Idaho Falls billionaire Frank VanderSloot has become a target of the left since the news early this month that he gave $1 million to the Super PAC backing Mitt Romney.

Late Tuesday, he replied with a 1,750-word statement, which reviews attacks made on him in national media in recent days. Vandersloot also has posted his response online.

"We can disagree on issues and argue those issues in honest and open debate," VanderSloot writes. "You can count on us to not smear or attack the messenger. We will defend their right to disagree. But we do ask even those who disagree with us to tell the truth about who we are and what we do. We will continue to ask that of people. That is not going to change."

On Monday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow likened the Melaleuca Inc. founder to a 19th-century copper baron greedy for power. Maddow's 8-minute commentary relied heavily on last week's commentary by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com.

Greenwald wrote that VanderSloot employed "thuggish" legal tactics to silence gay-friendly journalists. Greenwald recently keynoted an ACLU of Idaho banquet and met with Boise blogger Jody May-Chang, among those Greenwald said VanderSloot attempted to bully.

VanderSloot provided the Idaho Statesman a copy of the 1,750-word statement he prepared for Salon.com in response to Greenwald.

VanderSloot's full statement follows:

Since I seem to be the main topic of this "story," I fully expect my comments here will be twisted and mocked, because there are some who want to believe that people who have been successful in business or who disagree with them are evil or should be made out to appear evil. I am compelled to at least give you some facts.

ON BEING A "BILLIONAIRE" — I fear my financial status has been greatly exaggerated. I do own a majority interest in Melaleuca, a company we started 26 years ago. The company has done well. Some analysts have suggested that I could sell my share of the company for a lot of money. It’s hard to know how much. The problem is I would have to sell the company before I would ever see the cash. I'm not selling, so I will never be cash-rich. But that was never the intent.

That said, I'm paid a good salary and receive bonuses and residuals that are beyond what I deserve. In my youth, my family was poor, but we learned we didn't need money to be happy. My father taught us to love manual labor. I grew up milking cows by hand and chopping wood for my mother’s cook stove.

I never anticipated being wealthy. I never imagined it. I never desired it and I never even considered it as a possibility. But our little business has prospered and I have really enjoyed my business experience.

The hardworking folks who have joined us have prospered with us. I am a strong advocate of the free enterprise system. Only in America could someone start out where I started and receive the kinds of opportunities I've had.

MY POLITICAL LEANINGS — I don’t consider myself either a Republican or Democrat. I'm quite conservative on most social and economic issues. And I'm pretty liberal on most environmental issues.

MELALEUCA'S BUSINESS MODEL — It’s unfortunate that someone would suggest that Melaleuca is something like Amway. It's not. We started Melaleuca 26 years ago to market environmentally responsible products and to provide a business opportunity for folks who weren't successful in climbing the corporate ladder and didn't inherit wealth from their parents. We try to be champions of the little guy. My father was a little guy. And I still see myself as a little guy.

Contrary to those who do not know us, our business model is nothing like Amway or Herbalife. I challenge anyone to find any similarity whatsoever. There is no investment of any kind unless you want to call a $29 membership fee an "investment." And anyone can get a refund on that by just asking.

We do offer a home-based business opportunity. But it is no "pyramid scheme." We have long been critical of the many MLM/pyramid schemes operating in this country. I agree with those who say that typical MLM companies destroy people’s finances. Most are designed to attract people to "invest" in large purchases with the promise of "getting rich" quickly by getting others to invest. The guy at the top always wins and the guy on the bottom always loses.

In Melaleuca's case there is no investment and no getting others to invest. We do pay commissions to those who have referred customers based on what those customers purchase. There is really no way to lose money on referring customers. And there's no way for customers to lose either when they're buying high-quality products at grocery store prices. Customers just order the products they use every month directly from the factory. We have hundreds of thousands of customers who buy from us each month. They don't ever resell anything. They don't invest in any inventory. There can be no pyramiding without some kind of investment. In 26 years, no one has ever complained that they lost money. It’s simply not possible.

Our business model works pretty well for most folks. We have already paid over $2.9 billion in commissions to households across the country. Our mission is to enhance lives by helping people reach their goals regardless of their beliefs, backgrounds, or affiliations. Last month we sent out almost 200,000 checks to American households alone. Members of those households tell us we are doing a pretty good job achieving that mission.

ON GAY RIGHTS — I have many gay friends whom I love and respect. And I believe they love and respect me. I am very close to some of these very good people. Our company has thousands of gay customers, independent marketing executives, and employees. I believe they feel welcome and valued. I believe that people deserve freedom, respect, and privacy in their own lives. I believe that gay people should have the same freedoms and rights as any other individual.

WE NEVER OUTED A GAY PERSON — Among other false rumors, the idea that we outed Peter Zuckerman is absolutely false. I believe if someone were gay and did not want to disclose that, they should absolutely have the right to their own privacy. If anyone were to "out" a gay person against his will, I think that would be an extremely hurtful and wrong action. But, in the case of Peter Zuckerman, that is hardly what happened. For whatever reason, Peter had erred in his articles about the Boy Scouts by unfairly inferring that several innocent people were responsible for unknowingly aiding and abetting a pedophile. The people who knew the facts knew that the articles were inaccurate and sensationalized.

It was public knowledge that Peter Zuckerman was gay. He had never kept that a secret. He had published the fact that he was gay on a website for the entire world to see. The Trish and Holly Show on local radio had been abuzz for several weeks talking about Peter’s sexual orientation and accusing Peter of bias against the Boy Scouts because the Scouts did not allow gay people to be Scout leaders.

But I felt Trish and Holly had been unfair in suggesting that was his motivation to write about the Scouts in a negative light. Contrary to what Glenn Greenwald suggests, we defended Peter Zuckerman and his motives. Anyone would have to intentionally twist the truth into a pretzel in order to suggest we either outed Peter or bashed him for being gay. We did the opposite. (See www.communitypagenews.com)

DEFENDING THE TRUTH — I am a strong advocate of freedom of speech, but I do not believe people have the right to accuse someone of having done something they never did, especially if it will harm them or others. Greenwald's article accuses Melaleuca of using unwarranted, strong-arm bully tactics to thwart criticism of itself. He quotes what others have wrongfully said about us and then taunts us to do something about the fact that he repeats it. He admits they changed what they originally said about us after they learned the facts, but he repeats what they originally said as opposed to their corrected
statement.

Greenwald is clearly a very bright man. I suspect he knows exactly what he is doing in repeating the original false allegations – and I suspect he believes that his motives are pure or at least vindicated by his intended end result. But we make no apology for rising to defend our reputation when we are wrongly accused!

Years ago, when our detractors first began circulating untrue rumors about us, we chose to look the other way. Even when those accusations were made in the press, we chose to not take issue with them because it was simply not worth the fight. We felt that acting in a way to be worthy of a good reputation would prove our detractors wrong. At first we were right. And then we were wrong!

We learned when inaccurate information finds a home on the Internet, if it is not refuted it can be used 10 years later as a reference point by some well-meaning reporter. And then you will have two references to the same inaccurate information. Later, a third reporter can pick up the first two references and use them as sources. And soon, if not addressed, inaccurate information can easily become irrefutable "fact" by the public or the press. As a result, we have learned we need to ask that incorrect information about us be corrected by its source before it gets quoted by others. Prior to sending a letter, we always try to reach the author by phone. Credible authors are almost always willing to have a meaningful discussion about the accuracy of their articles and are anxious to correct inaccuracies. Those with an agenda are not always as anxious. Sometimes they avoid contact, and sometimes they hide behind false identities. Nevertheless, even when it appears the author has an
agenda, we first try a friendly approach. Only when it is evident that the author could care less about the truth and is intent on doing damage for the sake of doing damage, do we raise the possibility of legal action. Sometimes, when there is no urgency, we are extremely patient. At other times when delays can cause us irreparable damage, we are less patient.

In the case of any company, many livelihoods are at stake. Melaleuca employs over 3,000 people worldwide. And thousands more rely on us to send them a check in support of their independent businesses each month. Damage to Melaleuca results in damage to their lives also. When we defend our company, we are also defending them and their income. We agree that we need to do that fairly and responsibly. But it is simply unfair to accuse us of bullying people into submission.

We feel we should be held accountable when we make mistakes. We are not perfect, but we feel we are pretty good at admitting mistakes and correcting them when they are brought to our attention. But we make no apology for asking people to tell the truth about us and our business. A good reputation is anyone's most precious asset. We promise to listen to folks when they have a legitimate issue with our actions. We promise to try to find an amicable remedy.

We can disagree on issues and argue those issues in honest and open debate. You can count on us to not smear or attack the messenger. We will defend their right to disagree. But we do ask even those who disagree with us to tell the truth about who we are and what we do. We will continue to ask that of people. That is not going to change.

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