Here are some highlights from yesterday's Ways and Means House Committee hearing on the IRS targeting conservative groups. NOM's case was mentioned several times:
Category Archives: Same Sex Marriage
Audio: NOM's Eastman on Mike Huckabee Show: IRS Targeted Us
May 18, 2013 – 10:15 am
Our Chairman John Eastman explained to listeners of the Mike Huckabee show what is happening and why it matters:
Video: NOM's Eastman on Cavuto (FoxNews Business)
May 17, 2013 – 9:45 am
Neil Cavuto on FoxNews Business devoted an entire segment last night during prime time to our announcement we will sue the IRS for illegally divulging our confidential tax returns:
Text: Sen. McConnell's Remarks on the Senate Floor: IRS Targeting of NOM "Clearly Merits Investigation"
May 16, 2013 – 3:30 pm
Today Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed at length NOM's situation on the floor of the U.S. Senate and says it merits investigation:
...“Last May, Senator Hatch — the top Republican on the Finance Committee — sent a letter to the IRS inquiring about reports that someone at the IRS had leaked confidential donor information from NOM to an advocacy group whose political goals were in direct conflict with its own.
“NOM has since released documents suggesting that this information came from one source — from within the IRS itself. All this took place, by the way, in the middle of a national political campaign.
“Significantly, one of the NOM donors whose name was leaked was none other than Mitt Romney. What a coincidence. And what about the group it was leaked to?
“Well, it was headed by a guy who was named a co-chair of the Obama campaign, and who published the confidential donor information on the website of the organization he ran – an organization opposed to the goals of NOM.
“So here’s another situation that, at the very least, clearly merits investigation. There are allegations here that someone at the IRS committed a very serious crime that had the effect of chilling the speech of a political organization that happened to be on the wrong side of the current Administration.
“Yet, a year later, Senator Hatch has yet to hear anything back from the IRS. And, according to the folks at NOM, neither have they."
You can read his entire set of remarks here.
Video: NOM's Eastman on Fox News Greta Van Susteren
May 16, 2013 – 9:45 am
Last night our Chairman John Eastman appeared on Greta Van Susteren to discuss the IRS leak of NOM's documents:
NOM Chairman Eastman in USA Today: IRS Committed Political Sabotage
May 16, 2013 – 8:00 am
NOM's Chairman John Eastman has published a column in USAToday which we urge you to read and share!
"...For the IRS to leak any organization's tax return to its political opponents is an outrageous breach of ethics and, if proven, constitutes a felony. Every organization — liberal and conservative — should shudder at the idea of the IRS playing politics with its confidential tax return information. But the situation here is even more egregious because the head of the HRC was at the time serving as a national co-chair of President Obama's re-election campaign.
The release of NOM's confidential tax return to the Human Rights Campaign is the canary in the coal mine of IRS corruption. Contrary to assertions that the targeting of Tea Party groups was an error in judgment by low-level IRS bureaucrats, the release of NOM's confidential data to a group headed by an Obama campaign co-chair suggests the possibility of complicity at the highest levels of politics and government. This wasn't a low-level error in judgment; it was a conscious act to reward a prominent Obama supporter while punishing an opponent.
That's the reason the IRS has not been very interested in getting to the bottom of what happened. Federal investigators have interviewed NOM officials about the matter, but our efforts to find out what has become of the investigation have been stonewalled at every turn."
Help Us Expose the Truth About the IRS!
May 15, 2013 – 2:45 pm
Dear Marriage Supporter,
Of all the scandals plaguing the Obama administration this week, the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service targeted Tea Party and conservative groups for harassment during the last Presidential election is perhaps the most shocking.
But it pales in comparison to what we have been attempting to expose for over a year: that the IRS is also guilty of leaking our confidential tax return to our opponents at the Human Rights Campaign!
Now that the eyes of the nation are fixed on this exploding IRS scandal, this is our opportunity to expose the truth!
Only the unique powers of Congress to subpoena, question and investigate will help us expose the truth about how HRC's Joe Solmonese, a national co-chair of the campaign to reelect President Obama, came to possess the confidential documents NOM submitted only to the IRS to comply fully with the law.
This is the smoking gun that proves the IRS not only harassed conservative groups, it went so far as to release confidential and sensitive information to their liberal opponents in a Presidential election year! What's very clear is that the IRS still has more to hide and Americans deserve to know the full truth.
Already we've had huge success calling attention to this critical story. The front page of the Drudge Report, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and many more top news outlets are covering our story today.
But I need your help to ensure Congress launches an investigation into what the IRS did to NOM and how it came to be that an Obama campaign co-chair gained possession our private and confidential tax returns.
Thank you — we will never stop fighting to expose the truth and fight for the truth of marriage.
Politico, The Hill, Fox News, Breitbart, HotAir Cover NOM's Announcement on Suing the IRS
May 15, 2013 – 10:00 am
More and more top news outlets are drawing attention to this important story!
"...In April 2012, the Huffington Post and the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, posted IRS documents indicating GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney had given $10,000 to the anti-gay marriage group. While the same inspector general who uncovered the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups was investigating the case, NOM has been frustrated with the pace of the investigation."
"...For over a year, NOM has argued that the IRS directly leaked confidential tax information, which included a list of private donors. With the IRS back under harsh scrutiny after it apologized for targeting Tea Party groups, NOM is taking legal action, and inviting other conservative causes to do so as well."
"...Accusations of improper IRS behavior surfaced again in 2012 when a prominent anti-gay marriage group accused the agency of leaking private tax files that listed then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney's group as a contributor. The National Organization for Marriage documents were later published by a group whose president was tied to the Obama re-election campaign.
NOM claimed that someone from the IRS fed the liberal Human Rights Campaign documents listing its 2008 contributors. On that list was a $10,000 donation from Romney’s political action committee. The Human Rights Campaign then published the documents online, saying it had uncovered one of the group’s “top secret donors,” and accused Romney of attacking lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality."
"...The National Organization for Marriage, a conservative organization whose confidential records were leaked by the IRS to its left-wing critics, announced on Tuesday it will sue the tax agency for damages. NOM’s 2008 tax return was, according to a press release the group sent out on Tuesday, taken by the IRS and subsequently leaked to its primary political opponent the Human Rights Campaign."
"...Matt Lewis reported on the leak at the time, which culminated in HuffPo trying to make political hay of a Romney-affiliated donation to NOM. In 2012, NOM requested an investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the same office that authored the draft report on the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, which is to be released this week. They were interviewed, but never heard anything of an investigation’s process: “Nothing has come of the investigation if there is indeed one, and the agency has refused to answer any questions about the status of its examination,” NOM said in a press release."
Top of Drudge: Claim: Obama Co-Chair Attacked Romney With Leaked IRS Docs
May 15, 2013 – 9:15 am
Our press release yesterday is now top news on Drudge Report this morning:
That headline links to this story on Brietbart.com:
One of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign co-chairmen used a leaked document from the IRS to attack GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney during the 2012 election, according to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
NOM, a pro-traditional marriage organization, claims the IRS leaked their 2008 confidential financial documents to the rival Human Rights Campaign. Those NOM documents were published on the Huffington Post on March 30, 2012. At that time, Joe Solmonese, a left-wing activist and Huffington Post contributor, was the president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Solmonese was also a 2012 Obama campaign co-chairman.
... “Not only has Romney signed NOM’s radical marriage pledge, now we know he’s one of the donors that NOM has been so desperate to keep secret all these years,” Solmonese added.
Solmonese resigned his position at HRC the next day and took up a position as an Obama campaign co-chair.
National Organization for Marriage Announces it Will Sue the IRS Over Theft and Subsequent Leak of Organization's Confidential Tax Return
May 14, 2013 – 2:55 pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2013
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)
Washington, D.C. — The National Organization for Marriage today announced they will file a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service seeking damages over the illegal theft of the organization's confidential tax return from 2008 and its subsequent leak to the Human Rights Campaign, NOM's principal political opponent.
"Not only has the IRS retaliated against conservative, small-government and tea party groups as they apply for recognition of tax exemption AND lied about it, but it has criminally released our confidential tax return including the identity of dozens of major donors to a political enemy," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "In addition to being our principal combatant in the war on traditional marriage, the HRC's president at the time was serving as a Co-Chair of President Obama's reelection campaign. This is a chilling set of circumstances that should ring alarm bells across the nation."
NOM has retained ActRight Legal Foundation to file the lawsuit in federal district court in the District of Columbia. Separately, the conservative public interest law firm will also file a lawsuit on behalf of another nonprofit, which was subjected to inappropriate political activity in the review of their nonprofit application.
"The very core of our ordered society has been shaken by this political roughing-up of nonprofits by the IRS" says NOM's Chairman, Dr. John C. Eastman. "As a constitutional law scholar I can tell you that no nonprofit should ever have to experience this kind of retaliation. I am pleased to announce that the excellent attorneys at ActRight Legal Foundation have identified a strong legal strategy that should ultimately hold the IRS accountable and result in lasting change inside of the IRS."
NOM expects that ActRight Legal Foundation will file the lawsuit later this month.
Any nonprofit who has experienced this IRS retaliation and illegal activity is encouraged to contact ActRight Legal Foundation because you may have a legal remedy.
###
To schedule an interview with Dr. John C. Eastman, chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), eray@crcpublicrelations.com, or Jen Campbell (x145), jcampbell@crcpublicrelations.com, at tel:703-683-5004.
Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).
Human Events: More IRS Abuses of Power Against Conservative Groups (Including NOM)
May 14, 2013 – 11:45 am
Shout-out to John Hayward of Human Events for including NOM's longstanding complaint along with other alleged IRS abuses:
"...The National Organization for Marriage, a prominent group that holds the opinion Obama used to agree with, has a long-standing complaint about confidential tax information somehow finding its way into the hands of the Human Rights Campaign, a group that supports Obama’s new position… and is headed by the co-chair of the Obama 2012 campaign. NOM renewed its calls for justice when the IRS scandal exploded."
WSJ's Taranto Notes: HRC/HuffPo Published NOM's 990
May 14, 2013 – 10:15 am
James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal lists our case as a possible example of the IRS targeting groups for ideological reasons:
• In March 2012, the Puffington Host published a confidential form that the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage, had filed with the IRS. The website obtained the document from the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-same-sex-marriage outfit. In a press release issued today, NOM says its analysis of the images "has determined that the documents came directly from the Internal Revenue Service."
The Daily Caller: IRS Admits to Targeting Conservative Groups, But Did They Also Leak Documents?
May 14, 2013 – 8:00 am
Matt K. Lewis of The Daily Caller points out that most reporters have neglected to report that the IRS is guilty not only of targeting conservative groups, but also of leaking NOM's private tax documents -- clearly a broader investigation is needed:
A little over a year ago, I reported that, ”It is likely that someone at the Internal Revenue Service illegally leaked confidential donor information showing a contribution from Mitt Romney’s political action committee to the National Organization for Marriage, says the group.”
Now — on the heels of news the IRS’s apology for having targeted conservative groups — NOM is renewing their demand that the Internal Revenue Service reveal the identity of the people responsible.
“There is little question that one or more employees at the IRS stole our confidential tax return and leaked it to our political enemies, in violation of federal law,” said NOM’s president Brian Brow, in a prepared statement. “The only questions are who did it, and whether there was any knowledge or coordination between people in the White House, the Obama reelection campaign and the Human Rights Campaign. We and the American people deserve answers.”
Politico: NOM Calls for Hearing After IRS Flap
May 13, 2013 – 2:45 pm
Our press release today on the growing IRS scandal and its connection to what happened to our private tax return is gaining attention -- including on capitol hill and Politico:
The National Organization for Marriage hopes revelations about the IRS unfairly targeting conservative groups can revitalize an investigation into who leaked its donor information last year.
“This is what happens in the Soviet Union,” NOM President Brian Brown told POLITICO on Monday. “This is not what happens in the United States of America.”
In April 2012, the Huffington Post and the Human Rights Campaign posted documents showing GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney donated $10,000 to NOM in 2008. The anti-gay marriage group immediately cried foul and called for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration — the same investigators who are set to release a report on the IRS targeting later this week — to investigate, accusing IRS employees of leaking the documents.
... Brown said the group wants a congressional hearing to look into the document release, since the group’s attempts to use the Freedom of Information Act to stay updated on the case have been unsuccessful.
“Without a congressional hearing and Congress’ subpoena power, where are we?” Brown asked. “All we’re getting is what [the IRS] wants to say.”
You Won’t Believe What They Called You
May 13, 2013 – 10:22 am
Dear Marriage Supporter,
Name-calling is wrong. Don't stereotype and make unfair generalizations. It's bad to single people out for mockery and stigmatization.
These are all values that Hollywood liberals claim to hold.
Unless, that is, you support marriage. Then, apparently, all bets are off.
You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you, but if you already know of the incredible hypocrisy in Hollywood please make a donation right now to help NOM counteract their hateful and destructive propaganda aimed at defenders of marriage like us.
Thanks to a generous donor, your gift today will be matched dollar-for-dollar, DOUBLING the impact it will have in the fight to defend marriage.
This week a NOM supporter sent me a mock Public Service Announcement video narrated by George Takei (of the original Star Trek television series) and featuring two gay actors, Jesse Tyler Ferguson of ABC's Modern Family and Brad Goreski, who has a new show on Bravo. The video was produced to promote an organization which gives money to gay marriage initiatives.
Here's how Takei's narration begins as he describes an actor, "Dale," who represents a "typical" supporter of traditional marriage:
There is one person living on this street whose orientation threatens to destroy society... What you can't tell about Dale is that he's sick. He opposes marriage equality. Dale looks normal, but he gives off clues of his prejudice with buzzwords like "pro-family", "traditional marriage" or...
I'm not able to finish this quotation because it includes an offensive reference to oral sex.
The video goes on to say that "Dale would let any two idiots marry, unless those two idiots are gay." In the video, Dale is seen shouting at and arguing with his wife, and Takei points out he's been divorced twice. Takei says his current wife is unhappy being married to Dale and shows Dale having a drinking problem.
The video keeps up in this vein for a couple more minutes before concluding:
The most important thing to remember when dealing with people who don't support marriage equality is to be kind. They're most likely hiding their own homosexuality [Editor's Note: Dale pinches a man's butt as this line is delivered] ... besides these people don't know they're being a**holes.
In other words, Dale is a sick, bigoted, ignorant, drunken, hypocritical, fill-in-the-blank.
But you see, the producers of this video want your friends, family and the rest of society to believe that you are Dale.
This video is unbridled hatred and bigotry towards people like you and me who believe in marriage. Some gay marriage activists clearly believe their own propaganda that gay marriage is inevitable, and now they are no longer attempting to hide their loathing and hatred of good people like you and me who simply believe marriage is the unique and special union of husband and wife.
If you are outraged as I am over this video please help counteract its desired effect by taking a stand for marriage by donating $35, $50, $100 or $500 to NOM today to support our efforts to protect marriage and good people like you who believe in marriage.
This video is already making the rounds and has been promoted by the popular website BuzzFeed. And the three actors involved aren't nobodies—one is a well-known actor on an ABC primetime sitcom, the second has his own show on Bravo, and the third appeared in the original Star Trek series.
We can't afford to let this kind of overt prejudice and bigotry against good people who believe in marriage become mainstream!
Thank you and God bless you in this good fight.
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