Apparently, the D.C. Police received a report of a potential bomb threat to the Human Rights Campaign and possibly other groups in DC. We want to be the first to denounce any threat against the person or property of any gay marriage advocate, including HRC. America should not be a place where people are afraid to voice their views on marriage whether pro or con.
UPDATE -- Metro Weekly reports via Twitter that HRC has been given the all clear:
Yesterday was, of course, Mother's Day, and the Human Rights Campaign decided to "celebrate" it by calling on mothers across the country to "unite" against NOM by uploading this photo to their Facebook profile:
HRC also gave 10 reasons for why they think Moms should unite against NOM, but I'd like to give you just the personal reason I support NOM: Because I am so grateful to have been raised by mom and know from that experience how she loves me the way only a mom can.
Gay marriage -- and HRC -- deny that a mother's love is unique and special. Why on earth would moms, who know how much their kids need them, want to support an organization like HRC which is dedicated to the idea that moms are replaceable and dispensable. Talk about a paradox.
Anyway, a very happy belated mother's day to all the moms across America -- especially the 500,000 or so moms (by my rough guess) who voted to protect marriage between a man and a woman last week in North Carolina! You rock!
Sen. Orrin Hatch is calling on the IRS to investigate whether someone on the inside could have leaked the private tax files of a prominent anti-gay marriage group.
Hatch, in a letter Tuesday to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, said, "evidence suggests that the IRS may have been the source of the unauthorized disclosure of donor information."
The Republican Utah senator was referring to the recent publication of documents listing 2008 contributors to the National Organization for Marriage. Among those contributors was Mitt Romney.
Both the gay advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign and the Huffington Post posted the documents -- the National Organization for Marriage has claimed it appears someone in the IRS fed the documents to the Human Rights Campaign.
That possibility "is a matter that I take with the utmost seriousness," Hatch wrote, calling the allegation "disturbing."
"Our political history shows the absolute necessity of maintaining the nonpartisan integrity of the IRS," Hatch wrote, calling for an investigation.
A spokesman for the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign didn't respond to the question of whether or not authorities had contacted the group after reports that Sen. Orrin Hatch had called for an IRS investigation into the leaked National Organization for Marriage tax documents that HRC obtained earlier this spring."NOM's charges of illegal conduct by HRC are absolutely false," HRC's vice president of communications Fred Sainz told BuzzFeed. "Last month, HRC lawfully obtained and disseminated truthful information about NOM's racial-wedge strategy and secret donors. Noticeably absent from NOM's allegations is any awareness of First Amendment freedoms. Embarrassed that its true agenda is out in the open, NOM has launched a crusade to intimidate and suppress those who are revealing its anti-LGBT mission. HRC has no intention of helping NOM to suppress the truth."
... The Daily Caller reported today that Utah senator Orrin Hatch wrote a letter to the IRS commissioner asking for an investigation into the documents leak:
"Evidence suggests that the IRS may have been the source of the unauthorized disclosure of donor information," Hatch wrote in the letter, calling the leak "a matter that I take with the utmost seriousness, and I expect that you will treat this inquiry with the attention that it deserves.”
HRC distributed the documents, but it's not clear how they obtained them. -- BuzzFeed
NewsMax on the news we reported earlier this morning about ongoing developments in our quest for definitive answers from the IRS about the leak of our confidential tax documents to the HRC:
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch is asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the possible unauthorized disclosure of the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) confidential donor information.
The Utah Republican wrote IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman Tuesday asking for the probe into the possible leak inside his own agency.
Hatch, the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote that “evidence suggests that the IRS may have been the source of the unauthorized disclosure of donor information,” and adds that this “is a matter that I take with the utmost seriousness, and I expect that you will treat this inquiry with the attention that it deserves.”
“Our political history shows the absolute necessity of maintaining the nonpartisan integrity of the IRS,” he writes, adding: “The proper administration of the nation’s tax laws requires confidence that the personal and confidential information filed with IRS will not be improperly disclosed or used for political purposes.”
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it.
Founded in 2007 in response to the growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures, NOM serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level.
They also include a copy of Sen. Hatch's letter.
Matt K. Lewis at the Daily Caller:
The saga over who leaked the IRS documents continues…
In a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, has requested an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) confidential donor information.
Hatch notes in the letter that “evidence suggests that the IRS may have been the source of the unauthorized disclosure of donor information,” and adds that this “is a matter that I take with the utmost seriousness, and I expect that you will treat this inquiry with the attention that it deserves.”
“Our political history shows the absolute necessity of maintaining the nonpartisan integrity of the IRS,” he writes, adding: “The proper administration of the nation’s tax laws requires confidence that the personal and confidential information filed with IRS will not be improperly disclosed or used for political purposes.”
... The letter from Hatch is significant because it is the first time a U.S. lawmaker has echoed NOM’s calls for an IRS investigation into the alleged leak.
Hatch has asked to hear back from the IRS by no later than May 29, 2012. A copy of his letter was also sent to the Attorney General.
From a Politico story on "President Obama's Marriage Muddle":
Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, who briefly served as director of the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign ...
“We are going lose in North Carolina today and that will make the POTUS campaign think they are right, and the activist crowd say now is the time for leadership,” Rosen said. “This thing gets messier as the election goes on. It is a function of the timing of the issue, not anyone’s fault.”
A trial balloon in advance of President Obama changing his public position on marriage? Or an attempt by the administration to placate pro-SSM activists and donors?
Vice President Joe Biden stopped short on Sunday of pledging to legalize gay marriage should President Obama win a second term.
“That’s what I believe. I am vice president of the United States of America, the president sets the policy,” he said on NBC's Meet the Press. “I am absolutely comfortable with men marrying men, women marrying women.”
The White House told reporters on Sunday that that Biden's comments are not a shift from the administration's official policy. But gay rights groups, like the Human Rights Campaign, seized on the opportunity to call on President Obama to take decisive action to support same-sex marriage.
"We are encouraged by Vice President Biden's comments, who rightly articulated that loving and committed gay and lesbian couples should be treated equally," HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a statement. "Now is the time for President Obama to speak out for full marriage equality for same-sex couples." -- National Journal
Rob Bluey of the Heritage Foundation's investigative unit with an exclusive update for Breitbart.com:
The National Organization for Marriage is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute the individuals responsible for leaking the organization’s confidential U.S. tax return and then illegally publishing it.
The stolen tax return was first published by the Human Rights Campaign and subsequently the Huffington Post. HRC is led by Joe Solmonese, who also serves as a co-chairman of President Obama's reelection committee.
In an April 25 letter to Kathryn Keneally, assistant attorney general for DOJ’s tax division, NOM President Brian Brown and Chairman John C. Eastman request an immediate investigation “to identify the person(s) responsible for these illegal actions.” (The letter is published below.)
Brown will provide an update on the brewing scandal at The Bloggers Briefing. Breitbart TV, in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, will air it live on Tuesday at noon ET.
President Obama and HRC, taking pages out of each other's playbooks?
Try this thought experiment: You decide to donate money to Mitt Romney. You want change in the Oval Office, so you engage in your democratic right to send a check.
Several days later, President Barack Obama, the most powerful man on the planet, singles you out by name. His campaign brands you a Romney donor, shames you for "betting against America," and accuses you of having a "less-than-reputable" record. The message from the man who controls the Justice Department (which can indict you), the SEC (which can fine you), and the IRS (which can audit you), is clear: You made a mistake donating that money.
Are you worried?
Richard Nixon's "enemies list" appalled the country for the simple reason that presidents hold a unique trust. Unlike senators or congressmen, presidents alone represent all Americans. Their powers—to jail, to fine, to bankrupt—are also so vast as to require restraint. Any president who targets a private citizen for his politics is de facto engaged in government intimidation and threats. This is why presidents since Nixon have carefully avoided the practice.
Save Mr. Obama, who acknowledges no rules. This past week, one of his campaign websites posted an item entitled "Behind the curtain: A brief history of Romney's donors." -- The Wall Street Journal
Erick Erickson, CNN political analyst and founder of RedState writes:
Someone within the Internal Revenue Service leaked to the gay-rights organization Human Rights Campaign the private Form 990 of the National Organization of Marriage. The form contains a list of major donors to the National Organization for Marriage. The IRS Form 990 is available for public inspection on request, but the law is very clear that donors are to have their information redacted.
... The Landmark Legal Foundation’s Mark Levin, also a popular radio show host, recently highlighted troubling IRS activities against tea party groups. Many tea party groups in the country claim the IRS is attempting to undermine their 501(c)(3) tax status. The IRS attempts go beyond normal tax challenges demanding specific information into family members, outside groups, affiliates, and deep background on individuals involved as officers of the tea party groups.
The use of the IRS as a political tool to intimidate opponents of the government is positively Nixonian, but only because the income tax and IRS were barely out of the fetal stage for Woodrow Wilson.
FoxNews adds to the growing number of media outlets demanding answers:
"...The National Organization for Marriage is on the warpath over the alleged breach. It has called for an IRS investigation and fired off a warning letter to the Human Rights Campaign, the pro-gay marriage group that first published the documents before taking them down.
...the gay marriage debate aside, National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown said the leak was illegal.
"This is not something you'd expect to happen in the U.S.," he told FoxNews.com, noting that dozens of other donor names were on the leaked document. "The issue is this is a private tax document."
Brown has called for an investigation by the Inspector General for Tax Administration. His group, after analyzing the leaked documents, claimed the original versions have "official use" and other stamps on them indicating they were internal documents. Brown says that means somebody in the IRS leaked them, or somebody hacked into the IRS system to obtain them.
"This is a potential criminal investigation," he said, claiming the IRS has contacted the group and is "taking this seriously."
Jason Bradley of BigGovernment.com writes about the unfolding scandal NOM is beginning to uncover:
If something as obvious as this happened to a liberal organization, you can bet the mainstream media would be all over it. But being a conservative, pro-traditional-marriage group, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been afforded no such luxury. On March 30 the Human Rights Campaign posted a scanning of NOM’s 2008 tax Form 990, complete with confidential donor information – including that of GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, who is listed as having given a $10,000 donation to NOM. Shortly after the HRC posted the documents, the Huffington Post followed suit.
Here’s the problem: The information on a 990, which tax-exempt groups are required to file, is meant only for Internal Revenue Service eyes, and revealing it constitutes a felony. In a twist that seems not at all to be coincidental, the HRC is headed by Joe Solomonese, a recently appointed national co-chair of the Obama reelection campaign.
... Given that this all happened in the run-up to today, tax day, where was the outrage? Where was the swift condemnation by pundits and organizations on both sides of the political aisle? After all, this is not a gay-marriage issue; this isn’t even just a conservative issue (and if it were, it would still merit examination). The fact is this is a matter of legality. A crime appears to have been committed, and an investigation is indeed in order. That this matter is not getting the attention it deserves is testament, yet again, to the left-wing bias of the mainstream media.
Alexis Levinson of The Daily Caller with an exclusive follow-up to this developing story:
In response to allegations that the Internal Revenue Service improperly leaked financial information about the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the IRS told The Daily Caller that it takes the laws requiring it to protect the confidentiality of documents submitted to it seriously.
... Reached by the TheDC, the IRS did not directly deny the allegations, but said that they take confidentiality requirements very seriously.
“Federal law, Internal Revenue Code 6103, protects the confidentiality of taxpayer return information,” IRS spokesman Dean Patterson emailed. “IRS takes this confidentiality of return information very seriously. Any allegations of improper disclosures of taxpayer information are investigated by the Treasury Inspector General.”
The IRS declined to address the issue of the “Official Use” seal, or to say whether the Department of the Treasury inspector general was indeed beginning an investigation.
“We are very confident that the IRS is taking this seriously, that the administration is taking this seriously,” NOM President Brian Brown told TheDC. “This is a felony to do this, and we trust that the admin will investigate.”
... “I have no doubt that we will have an investigation,” Brown told TheDC, and he said that he is equally certain that the investigation will end in “prosecution.”
“It is a felony,” he told TheDC, both to leak the information and for the Huffington Post and Human Rights Council (HRC) to post the information online. HRC has since removed the documents.
“We are working with our lawyers to make sure justice is done,” he said.
“The public deserves to know,” he concluded, that regardless of ones politics, “the IRS is not going to get your personal information and give it to your political opponents to punish you.”
The Christian Broadcasting Network:
The National Organization for Marriage is demanding a criminal investigation after The Huffington Post published a copy of the group's 1099 private tax form, listing confidential donor information.
The news organization, which published the 2008 form on March 30, claims it obtained the tax return from one of NOM's political opponents, the Human Rights Campaign.
The Human Rights Campaign finally removed all posted references to the un-redacted tax forms after NOM attorneys contacted the group with released proof that the Internal Revenue Service had leaked the information.
... Thomas Peters, with the National Organization of Marriage, spoke with CBN News about the illegal leak and its potential connection to President Obama's re-election campaign, on CBN Newswatch, Tuesday, April 17.
