IRS and FEC Colluding to Attack Conservatives?
House Republicans suspect election officials joined with the Internal Revenue Service in a strategy that curbed the effectiveness of conservative organizations in the 2012 election.
The allegations were revealed in a letter from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Report, which has been holding hearings and seeking evidence about the extent of the IRS targeting of conservative and Christian organizations.
Hundreds of self-described “tea party” and “patriot” organizations had applications for tax-exempt status delayed, in some cases for years. They also were subjected to invasive, improper and probably illegal queries into private matters such as the content of their prayers and how they will vote.
The committee’s letter, dated Wednesday, is addressed to Ellen Weintraub, chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission.
“Documents recently produced by the committee demonstrate that FEC personnel communicated with IRS personnel about tax-exempt groups engaged in political activities,” the letter says. Read more from this story HERE.
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Photo Credit: WNDSurprise! IRS Assault on Churches Started with Holder
By Jack Minor
The seeds of the IRS targeting of conservative groups were planted by Eric Holder in 2001 when as deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton he convinced incoming Attorney General John Ashcroft to seize the building of a conservative megachurch, says the church’s retired pastor.
“Our church was taken over by the IRS in 2001 based on the recommendations of Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to incoming Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft,” said Greg Dixon, former pastor of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple.
“The church was the sacrificial lamb to pave the way for the future targeting of conservative groups. We were among the first victims of the IRS’s targeting of conservatives long before the news broke earlier this year,” he said.
Evidence that has arisen in the current IRS scandal shows the agency singled out tea party and other conservative groups for special scrutiny, including asking for the content of members’ prayers and demanding they promise not to protest outside Planned Parenthood clinics or to run for office.
While the IRS initially insisted the targeting was limited to a few rogue employees, evidence now shows orders came from the top to delay the approval of scores of tea party and conservative groups through two election cycles, including the 2012 campaign in which Barack Obama was reelected.
Read more from this story HERE.