Judge Dismisses Two Tea Party Lawsuits Against IRS
Source: USA Today
Judge dismisses two Tea Party lawsuits against IRS
Gregory Korte, USA TODAY
18 minutes ago
WASHINGTON -- A federal court dismissed two lawsuits against the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, ruling that the tax agency is no longer targeting conservative tax-exempt groups for greater scrutiny.
"Unless an actual, ongoing controversy exists in this case, this court is without power to decide it," U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled, dismissing one lawsuit brought by True the Vote, a conservative vote-monitoring organization.
True the Vote, an offshoot of the Tea Party-affiliated King Street Patriots, had its application as a social welfare group help up because the IRS suspected it was engaging in direct political election campaigning, which is forbidden under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. IRS agents found that its web site contained "Democratic attacks and Republican/conservative response," according to confidential IRS documents obtained by USA TODAY.
USA TODAY
IRS list reveals concerns over Tea Party 'propaganda'
Walton said the IRS has assured the public that they're no longer screening applications for tax exemptions based on its political leanings, a practice that led to the dismissal of several top IRS officials when it was disclosed by Treasury inspectors last year.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/23/tea-party-lawsuits-against-irs-dismissed/17780557
Gothmog
(145,752 posts)underpants
(182,970 posts)But there will be much moaning and victim playing in their world about this
louis-t
(23,309 posts)And they WERE engaging in direct political campaigning. And they CONTINUE to engage in direct political campaigning.
starroute
(12,977 posts)They're the people who bus white suburbanites into inner city precincts to intimidate black voters.
When that's your main purpose in life, who cares whether you're actively endorsing candidates?
starroute
(12,977 posts)Emglebrecht is also tight with the Groundswell group of Ginny Thomas, Clarence Thomas's wife.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=True_the_vote
True the Vote is a Houston based vote-monitoring initiative committed to stopping voter fraud with a "horrendous record of filing inaccurate voter registration challenges." Many believe that the organization's activities are aimed at voter suppression and a right-wing agenda to further a new administration. TTV trains volunteers to monitor elections and report incidents of voter fraud. It also holds local rallies to promote "voter ID" laws, which it staunchly supports. TTV has been accused of voter intimidation and advancing hysterical claims about the pervasiveness of voter fraud. TTV's current president is Catherine Englebrecht, who is also the founder of the King Street Patriots, a Tea Party 501(c)(4) group based in Texas. . . .
True the Vote's methods of "preventing voter fraud" are reminiscent of the controversial "ballot security" measures utilized by the Republican National Committee in the early 1980s. Accused of violating the Voting Rights Act through its aggressive presence at polling locations and attempts to deter voters believed to be ineligible, the RNC settled a federal lawsuit by a consent decree agreeing to stop ballot security measures in minority precincts. Similarly, many view True the Vote's activities as an attempt to build a nationwide army to suppress voters at the ballot, and True the Vote's main activities appear to be targeted at precincts such as Harris County, TX with large populations of minority voters. . . .
In the days before the June 5th, 2012 recall election between Tom Barrett and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, True the Vote announced that they would be training volunteers to monitor polling places throughout Wisconsin, both onlineand at a small number of locations throughout the state True the Vote claimed that hundreds of people showed up for training and later monitored the polls in Wisconsin, and that these monitors were necessary due to "discrepancies" in the recall petition process as well as "Wisconsins long history of election fraud." True the Vote pledged to man every polling place in Wisconsin on the day of the recall election, which drew sharp criticism from the Barret Campaign
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Courts.
Last refuge of a democracy under attack is an independent judicial branch, and not only liberals know it.
alp227
(32,068 posts)and Reagan nominee to the DC Superior Court. Not even he sees merit to this lawsuit. Quite telling of the right wing anti IRS tale.