IRS Also Targeted Pro-Life Groups: Will Media Report?
We’ve heard a lot in the past few days about the IRS applying extra scrutiny to groups with “Tea Party” or “patriots” in their name, but it appears the unfair targeting runs deeper than that. As the Thomas More Society, a non-profit public interest law firm, first reported yesterday, the IRS harassed at least two pro-life organizations that applied for tax-exempt status as early as 2009. When the Coalition for Life of Iowa submitted such an application, the IRS reportedly demanded that they promise, under perjury of law, not to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood.
James Dobson confirms slam campaign against his group
The Internal Revenue Service campaign that put a bull’s-eye on “tea party” groups and those with “Constitution” or “patriot” in their name also took a swipe at Christians. That was confirmed today when Dr. James Dobson, whose has served as an adviser to presidents and now runs Dr. James Dobson’s FamilyTalk, said his organization’s status was threatened because it didn’t present “all views.”
IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office
The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation. Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram…is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.
Cleta Mitchell to Newsmax: IRS Scandal Reaches to White House
Cleta Mitchell, one of Washington’s most respected elections attorneys, told Newsmax she has tangible proof that high-ranking IRS officials in Washington were fully aware of the agency’s campaign to target conservative groups for heightened scrutiny, despite their denials. And she thinks the president knew about the practice, too. If proven, she said, it could be an impeachable offense.
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested Monday that Democrats use the IRS to overturn Citizens United by passing the DISCLOSE Act or amending the Constitution to restrict political speech. In an appearance on MSNBC, Pelosi said, after conceding the IRS’s targeting of conservatives was wrong, that she thought the scandal could be an “opportunity” to put a spotlight on 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organizations that are formed to promote “social well being.”
Progressive Group: IRS Gave Us Conservative Groups’ Confidential Docs
The progressive-leaning investigative journalism group ProPublica says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office…gave the progressive group nine confidential applications of conservative groups whose tax-exempt status was pending. The…evidence to the lengths the IRS went during an election cycle to silence tea party and limited government voices.
Internal IRS Mandate: ‘Be on the Lookout’ for ‘Organizations Involved In … Educating on Constitution and Bill of Rights’
…early last year–as the nation was headed toward a presidential election–the IRS issued a “be on the lookout order” (BOLO) for officials in its “Determinations Unit” to ferret out for heightened scrutiny organizations applying for tax exempt status that were involved in educating Americans “on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.” The inspector general’s timeline indicates that as early as March 2010 the IRS’s “Determinations Unit” had begun targeting for special scrutiny organizations that used in their tax-exempt applications the words “Tea Party” or “Patriots.”