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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Palau who wrote (11542)	9/1/2006 12:57:14 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

It is always interesting to read differing perscpecitves: NAACP cleared of partisanship in 2004 speech By Brian DeBose THE WASHINGTON TIMES September 1, 2006 The Internal Revenue Service has concluded its investigation into the activities of the NAACP, clearing the group of charges of partisan political intervention that could have threatened its nonprofit status. In a letter to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Baltimore headquarters, the IRS said it concluded its examination of the group's 501(c)(3) status for 2004 and "determined that you continue to qualify as an organization." A speech by board Chairman Julian Bond at the annual convention of the NAACP in July 2004 prompted complaints from the "general public," according to the IRS, that the group "opposed the re-election of President George W. Bush." "The IRS letter announcing our vindication is itself dishonest and disingenuous," Mr. Bond said yesterday. "They claim the information triggering their probe came from the general public. In fact, it came from partisan officeholders and activists." Mr. Bond has excoriated the president in every keynote speech he has made to the NAACP convention since the 2000 election. But he has never explicitly told anyone not to vote for Mr. Bush, which would be necessary to prove intervention charges. The letter from the IRS, dated Aug. 9, says the investigation took nearly two years because the NAACP did not cooperate with IRS inquiries. Marsha A. Ramirez, director of tax-exempt examinations, who signed the letter, said, "Although we would have been able to conclude this matter more expeditiously with your cooperation, we were ultimately able to obtain sufficient information to resolve the serious and credible allegation giving rise to the examination." Attorneys for the NAACP said in February 2005 that the examination was politically motivated and that they would not respond to the initial request for information. But yesterday, Dennis C. Hayes, the organization's chief counsel, said the IRS accusations of noncompliance are a distortion. He said the IRS refused to explain the inquiry process or what the agency was looking for, forcing the organization's attorneys to file four Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to understand the investigation. "This process has never been applied to any individual or group like the NAACP, and I think internal people at the IRS know that," Mr. Hayes said. NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon said the IRS admitted that the focus of the examination was Mr. Bond's 2004 speech, which was a matter of public record on the group's Web site. The IRS said in the letter that it did not view the recording of the speech until July 2005. "The speech has been live [on the Web site] since 2004, so what they are saying is that they just got around to viewing it 10 months after it was recorded when they could have gotten it any time," he said. The NAACP has obtained copies of Republicans' requests for an IRS investigation of the group going back to 2000. Among those making such requests were Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Susan Collins of Maine, former Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, former Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. of Maryland -- now the governor -- and Joe Scarborough of Florida, who is now a cable news talk-show host. "There are a number of documents we asked for that [the IRS has] not provided, and I think we will resubmit those FOIAs to get those documents," Mr. Bond said.