Greg Mortenson’s organization has finally defended itself, but it’s not a very rousing argument. Outside magazine has obtained an early copy of the annual newsletter from Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute—but the newsletter never mentions the damning reports by 60 Minutes and Jon Krakauer, which allege that Mortenson lied about his network of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The first acknowledgment of the scandal comes in the sixth paragraph of the opening note from the board chairman, who denies any wrongdoing. As for charges that many of CAI’s schools were empty, the charity says lapses in the oversight of in-country managers is to blame. But the newsletter never addresses some of Krakauer’s main charges: There’s no mention of the millions CAI spent advertising Mortenson’s books, the proceeds from which went straight to Mortenson, and it dismisses allegations that much of Mortenson’s books were fabricated by saying simply that their contents “are based on events that actually happened.”