The Family is a secretive network founded in 1935 and since known by several names, including The Fellowship. The Family believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. At the heart of the Family’s spiritual advice for its proxies in Congress is the conviction that the market’s invisible hand represents the guidance of God, and that God wants his “new chosen” to look out for one another.

In 2009, the Fellowship received media attention in connection with three Republicans politician members who reportedly engaged in extra-marital affairs. Two of them, Senator John Ensign, and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, were considering running for President in 2012. The affairs of Ensign and then-Congressman Chip Pickering, R-Miss, took place while they were living at the C Street Center.

C Street has been the subject of controversy over its claimed tax status as a church, the ownership of the property and its connection to the Fellowship, and the reportedly subsidized benefits the facility provides to members of Congress. Until 2009, C-Street was exempt from real property taxes. When it was revealed that rooms were being rented out as residencies, the exemption was amended to 34% exempt. Soon it was revealed that the Fellowship had no control over C-Street. Mainstream Christian Pastors filed a petition to r...