-Caveat Lector- Monday November 15 2:13 PM ET Documents Pinpoint Federal Audits By LARRY MARGASAK and JOHN SOLOMON Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of Congress and the White House have triggered audits of hundreds of tax-exempt groups this decade by lodging complaints with the Internal Revenue Service against their political foes. The referrals range from citizen letters and newspaper articles to personal demands for investigations, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The White House once referred a constituent complaint about a group that had suggested presidential lawyer Vincent Foster had been murdered. Democratic lawmakers sought investigations of conservatives ranging from the Heritage Foundation to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. And the Republican chairman of the House committee that writes tax laws sought an audit of a Buddhist temple in California after it was host for a Democratic fund-raiser featuring Vice President Al Gore. ``It is my assumption that the Internal Revenue Service has commenced, or will soon commence, an investigation into these activities,'' House Ways and Means chairman Bill Archer wrote Oct. 18, 1996, just three weeks before the presidential election. The IRS says less than 1 percent of the 6,000 to 10,000 audits of tax-exempt groups each year originate with complaints from lawmakers or the White House. The White House forwards about 1,300 constituent letters each year to the IRS ranging from complaints of wrongdoing to obscure tax questions. Agency officials say audit decisions are based solely on evidence of wrongdoing, not on the political stature of the requesters or any positions taken by the group involved. Federal law generally prohibits tax-exempt groups from advocating the election or defeat of political candidates. ``We read our mail and deal with the facts appropriately. To ignore the mail is a dereliction of responsibility,'' said Marcus Owens, the IRS official who oversees tax-exempt organizations. Owens said any auditors making a politically motivated decision ``would lose their jobs and perhaps would wind up with deeper legal problems.'' One lawmaker who sought an audit contends politics does play a role. Former Rep. David Skaggs, D-Colo., said he referred two conservative organizations to the IRS in 1996 to achieve some ``evenhandedness'' after House Republicans began a ``very concerted assault'' on liberal tax-exempt groups. Skaggs referred the Heritage Foundation and Citizens Against Government Waste to the tax agency based on a newspaper report. It said the groups had sent out a mailing signed by GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole and then had shared the list of responders with Dole's campaign. Within two months of Skaggs' request, both groups found themselves undergoing costly audits that continue today. ``I believed then and I believe now that these were serious possible violations and the appropriate step was to ask the people with the expertise,'' Skaggs said. ``But it would be incredible to suggest, and I won't, that there was not a political dimension to these things. Of course there is.'' Critics say the system is ripe for abuse by politicians eager to sic the IRS on enemies. The Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group, sued the IRS to gain access to requests for audits, and found that requests from Congress and the White House go up in election years. ``The documents show there's a systematic effort by Congress and the White House to intimidate and silence organizations with whom they disagree,'' said Mark Levin, head of Landmark. The documents also show IRS officials highlight the origins of complaints. The IRS computer tracking system in Washington clearly denotes the name of the politician who referred the matter. And the original letter from the White House or lawmaker is forwarded to the case agent. Lawmakers' requests are stamped ``expedite'' to remind IRS officials they must reply in writing within 15 days. A few requests reviewed by AP were marked with notations such as ``hot politically'' or ``sensitive.'' A quarter century ago, President Nixon tried unsuccessfully to force the IRS to ``go after our enemies and not go after our friends.'' Today, the practice is more subtle. Members of Congress or the White House usually attach to their referral a letter from a like-minded constituent or a news article alleging wrongdoing. The Clinton White House once referred a conservative organization that relentlessly pursued the claim that Foster had not committed suicide, as ruled by authorities, but was murdered. Presidential aides also forwarded a complaint faxed to President Clinton from a supporter in Beverly Hills, Calif., that the Western Journalism Center was engaged in a ``vicious media campaign to hurt you.'' The fax didn't allege any specific tax violations. It simply noted the center was tax-exempt and an ``ad needs investigation.'' The IRS audited the group, but eventually upheld its tax-exempt status. Treasury Department investigators reviewed the audit and concluded it was proper. They said the White House referral was one of several constituent complaints it routinely sent over. ``Citizens often write to the president about issues under the jurisdiction of different federal agencies. We have a choice. We could forward their letters or we can throw them out. We chose to forward them,'' White House spokesman James Kennedy said. He said all letters are referred regardless of their political orientation. When Archer contacted the IRS about the Buddhist temple, he made no secret about his desire for an audit. ``I would certainly recommend such an investigation,'' he wrote in a letter that demanded he be kept apprised of IRS action. More than a year later, the Hsi Lai Temple near Los Angeles was named an unindicted coconspirator in the indictment of a Democratic fund-raiser. Not all requests result in audits. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., an ally of the president, referred Falwell, an outspoken critic of Clinton, for investigation based on a constituent complaint in May 1993 that ``religious broadcasters are using their tax-exempt status for political purposes.'' Waxman urged the agency to keep his constituent's ``concerns in mind.'' The congressman got a speedy reply, but the IRS didn't audit Falwell. Five of his organizations had just been audited two years earlier. IRS officials insist they don't buckle under pressure. ``Archer can use all the language he wants to order, demand, cajole and persuade. But a decision is only made on the facts, and I would expect my commissioner to back me up,'' Owens said. But most complaints from lawmakers and the White House end up getting referred to IRS field offices, according to a court filing by Thomas J. Miller, a projects chief in Owens' division. ``The only information items generally not referred ... are those that are either unintelligible or that allege no wrongdoing, or that are more in the nature of a generic question regarding the tax laws,'' Miller told the court. For those audited, the experience can be costly. John Von Kannon, vice president and treasurer of the Heritage Foundation, said the audit has cost his organization more than $100,000. He says the group doesn't believe it did anything wrong. ``We are a conservative organization and there will be some people who don't like us. That's life,'' Von Kannon said. Copyright © 1996-1999 The Associated Press ***** Congress Audit Requests 'Sensitive' The Associated Press Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999; 1:38 a.m. EST Internal Revenue Service officials say their agents don't make politically motivated decisions to audit tax-exempt groups, but that doesn't mean tax officials are oblivious to the motivations of those requesting action. A handwritten memo, referring to a request from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, made it clear that the complaint had to be handled gingerly. "This letter was so 'hot' politically that ... the final outgoing correspondence went directly out from the A/C's (assistant commissioner's) office," the memo said. The document viewed by the AP was not signed. Archer had written Sept. 4, 1996, asking the IRS whether a college course taught by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., had been singled out for an audit. Some IRS internal documents related to requests from lawmakers include terms such as "expedite" or "sensitive." One Aug. 4, 1995, memo implied that Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, really didn't care about the substance of the IRS' reply to a constituent's complaint about a tax-exempt organization's political activities. "On the Gramm letter, it seems to me we shd name the constituent right in the 1st sentence, since that's presumably how his office files their correspondence. Otherwise, they've got to go looking thru the attachments (believe me, they don't really give a damn what it said) before they can know which of their files to close. "Why not say: The FTC has referred a letter dated April 10 from your constituent, Joe Crank, to this office for reply." The IRS has issued special guidelines to its employees for handling requests from Congress, urging officials around the country to "develop positive, productive, working relationships" with lawmakers. Those guidelines note the IRS receives numerous phone calls and letters from lawmakers, and advises "the way the service handles these calls and letters collectively will be significant in determining how members of Congress view the service." Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., when he still was a member of the House, asked the IRS to investigate a tax-exempt group he believed had "violated the rules for tax-exempt organizations by engaging in lobbying activities," according to an agency summary. The memo was stamped "expedite." IRS officials said congressmen's requests are routinely stamped that way to remind employees they need to provide a written response within 15 days. When Rep. Owen Pickett, D-Va., wrote the agency in 1994 inquiring whether black churches had been improperly targeted by the IRS for political audits, he got a three-page response from then-IRS Commissioner Margaret Milner Richardson. The commissioner wrote that there was no targeting based on race, but she acknowledged "not all of our field offices fully adhered to the Manual Instruction." "Recent contacts were made with five churches in the Commonwealth of Virginia after media reports about apparent church actions that could jeopardize tax-exempt status," she said, explaining that the contacts were "an informal and nonthreatening way" of reminding churches of their responsibilities under tax laws. Most complaints from lawmakers and the White House end up getting referred to IRS field offices, according to a court filing by Thomas J. Miller, a projects chief in Owens' division. "The only information items generally not referred ... are those that are either unintelligible or that allege no wrongdoing, or that are more in the nature of a generic question regarding the tax laws," Miller told a federal court in a freedom of information lawsuit. Sometimes, referrals are so sensitive that lawmakers refuse to discuss them or even identify the groups they referred. Among those whose offices declined to provide details of their letters when questioned by The Associated Press were Bunning, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. © Copyright 1999 The Associated Press ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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