Baucus, now investigating IRS, urged IRS to target conservative groups in 2010
Democratic Montana Senator Max Baucus is leading an investigation
into why the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative nonprofit
groups for extra scrutiny despite the fact that Baucus once wrote a
letter urging the IRS to do exactly that.
Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will head the committee’s investigation into the IRS, which apologized Friday
for targeting groups with the terms “Tea Party” and “Patriot” in their
titles for extra scrutiny of their nonprofit status as early as 2011.
“With hundreds of millions of dollars being spent in election
contests by tax-exempt entities, it is time to take a fresh look at
current practices and how they comport with the Internal Revenue Code’s
rules for nonprofits,” Baucus wrote in the letter.
“I request that you and your agency survey major 501(c)(4), (c)(5)
and (c)(6) organizations involved in political campaign activity to
examine whether they are operated for the organization’s intended tax
exempt purpose and to ensure that political campaign activity is not the
organization’s primary activity,” Baucus wrote in the letter.
“The tax exemption given to non-profit organizations comes with a
responsibility to serve the public interest and Congress has an
obligation to exercise the vigorous oversight necessary to ensure they
do,” Baucus said in a 2010 statement accompanying his letter.
Though Baucus identified 501 (c) (5) groups — or labor unions — as
worthy of investigation, the only organizations cited in his request
were conservative, pro-Republican groups.
Baucus specifically named Americans for Job Security, which is described as a “pro-Republican organization,” as a specific target for the IRS to investigate.
Crossroads GPS, co-founded by Karl Rove, and American Action Network, chaired by former Republican senator Norm Coleman, were also cited in press coverage related to Baucus’ letter as pro-Republican groups helping to elect GOP congressional candidates in 2010.
Those organizations appeared in a September 16, 2010 TIME article by writer Michael Crowley titled, “The New GOP Money Stampede.” Baucus cited that piece in his letter to the IRS.
Whatever the fallout might be from such a conflict of interest, Baucus won’t be around too much longer to deal with it.
He’s already announced his retirement from the Senate, and won’t run for re-election in 2014.
A Baucus spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Sen. Max Baucus asked IRS in 2010 to investigate 501(c) groups, letter shows
By Robert Romano
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) in a 2010 letter
requested that then-Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Douglas
Shulman deeply investigate 501(c) non-profit political organizations.
The letter called on Shulman to “survey major 501(c)(4), (c)(5) and
(c)(6) organizations involved in political campaign activity to examine
whether they are operated for the organization’s intended tax exempt
purpose and to ensure that political campaign activity is not the
organization’s primary activity” and to “to determine whether they are
acting as conduits for major donors advancing their own private
interests regarding legislation or political campaigns, or are providing
major donors with excess benefits.”
In his own letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens noted,
“Considering the invasive questions the IRS was asking the targeted
organizations, it appears that Sen. Baucus got exactly what he asked
for, which was a witch-hunt.”
Baucus’ letter also instructed Shulman that “Possible violation of
tax laws should be identified as you conduct this study. Please report
back to the Finance Committee as soon as possible with your findings and
recommended actions regarding this matter.”
Baucus specifically referenced a Sept. 16, 2010 Time article, “The New GOP Money Stampede”
reporting that “Democrats fear [what] could be a $300 million
Republican spending blitz this year.” The story detailed allegations
that local tea party groups were actually “shadow Republican groups
formed by longtime party officials.” The article referenced the tea
party, but also American Crossroads, American Action Network, and the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce as forming a wider campaign front for the 2010
Republican election campaign effort, financed “in the form of secret
undisclosed contributions.”
Baucus also referenced “a group transforming itself into a non-profit under 501(c)(4) of the tax code,” ensuring, as the Time
article put it, that the group would “not have to publicly disclose any
information about its donors.” That “group” Baucus referenced was
actually Crossroads GPS.
“The Time article Baucus so prominently referenced was all
about the financing of Republican election efforts and right of center
political and advocacy organizations,” Mehrens noted in his letter,
adding, “It did not scrutinize any left-wing groups. Nor did Baucus
include in his letter to Shulman any footnotes to articles that detailed
Democrat campaign activities or left of center groups. The implicit
task was to investigate the political right from start to finish. And
that’s exactly what the IRS did.”
Yesterday, Baucus issued a statement suggesting
“Targeting groups based on their political views is not only
inappropriate but it is intolerable, promising a “full investigation
into this matter by the Senate Finance Committee.”
But that is not possible, Mehrens said, considering Baucus’ letter to
Shulman. “Senate Democrats were complicit in the IRS scandal targeting
the tea party and other groups, per Baucus’ explicit letter to Shulman.
The Senate majority must therefore recuse itself from any ensuing
investigation in order to ensure that the public’s trust in the
inquiry’s findings is not tainted.”
The only good option, Mehrens wrote, was for Senate leaders to call
on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to
prosecute the case. “Just as the Senate majority cannot be trusted to
investigate its own complicity in this affair, neither can the Obama
Administration.”
He concluded, “These targeted attacks by the IRS were not about
restoring ‘transparency’ to our political process, they were a part of a
brazen partisan assault using the instrumentalities of the state to
harass political opponents and stifle dissent to achieve a partisan end.
It is beyond Nixonian in its flagrant disregard for the rule of law.
Only a special counsel can get to the bottom of this.”
Mehrens joined others, including the Republican Governors
Association, who today also demanded a special prosecutor be appointed.
Robert Romano is the Senior Editor of Americans for Limited Government.
The IRS Predicted Scandal: Baucus Demanded IRS Investigation Before He Condemned It
The IRS targeting conservative groups has reached scandal stage in record time in Washington, D.C. with even Michael Gerson writing in the Washington Post,
“It is precisely because police powers are
essential to the public good that abusing them is so offensive. The same
holds for overzealous or corrupt airport-security agents. And it is
doubly true with IRS personnel who misuse their broad and intimidating
powers. It is enough to bring out the Samuel Adams in anyone.”
Senate Democrats also jumped on the bandwagon of criticism, most
notably led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus who promised
Committee hearings saying in a release on the Committee website:
“These actions by the IRS are an outrageous abuse of
power and a breach of the public’s trust. Targeting groups based on
their political views is not only inappropriate but it is intolerable.
“Americans expect the IRS to do its job without passion or
prejudice. We need to get to the bottom of what happened here. I want to
see all the facts. We need to know who knew what, and exactly what
mistakes were made. The American people have questions for the IRS and I
intend to get answers. I want to review the Inspector General’s report
first, but the IRS should be prepared for a full investigation into this
matter by the Senate Finance Committee. The IRS will now be the ones
put under additional scrutiny.”
The outrage after the 2012 elections is palpable from both sides of
the aisle as a consensus is developing on Capitol Hill that political
points can be scored by beating up on the one part of government that
everyone hates — the IRS.
But the Internet may not be kind to those Democrats like Max Baucus
who demand the IRS hides today. Veteran Bing or Yahoo! users can easily
find that the retiring Senator from Montana had a different view of
what the IRS should do back in 2010 in the wake of a Supreme Court
decision that clarified what third party groups could do related to
electioneering.
In 2010, Democrats were scrambling to pass something known as the
DISCLOSE Act which was designed to stifle political speech of those who
traditionally opposed them.
The inconvenient Internet reveals that Senator Baucus was a leader in
demanding that the IRS investigate outside groups way back in 2010. In
a letter he wrote to the Agency, Mr. Baucus wrote:
“I request that you and your agency survey major
501(c)(4), (c)(5) and (c)(6) organizations involved in political
campaign activity to examine whether they are operated for the
organization’s intended tax exempt purpose and to ensure that political
campaign activity is not the organization’s primary activity.
Specifically you should examine if these political activities reach a
primary purpose level — the standard imposed by the federal tax code —
and if they do not, whether the organization is complying with the
notice or proxy tax requirements of Section 6033(e). I also request that
you or your agency survey major 501(c)(4), (c)(5), and (c)(6)
organizations to determine whether they are acting as conduits for major
donors advancing their own private interests regarding legislation or
political campaigns, or are providing major donors with excess
benefits.”
Considering the over burdensome and intrusive questions — about donor
histories, lobbying activities, connections to political campaigns,
etc. — that the agency was asking of tea party and other groups, it
appears Baucus’ request was fulfilled in full. Quite specifically.
Americans for Limited Government’s Bill Wilson immediately and forcefully responded to Baucus at the time writing in a widely discussed article:
“Not only has the tax code under section 501(c) been
used to limit the types of speech that certain organizations can engage
in — which on its face violates the First Amendment — now Baucus wants
to use the IRS to intimidate groups and threaten their tax-exempt
statuses ‘[e]ven if political campaign activity is not the primary
purpose’ of the group. This is designed purely to have a chilling effect
on the speech of any organizations that are otherwise lawfully
exercising their rights to freedom of speech.”
As Wilson so clearly warned, Baucus’ letter, if followed by the IRS
could only have led to the singling out and targeting non-profit groups
not favored by the party in power. That was clearly Baucus’ intent in
2010, so it is hypocritical even by Washington, D.C. standards for
Montana Max to show faux outrage now that it has been revealed that the
IRS did exactly what he asked.
As Democrat politicians jump on the carcass of the already dead man
walking IRS officials, let the voter beware. In the world of spin
control, it is more likely that they are trying to control the
investigation and headlines about the scandal than actually getting to
the bottom of it.
Because more than likely, you can find the bottom by looking at their
own demands of the Agency and it is almost certain that Max Baucus and
the congressional Democrats don’t want to look in that mirror.
If they did, the people might go all Samuel Adams on them ruining their hopes for the 2014 election. Rick Manning (@rmanning957) is the Vice President of Public Policy and Communications for Americans for Limited Government
THOSE SENATORS ARE: Senators Charles E. Schumer, Max Baucus, Michael Bennet, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeff Merkley, Tom Udall, Jeanne Shaheen and Al Franken. Carl Levin will be added to this list as of a report I saw this morning. (Max Baucus was not on the list but is instrumental in demanding the IRS investigate Conservative groups.
This video is from 2012. It is now known that the IRS was well aware of the targeting of Conservatives, as well as those on Obama's enemies list in 2011. If that is the case, the IRS' Commissioner, Douglas Shulman, committed perjury in front of Congress.
Published on Mar 23, 2012
Congressman Charles W. Boustany,
Jr., M.D. (R-South Louisiana), Chairman of the House Ways & Means
Subcommittee on Oversight, held a hearing on the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS), its operations and budget, and the 2012 tax return filing
season on March 22, 2012. Chairman Boustany questioned IRS
Commissioner, Douglas Shulman, on whether or not Tea Party groups' and
other groups' tax-exempt status are being targeted due to their
political views.
University to Bestow ‘Face of IRS Scandal’ with Honorary Tribute
The woman in charge of the IRS division responsible for reviewing
tax-exempt status applications and who is at the heart of an ongoing
scandal over revelations the agency targeted conservative groups is set
to receive an honorary tribute from Western New England University
School of Law on Saturday.
Lois Lerner – director for the IRS Exempt Organization Division – is slated to deliver the school’s commencement address and be given the university’s “President’s Medallion.”
Established in 2002, the award is “bestowed upon those who have
distinguished themselves in a particular field or in service to an
important cause that has benefited society locally, regionally,
nationally, or internationally,” the college’s website states.
In the wake of revelations that her division zeroed in on and gave
extra scrutiny to groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their names,
Lerner, 62, has been thrust into the national spotlight, dubbed by some as the “face of the IRS scandal.”
Lerner knew of the inappropriate focus in her division on
conservative groups since June 2011. She recently apologized publicly,
but won’t comment on whether IRS employees will be disciplined, and
denied any political bias was involved in the effort.
In touting Lerner’s impending arrival to the Springfield, Mass.,
campus – her alma mater – university officials noted she graduated from
the law school in 1978 and now oversees nearly 1,000 employees charged
with reviewing IRS applications for tax-exempt status and conducting
examinations and compliance efforts.
Campus officials also tout how she is past president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws.
More recently, she has become the butt of jokes on social media and
news websites after she revealed during a conference call with reporters
Friday that “I’m not good at math.”
“You’re with the IRS, thank you,” replied Tom Costello of NBC News
with a chuckle. He had asked the question that prompted her admission.
“I am a lawyer, I am not an accountant,” Lerner had quickly replied.
Revelations
on the ongoing IRS scandal reveal Lerner’s division demanded much of
conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, including information
“under penalties of perjury” on donor lists, names of family members and
spouses, and whether people affiliated with the groups were planning to
run for office.
Western New England University School of Law officials announced May 1
that Lerner is set to give the upcoming commencement speech and receive
the honorary award, roughly one week before the controversial news
surfaced.
5/15/13 1:40pm UPDATE: "I just called the Dean of Western New England University
School Of Law, Arthur R. Gaudio, to express my concern over them having
Lois Lerner (the face of the IRS scandal) as their commencement speaker
this Saturday and recipient of their "President's Medallion" award.
He said that they hadn't removed her BUT due to the obvious negative press out there, SHE removed herself.
He went on to say that this is a conspiracy and if I read her actual
transcript of the conversation that brought attention to this, there
really wasn't anything she had done wrong, that there is more to the
story, and she is an 'honorable' person." ~Michele
If this outrages you as much as it does me, Please contact the Dean of Western New England University School Of Law, Arthur R. Gaudio, and let him know they must remove this woman from their commencement ceremony and must NOT give her any honorary tribute: 413-782-1413 or Media Relations: David Stawasz 413-796-2026
This is an outrage! Having her speak at a school of law when she has blatantly broken the law?
She has already admitted to having knowledge of the illegal activities of the IRS, under her supervision, as early as 2011.
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