Newswire

Complaint against Priests for Life filed with IRS

Complaint against Priests for Life filed with IRS

By Karen Smith Welch / Amarillo.com

A Catholic abortion rights group claims Priests for Life has violated Internal Revenue Service rules by posting online videos promoting the presidential candidacy of Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of the anti-abortion Catholic order that is moving its headquarters to Amarillo, on Wednesday called the complaint Catholics for Free Choice has lodged with the IRS a "silly" intimidation tactic.

IRS spokesman Clay Sanford declined comment about the complaint Wednesday, citing federal tax disclosure regulations that prevent IRS employees from commenting on matters relating to a particular taxpayer, even tax-exempt entities. Sanford said the regulations bar him even from confirming the existence of a complaint.

The IRS Web site, www.irs.gov, states tax-exempt charitable organizations are prohibited from directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for local, state or federal public office. An organization found to have violated the prohibition could have its tax-exempt status denied or revoked and face imposition of certain excise taxes.

CFFC President Jon O'Brien said the complaint specifically points to two PFL-TV videos posted on the PFL Web site as "flagrant" endorsements for Brownback.

"We believe it's unacceptable for any organization to reap tax benefits for a charitable mission and then use the money to engage in a political campaign," O'Brien said.

Representatives of Brownback's campaign did not return two messages left Wednesday.

Pavone personally endorsed Brownback in January. In a February interview, he said he serves on Brownback's committee "in a personal capacity" and does not use PFL resources for helping the Brownback committee.

"The videos are not on Father Frank Pavone's Web site, they're on Priests for Life's Web site," O'Brien said. "You don't need a rocket science degree to figure that out."

Pavone said the video "is not an endorsement from Priests for Life" for Brownback.

Priests for Life does encourage voters to pursue candidates backing anti-abortion issues, but does not push specific candidates in races, he said.

"We want people to understand you have to elect people who are going to protect life," Pavone said. "As an organization, we have never been a partisan organization. We don't ally ourselves with any particular party. This falls into the category of issue advocacy, and the IRS makes a distinction between issue advocacy and candidate advocacy."

Pavone said CFFC doesn't appear to recognize the distinction, but if advocating an issue is a violation "then the entire U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops," which takes an anti-abortion stance, "is in trouble. The whole bunch of them has broken the law, if (CFFC) says we have."

The IRS complaint is the third CFFC has filed against PFL for allegedly illegal election activities since 2004. IRS spokesman Sanford declined to discuss or confirm the previous complaints, again invoking federal disclosure regulations.

O'Brien said he does not know the outcome of the first two complaints.

PFL is in the process of transferring operations to its Amarillo headquarters from Staten Island, N.Y. The organization has 60 full-time employees, 35 in New York, and others in locations including Washington, D.C., and Rome.


More

Read an Internal Revenue Service fact sheet about the rules governing the political activities of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations at

www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154712,00.html

See the PFL-TV videos at the center of a complaint that Catholics for Free Choice has filed with the IRS against Priests for Life at:

www.pfltv.com/bb7

www.pfltv.com/mfl7

IRS rules governing political activities by tax-exempt charitable organizations include provisions barring:

Any and all activities that favor or oppose one or more candidates for public office;

Campaign contributions or verbal or written public statements of position on behalf of, or in opposition to, a candidate;

Distribution of statements prepared by others that favor or oppose any candidate;

Allowing a candidate to use an organization's assets or facilities, if other candidates are not given an equal opportunity;

Conducting voter education or registration activities that favor or oppose one or more candidates.

IRS rules allow tax-exempt organizations to:

Conduct certain voter education activities, including presentation of public forums and publication of voter guides, if they are carried out in a nonpartisan manner;

Encourage people to participate in the electoral process through voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives conducted in a nonpartisan manner.

Posted by Jim Rudd at March 30, 2007 06:05 AM