IRS probes NAACP leader’s speech
by Tony Pugh
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether a speech by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond last summer that criticized the Bush administration violated a federal law that prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations from engaging in most forms of political activity.
Bond said he felt the probe was politically motivated and meant to have a chilling effect on the NAACP, in particular its efforts to register black voters, who support Sen. John Kerry overwhelmingly.
Bond is wrong, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said.
“The IRS follows strict procedures involving the selection of tax-exempt organizations for audit and resolution of any complaints about such groups,” Everson said. “Career civil servants, not political appointees, make these decisions in a fair, impartial manner.”
In a letter outlining the alleged violations, the IRS cited a federal law that prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations “from intervening in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.”
Bond, in a speech in July at the civil rights group’s convention in Philadelphia, declared: “The election this fall is a contest between two widely disparate views of who we are and what we believe.
“One view wants to march us backward through history — surrendering control of government to special interests, weakening democracy, giving religion veto power over science, curtailing civil liberties, despoiling the environment.
“The other view promises expanded democracy and giving the people, not plutocrats, control over their government.”
Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor and an expert on the political rights of tax-exempt organizations, read Bond’s speech and said it was indeed critical of President George W. Bush. But she added that Bond was probably on safe legal ground because his speech was broadly conceived, didn’t focus solely on Bush and touched on a range of issues that have long been trademarks of the NAACP, such as equality and justice.
“You can be passionate and still have a tax-exempt status,” Hill said. “If the IRS thinks that this speech is sufficient to trigger an audit, then I think we have quite a new standard and they must be planning to audit hundreds of other groups.”