National Troops Charity Claims Defamation by Indiana Veteran

The Wounded Warrior Project, a national nonprofit that supports health programs for former service members, has filed suit against an Indiana man who lambasted the group on the website of his own veterans nonprofit, writes the Indianapolis Star.

The complaint filed Thursday in federal court accuses Dean Graham, head of Help Indiana Vets, of defaming the Wounded Warrior Project. In posts on his group’s site Mr. Graham called the Jacksonville, Fla.-based charity “a fraud” that overpays administrators while ignoring veterans’ needs. Some conservative media blogs have picked up on his allegations.

The suit states that the Wounded Warrior Project directs its resources primarily toward physical-rehabilitation and mental-health services and also distributes clothes, toiletries, and other items to hospitalized veterans. The group raised nearly $124-million in 2011, of which it spent 83 percent on programs, according to the Better Business Bureau, which has accredited the charity.