Posted on 08/05/2011 10:44:12 AM PDT by jazusamo
Interviews with current and former IRS officials outline a roadmap of the tax laws the agency would use in deciding whether to pull the nonprofit Media Matters’ tax-exempt status for stepping beyond its charitable mission of educating the public on conservative “misinformation.”
In a formal petition filed with the IRS on July 27, President George W. Bush’s former White House counsel, C. Boyden Gray, has asked the IRS to revoke the nonprofit’s tax-exempt status because its "unlawful conduct" is in “violation” of U.S. tax law, due to its moves to “sabotage” the commercial interests of FOX News and News Corp., its parent, among other things.
(The full petition can be read below.)
Such activities are not found in the scope of nonprofit tax law, former IRS officials and tax lawyers tell FOX Business, which is the sister network of FOX News.
Media Matters did not respond to repeated phone calls and emails over a month-long period asking for comment. Gray tells FOX Business he filed the request "pro bono" and is not on News Corp.'s payroll.
Marcus Owens, the IRS’s former head of its exempt organizations division, also says the website Politico gave an incomplete and “jumbled description” of his explanation of how a part of the tax law protects Media Matters’ activities. Media Matters has been reportedly using Owens’ comments to defend its activities.
Gray notes in his IRS petition the nonprofit’s campaign to get advertisers to "Drop FOX” -- words billboarded on its website along with "NewsCorpwatch" that link viewers to form letters to send to advertisers to get them to stop advertising on the network.
Because it is a nonprofit, the U.S. government is also effectively supporting the website's attempt to disrupt News Corp's purchase of BSkyB, a satellite broadcaster; its demands to Congress to investigate News...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
After the New Black Panther case got tossed from the DOJ, does anyone really expect equal treatment from any branch of the Obama administration? The test will be whether the IRS thinks Media Matters helps Dear Leader.
Agreed, the chances of Holder and his thugs going after Media Matters are very slim and none.
I do admire C. Boyden Gray for filing the petition with the IRS though, hopefully a lot of noise will be made.
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