Mormon-Owned Paper Slams '60 Minutes' Episode: 'CBS Needs Eyeballs'

CBS's 60 Minutes has come under fire from a publication owned by the Mormon Church after the show aired an interview with a whistleblower who alleges the church's financial arm tried to hide billions of dollars and abuse its tax-exempt status.

In the episode aired Sunday, David Nielsen, a former investment adviser for the church, accused the church's investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, of acting as "a clandestine hedge fund". It was the first time he had spoken publicly since telling federal regulators in 2019 that the fund amassed $100 billion intended for charitable purposes.

Nielson, who worked for the church for about 10 years, starting from 2009, was also able to provide accounting documents to substantiate his claims.

The church—officially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—has denied the allegations, and on Monday called 60 Minutes' latest episode "unfortunate."

Deseret News, which is ultimately owned by the church but says it is editorially independent, on Tuesday accused 60 Minutes of having "recycled" old complaints to raise questions that "already have rather banal answers."

"It's a plot twist seemingly too good to resist: a church which claims to care for the poor and follow Jesus [...] is secretly more interested in accumulating wealth and power," it reported, referencing historical media interest in the church's finances.

"And then there's Sunday's 60 minutes segment. The same themes play out. The church has money. It prefers not to disclose every dollar publicly. Ergo, something nefarious must be taking place."

It added: "Instead, insinuations were made that the IRS was somehow failing to act by not investigating the church out of fear of 'political' repercussions. The prospect that maybe, just maybe, the church could actually be fully compliant with IRS requirements for tax exemption was less interesting.

"Again, it's 'sweeps' season, and CBS needs eyeballs."

Sweeps season is when advertising rates for a network's schedule of shows are set, so networks aim to get the highest ratings possible.

The News questioned the legal merits of his allegations and suggested investigative programs might instead focus on the church's $1 billion humanitarian relief.

"Yet in a program taking up such a serious allegation, it was striking that the wide range of ways these funds are perpetually used by the church to fulfill its mission was never really explored at much length—nor were the legal merits of the whistleblower's claims examined with much scrutiny."

In February, the church agreed to pay $1 million and Ensign Peak $4 million under a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Axios.

The SEC accused church leaders of approving shell companies to file legally required public disclosures of investments to avoid a single filing showing its full holdings.

The Church of Latter-day Saints media relations manager, Sam Penrod, spoke to Newsweek and directed it to the Church's statement.

The statement shared with Newsweek read: "The Church believes in being financially responsible by carefully ensuring it has adequate resources available to fulfill its divinely appointed responsibilities.

"To Church members who support the work of salvation through living the gospel of Jesus Christ, caring for those in need, inviting all to receive the gospel and uniting families for eternity, we'll continue to move forward consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ which makes this world a better place.

"It's unfortunate 60 Minutes sought to elevate a story based on unfounded allegations by a former employee who has a different view on how the Church should manage its resources."

60 Minutes, the IRS and Deseret News have been contacted via email for comment.

Update 5/22/23, 4 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Church of Latter-day Saints.