By Daniel Bissell | Restoration News
In January 2023, the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) Superintendent Joanna Nunan received a complaint from far-left, anti-Christian activist Mikey Weinstein.
As previously reported by Restoration News, Nunan gave in to the radical’s demands.
Newly obtained shocking documents reveal Nunan had a 70-year-old heritage asset, the painting Christ on the Water, reduced in size and moved to a damp, moldy basement that floods—at taxpayer expense.
President Trump recently issued an executive order stating his administration will “not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians.”
The directive also states the administration will “ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”
It’s clear that Christians have been unfairly targeted, and these actions must be investigated.
Nunan relegated Christ on the Water to the basement but allowed other religious and LGBT displays to remain in prominent locations on campus.
A large LGBT mural was in a heavily travelled corridor that midshipmen were forced to view regularly.
LGBT display remained in place while Christ on the Water was altered and moved
Most of the documents obtained by Restoration News were heavily redacted by the Maritime Administration, but we were still able to piece together what transpired. Biden Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg was included in some of the conversations.
After Weinstein complained to the woke superintendent, she got to work to satisfy him. After she placed a shower curtain over the painting, outrage ensued and a congressional inquiry was opened.
The House Armed Services Committee and several senators demanded answers—but never got any. Nunan was never held accountable.
Emails revealed a plan to try to resolve the curtain situation by moving the painting to the Chapel, but there were no walls large enough.
A suggestion from a faculty member, Dr. Joshua Smith, was to reduce the size of the painting. He reveals a desire to find a solution “because the issue is becoming a bit growly on campus.”
The bid request for the job to move the painting reveals the painting’s dimensions were to be reduced by folding over the canvas both vertically and horizontally if needed.
Since the size was reduced by 20 inches, the beautiful historic frame was not used.
The restoration company acknowledged the new space floods.
They reduced the size of the painting so it wouldn’t touch the wet floor. Yet they shared concerns about the future impact of humidity on the painting.
Part of the artist’s signature was also folded over. Taxpayers were charged $63,379.
Before:
After:
Emails also reveal a moisture problem in the basement where the painting was installed—it’s prone to flooding.
Restoration News was told by an academy insider that a cheap, used dehumidifier was placed across from the painting as the solution (pictured below).
The historic painting was moved from a prominent building on campus to a moisture ridden basement next to the toilets.
What’s the Military Religious Freedom Foundation?
Mikey Weinstein, the man outraged over the painting, runs the so-called Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
Rather than advocating for religious freedom, he wants to obliterate Christianity from the public square. Weinstein calls those who believe in Jesus “Christian nationalists.”
Emails reveal a cozy relationship between Weinstein and Nunan. He communicates with her frequently, sharing personal emails he receives about the painting.
Weinstein wants to eradicate Christianity from public view.
In 2021, he threatened to sue a town over an Eagle Scout’s project honoring fallen soldiers. Using private, donated funds, 16-year-old Michael Carlson lovingly built a veteran’s memorial in his Colorado town. The monument was placed on a plot of land purchased by Carlson’s family. It depicted a cross and inscription that read:
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American soldier. One died for your soul, the other died for your freedom. We honor those who made freedom a reality.
That engraving enraged Weinstein who called Carlson’s project a “wretched, unconstitutional dumpster fire” and threatened to sue the town.
MRFF claimed it violated the Establishment Clause, but the First Liberty Institute quickly jumped in to defend the town and Carlson. The anti-Christian zealot Weinstein backed down.
MRFF was outraged when a newly installed Space Force leader used a Bible for his swearing-in ceremony. Weinstein said he,
“condemns, in as full-throated a manner as is humanly possible, the shocking and repulsive display of only the most vile, exclusivist, fundamentalist Christian supremacy, dominance, triumphalism and exceptionalism.”
It’s the goal of Weinstein and his other anti-Christian compadre, actor Mike Farrell (of M.A.S.H fame), to eradicate Christianity from anything that remotely resembles a government installation.
Even Democrats recognize MRFF’s toxicity.
A provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization ACT to prohibit military departments from communicating with MRFF without proper approval received bipartisan support. It passed the House, but the language was removed in the Senate version.
Violating Its Tax-Exempt Status?
MRFF is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization and reported $777,482 in revenues in 2023. $300,000 of that came from the Evolve Foundation operated by attorneys at a Shreveport, Louisiana law firm.
Nearly half of MRFF’s 2023 donations went to pay Weinstein’s $368,791 salary.
Restoration News combed through MRFF’s tax filings since 2005. On every report the question asking whether MRFF lobbies is answered “no,” but that seems in contradiction to Weinstein’s own statements.
In 2022 Weinstein claims in an interview, “We hired a very expensive lobbyist years ago here. To her credit, after a year of paying her a lot of money . . . .”
Another article from 2020 quotes Weinstein saying, “MRFF hired a lobbyist to go after these policy changes in Congress.”
Weinstein should be investigated to determine if he has made proper lobbying disclosures and whether his organization should maintain its tax-exempt status.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has oversight of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, must open an investigation into the conduct of Superintendent Nunan.
Her egregious actions against Christians and lack of attention to the crumbling infrastructure of the Academy must be addressed.
