Cite as: 538 U. S. 600 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
official); Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc., 466 U. S. 485, 502, and n. 19 (1984) (noting "kinship" between New York Times standard and "motivation that must be proved to support a common-law action for deceit").10 As an additional safeguard responsive to First Amendment concerns, an appellate court could independently review the trial court's findings. Cf. Bose Corp., 466 U. S., at 498-511 (de novo appellate review of findings regarding actual malice). What the First Amendment and our case law emphatically do not require, however, is a blanket exemption from fraud liability for a fundraiser who intentionally misleads in calls for donations.
The Illinois Supreme Court in the instant case correctly observed that "the percentage of [fundraising] proceeds turned over to a charity is not an accurate measure of the amount of funds used 'for' a charitable purpose." 198 Ill. 2d, at 360, 763 N. E. 2d, at 298 (citing Munson, 467 U. S., at 967, n. 16). But the gravamen of the fraud action in this case is not high costs or fees, it is particular representations made with intent to mislead. If, for example, a charity conducted an advertising or awareness campaign that advanced charitable purposes in conjunction with its fundraising activity, its representation that donated funds were going to "charitable purposes" would not be misleading, much less intentionally so. Similarly, charitable organizations that engage primarily in advocacy or information dissemination could get and spend money for their activities without risking a fraud
10 Although this case does not present the issue, the Illinois Attorney General urges that a constitutional requirement resembling "actual malice" does not attend "every form of liability by charitable solicitors who misrepresent the use of donations." Reply Brief 16-17, n. 11 (internal quotation marks omitted). We confine our consideration to the complaint in this case, which alleged that Telemarketers "acted with knowledge of the falsity of their representations." Ibid.
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