronald Reagan never attended church there in his eight years as president, other than the occasional official state event.