Update: about 15 minutes after we published our latest article, Bob Moore sent us another email. We are updating the article throughout to include additional information that Moore provided in this article. We have clearly marked the changes. We are also publishing the second email below.
On Saturday we published an exposé on how Bob Moore, through El Paso Matters, acts as a political operative. Our report laid out a case for how Moore uses El Paso Matters to influence political outcomes by the news reports he publishes.
Although for several months Moore and his reporters have refused to comment on our stories, we received an email from Bob Moore late yesterday regarding Saturday’s story.
The email’s subject was “Falsehoods.”
Moore starts out his email with “your latest piece is replete with falsehoods, but I want to draw your attention to two complete falsehoods in particular.”
Although Moore writes that he is pointing out “two complete falsehoods in particular,” his only point of contention is who “owns” El Paso Matters.
Moore writes, “you state that [I] ‘hold myself out to be the owner of El Paso Matters,’ and the ‘true owner is the El Paso Community Foundation’.”
He then goes on to explain the legal framework for El Paso Matters.
He wrote, “El Paso Matters is a nonprofit corporation registered in the state of Texas, and recognized as a 501c3 nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service.” Moore added, “no one ‘owns’ El Paso Matters,” adding that “it is governed by a board of directors of community members.”
Moore than writes that “I have never held myself out to be the owner of El Paso Matters,” adding that “El Paso Community Foundation is not the ‘owner’ and has no relationship with El Paso Matters other than having donated money over the years and provided in-kind legal assistance when we incorporated and initially sought nonprofit status in 2019.”
To understand what Moore’s email is trying to obfuscate, it is important to separate legal jargon from the important issue of who is responsible for El Paso Matters. Ultimately it comes down to who decides what is published on El Paso Matters. In other words, who decides to allow the publication to influence political outcomes?
The answer to this lies in the nonprofits’ IRS Form 990, which is the equivalent of a federal tax return.
Controlled Entity
The IRS designated El Paso Matters as a Public Charity on April 16, 2020. The official designation is 509(a)(3).
The letter specifically states that El Paso Matters was determined to be “a Type I supporting organization.” The IRS letter goes on to state that “a Type I supporting organization is operated, supervised, or controlled by one or more publicly supported charities.” The operative words being “operated, supervised, or controlled.”
Although the IRS letter does not identify who the supporting organization is we can readily identify it by reviewing the latest El Paso Matters IRS Form 990 (tax return). The latest 990 Form posted on the IRS website is for 2022. It was filed by El Paso Matters on November 14, 2023.
As can be readily observed, El Paso Matters listed the El Paso Community Foundation as a related tax-exempt organization. Section (g) is marked “no,” means that according to the IRS, it is the El Paso Community Foundation that is the controlling entity.
We can further confirm this by reviewing the IRS Form 990 for the El Paso Community Foundation. We reviewed the latest report available on the IRS website, the 2021 report filed on October 25, 2022.
Although the report filed by the Foundation does not include the names of the 19 related entities, we confirmed that the EIN No: 83-4301968 is assigned to El Paso Matters. The first column lists the related entity, El Paso Matters. The second to the last column lists the “direct controlling entity,” in this case the El Paso Community Foundation.
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the “controlled entity” as defined by the IRS is the organizations that controls “more-than-50 percent” of El Paso Matters.
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Soon after we published this article, Bob Moore sent us a second email today. In it Moore writes that the IRS changed El Paso Matters type to 509(a)(1). As can be observed above, we had originally written that El Paso Matters was classified as a 509(a)(3). Moore included a copy of an IRS letter dated September 25, 2025, making the change. The update to the type allows El Paso Matters to operate independently, collecting donations and grants independently of the parent non-profit. (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
Taking Moore’s email at face value, the change in designation suggests that after September 25, 2025, El Paso Matters is no longer dependent on the Foundation for operating funds and can, instead, raise its own funds. However, any activities, specifically those that involve violations of the nonprofit status, which occurred before September 25, 2025, will fall to the El Paso Community Foundation because they were the controlling entity. (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
Nonetheless, El Paso Matters, as a nonprofit, continues to be prohibited from engaging in influencing political outcomes through its reporting. (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
Here is what Moore got wrong in his email attempting to correct our report.
Moore wrote that El Paso Matters is “recognized as a 501c3 nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service.” The actual designation for El Paso Matters, as per the April 16, 2020 IRS letter is a public charity 509(a)(3). Moore did not provide any documentation with his email to suggest otherwise. The public charity designation is important because unlike, a 501c3 that Moore tries to portray El Paso Matters as being, the public charity is beholden to the controlling non-profit – the El Paso Community Foundation.
Moore further tries to obfuscate the relationship between El Paso Matters and the El Paso Community Foundation by writing that the Foundation “has no relationship with El Paso Matters other than having donated money over the years and provided in-kind legal assistance when we incorporated and initially sought nonprofit status in 2019.”
The latest IRS filings by both entities available on the IRS website clearly contradict Moore’s statement of there being no relationship because El Paso Matters cannot standalone without the El Paso Community Foundation.
Either Moore is intentionally trying to hide the connection between the two or does not understand how El Paso Matters is structured and who controls it.
Most notably Moore chooses to focus on one small aspect of our report while labeling the rest of our report as full of “falsehoods” without bothering to show why they are false.
Why It Matters
Accepting the legalese that El Paso Matters is not “owned” by anyone does not address the important question of who is accountable to the community, donors and government. Board members and executives of non-profits are routinely investigated and jailed for crimes like theft, fraud, tax evasion and breach of fiduciary duty – which is failing to provide proper oversight of the nonprofit.
Although there are no “owners,” the people behind nonprofits are accountable for the actions of the nonprofit. Curiously, Moore’s email to us includes a signature badge at the bottom of the email that uses language that in normal parlance is often associated with a for-profit corporation instead of a non-profit. It often conveys ownership of a company.
As can be observed, the signature badge on Moore’s emails use the words “President & CEO.” A nonprofit normally uses the word Executive Director for the highest-ranking leader of the nonprofit. To be fair, in recent years it has become fashionable to use CEO instead of Executive Director for fundraising but combined with president it suggests ownership control. The president of a nonprofit is usually the head of the board of directors. Moore is on the Board of Directors for El Paso Matters, but not on the Board of Directors for the El Paso Community Foundation. This is notable when considering who the controlling entity for El Paso Matters is – the El Paso Community Foundation.
As observed, the IRS defines the “controlled entity” as the organization (including subsidiaries) that is related to the nonprofit that “are more-than-50 percent controlled by the organization,” in this case the Foundation.
The second part of Moore’s email today comes down to who makes the decision about what is published in El Paso Matters. Moore, in today’s email, argues that “no one decides what is published in El Paso Matters other than the editorial team in our newsroom.” (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
However, in a telephone recording between El Paso Matters reporter, Claudia Lorena Silva and Ricardo and Gabriella Castellano on March 22, 2024, she states that “I definitely need to talk to Bob, because obviously, in the end its really not my decision on what gets published because ultimately it is the editor’s decision.” During the telephone call, Silva confirmed that Moore is “my boss,” and “we don’t really want to relitigate some of the things that happened back with Molly’s reporting.” In essence, Silva is acknowledging that Moore is the gatekeeper to what gets published on Matters, even the articles that have been criticized for their lack of journalist standards over the years. (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
Moore ended his latest email with “if you have any evidence of El Paso Community Foundation being involved in editorial decisions, present it.” To be clear, our allegation is and continues to be that Moore acts as a political operative by controlling how and why El Paso Matters publishes certain articles. Prior to September 25, 2025, at least from the letter Moore provided us today, it was the El Paso Community Foundation that was responsible for any misuse of the nonprofit status of El Paso Matters. Now, at least at face value, it is El Paso Matters directly. (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
None of that negates the ample record we have compiled showing that Bob Moore operates as a political operative by abusing the nonprofit status of El Paso Matters. (updated-02/10/2026-14:40EST)
At the end of the day what readers should be asking themselves today is why, if our article is “replete with falsehoods,” did Moore choose to nitpick over the word “owner”? Could it be because what the rest of our article is arguing – that he is a political operative – which he did not directly challenge – is true, then the “ownership” status of El Paso Matters may attract unwanted federal scrutiny into the inner workings of the El Paso Community Foundation by the IRS or other investigative authority?
The Trump administration has “waged an unprecedented assault on the independence of universities, law firms, and nonprofit media,” by challenging nonprofits the administration perceives as violating their nonprofit status by being political in recent months.
Is this why Moore felt it necessary to separate El Paso Matters from the El Paso Community Foundation with his email to us?
Editor’s note:
The complete email sent by Bob Moore is below. It is reproduced as sent without any changes.
Subject: Falsehoods
Your latest piece is replete with falsehoods, but I want to draw your attention to two complete falsehoods in particular.
You state that “hold myself out to be the owner of El Paso Matters,” and the “true owner is the El Paso Community Foundation.”
El Paso Matters is a nonprofit corporation registered in the state of Texas, and recognized as a 501c3 nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service. No one “owns” El Paso Matters. It is governed by a board of directors of community members. I have never held myself out to be the owner of El Paso Matters. And El Paso Community Foundation is not the “owner” and has no relationship with El Paso Matters other than having donated money over the years and provided in-kind legal assistance when we incorporated and initially sought nonprofit status in 2019.
Second Email Today
(Update: 02/10/2026-14:40EST)
For transparency purposes we are publishing the email Bob Moore sent today, February 10, 2025, after we published this article. Below is the full content of the second email:
I know accuracy isn’t your forte, but the IRS changed our classification last year to 509(a)(1). I’m attaching the letter.
Also, you correctly state in your latest piece: “Ultimately it comes down to who decides what is published on El Paso Matters.” From the beginning, no one decides what is published in El Paso Matters other than the editorial team in our newsroom. Our bylaws even prohibit board members from involvement in editorial decisions. If you have any evidence of El Paso Community Foundation being involved in editorial decisions, present it.