Time: Tue Jun 24 10:42:10 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id KAA27926; Tue, 24 Jun 1997 10:37:49 -0700 (MST) by usr10.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id KAA23534; Tue, 24 Jun 1997 10:37:43 -0700 (MST) Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 10:36:05 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: News on our friends at the IRS (fwd) <snip> > >Just how political has IRS become? > > At least 20 groups > critical of Clinton targeted > > By Joseph Farah and Sarah Foster > Copyright 1997 > >SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- At least 20 non-profit organizations "unfriendly" >to the Clinton administration have faced Internal Revenue Service audits >since 1993, a survey by the Western Journalism Center, one of the groups >targeted, has found. > >Coincidence? Many conservative leaders and attorneys familiar with IRS >practices laugh at that suggestion. Groups of all sizes and purpose are >currently under audit, have gone through the process or are threatened >with it -- from large, well-known organizations such as the Heritage >Foundation, Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Rifle >Association to small, local pro-life and patriot groups. Even the two >most popular conservative magazines -- American Spectator and National >Review -- are feeling the inquisitorial wrath of the IRS. > >Though officially no one at National Review will even confirm the audit, >sources close to the journal say the audit is the first in the >magazine's history. > >"We're not talking about an attack on conservative philosophy, per se," >says attorney William Wewer, a specialist in nonprofit law. "Clinton >doesn't care about ideas. He cares about power and he's using the most >feared enforcement tool in the government to attack people who are >opposing him politically. He's using government to achieve personal >political goals." > >The IRS denies any political motivations for its choices. Yet not a >single prominent public policy organization friendly to the Clinton >administration has apparently been targeted for audit in the same >period, according to two random samples and research into the non-profit >community. Many tax-exempt organizations are, however, loath to discuss >such matters because of its potentially devastating impact on >fund-raising efforts. > >According to Wewer, who represents about a thousand charities, the >groups singled out include many which have challenged the Clinton >administration in a "high-profile fashion." > >"Every one of our clients who is under audit has taken on the Clinton >administration vigorously, usually through a direct mail campaign," he >says. His observation applies to most of the groups so far identified. > >For example, there was the American Policy Center and its "Fire Jocelyn >Elders" campaign in 1993. In addition to a request for contributions, >would-be donors were asked to mail an enclosed card to President Clinton >demanding prompt dismissal of the former surgeon general. About six >months ago, the group was notified that it was being audited. > >"The idea that someone can write to them and say 'I don't like their >politics, so go investigate them' is outrageous," says APC President Tom >DeWeese, > >The IRS claims it is increasingly dependent on these "citizen >complaints" and maintains the ongoing investigation and audit of APC is >simply normal routine checking. Wewer dismisses that idea as "bogus." > >"I know of many citizen complaints that never get acted on," he says. >"I've filed several myself against organizations that were promoting >terrorism -- some of the extreme green groups and animal rights groups. >Nothing was done, not even when I laid out the entire case for them." > >Then there's the strange case of the newly formed Wisconsin non-profit >Fortress America. Just last November the group received its 501(c)4 >tax-exempt status -- a classification that entitles the organization to >engage in some lobbying and political activities. A month later Fortress >America sent out a fund-raising letter that was critical of Hillary >Clinton. In January, two IRS agents began investigating the group. > >Fortress America is so new it hadn't even filed its first tax return, >hence, no actual audit was possible. Washington attorney Alan Dye, who >represents the targeted group, says he can't recall being involved in a >case where the IRS began investigating an organization before an audit >was even begun. > >"The coincidence of this occurring within 30 days of a negative letter >about Hillary Clinton is pretty striking," Dye observes. "If the IRS >doesn't mean to be biased, they're doing everything they can to make it >look like they are." > >Another IRS target was Amy Moritz Ridenour's National Center for Public >Policy Research. The group played a prominent role in the political >defeat of the Clinton health-care plan in 1993 and 1994, focusing public >attention on Hillary Clinton's role withe the president's advisory task >force and its secret meetings. In 1995, the group was audited. The group >also challenged the first lady's access to classified information, >secured without a security clearance. The group called for congressional >hearings to determine guidelines about such unprecendented clearances. > >By IRS standards, the group's ordeal was brief -- about two weeks. At >one point during the examination, Ridenour asked the IRS field agent why >the group was targeted. The disturbing answer: "You probably made >someone mad." > >"Now why would he say, 'probably'?" Ridenour wonders. "You'd figure he'd >say oh, it's just a routine audit, even if that weren't true. To me it >shows there's an assumption at the IRS that decisions [like who gets >audited] are made for political reasons. It must be part of the >environment." > >The Western Journalism Center shared a similar experience. When an IRS >field agent began asking questions about the content of the group's >work, the motivations for investigative reporting about White House >scandals and suggesting that the center should be reclassified from an >educational 501(c)3 status to a 501(c)4, group's accountant protested. > >"Look," said Thomas Cederquist, the IRS auditor, "this is a political >case and the decision is going to be made at the national level." Asked >what he meant by that statement, Cederquist repeated it. Only recently, >months after the center went public with accusations that the audit was >politically inspired was Cederquist replaced as the lead investigator on >the case. > >None of this is surprising to Wewer who has been involved in >conservative political activism for 33 years. > >"They're trying to destroy the very warp and woof of what makes us work >as a country," he said. "The democratic system is a robust system, but >it can be very fragile when it comes to this type of attack." > >In response to the Western Journalism Center's story of apparently >politically motivated IRS audits broken last fall in the Wall Street >Journal, Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation began an investigation. >Hearings are set to begin some time next month and a final report will >be issued in September. > >Last February, IRS Commissioner Margaret Milner Richardson, a long-time >political ally and friend of the Clintons and a self-described >"yellow-dog Democrat," announced she was stepping down from her post to >pursue other interests. The New York Post, however, suggested in an >editorial that the revelations of politically motivated audits may have >been a central factor in her decision. No replacement for Richardson has >yet been named. > > Joseph Farah is executive director of the Western > Journalism Center. > > Sarah Foster is a center associate. > > Copyright 1997. All rights reserved. > > >--------------------------------------------------------- >Get Your *Web-Based* Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com >--------------------------------------------------------- > >-> Send "subscribe snetnews " to majordomo@world.std.com >-> Posted by: "Brian Mosely" <bmosely@hotmail.com> > > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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