Lawmakers are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to examine hedge fund activities, even their charity work. Bloomberg News reports that the Robin Hood Foundation, which has raised more than a half billion dollars since 1988 for a variety of programs, is coming under scrutiny because half an emergency fund is invested in hedge funds managed by RHF donors. “I don’t remember Robin Hood keeping two and 20 as his cut,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said snidely in an interview with BN, which notes that the arrangement may be legal but may appears as if there is a conflict of interest. Tom Reis of W.K. Kellogg Foundation, told BN. “They are taking this money and making some fabulous returns, but they are making a few bucks on it, too.” The part of the charity in question that BN calls a “rainy-day fund” ballooned from $20 million to more than $144.5 million in less than 10 years. “It flirts with self-dealing,” notes Reis. “I can see where Grassley is coming from.” In Robin Hood’s defense, its executive director, David Saltzman, doesn’t see anything suspicious going on, noting that the donors are top hedgies and their track records of producing returns – an average 17.05% a year for the past 16 years vs. 11% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 – speak for themselves. For his part, Grassley told BN, “I’m worried that I am seeing ore and more that suggests some hedge fund and private equity managers view charitable donations as a chance to do well for themselves and forget it about doing good for others.” Regardless of Grassley misgivings, says Reis, RHF is “a public good. There may be a few qualms, but they are benefiting society.”