Republicans sought IRS probe of NAACP

By Lee Russ

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 12:38 PM

This should help the Republicans attract black voters, huh?

Republicans sought IRS probe of NAACP
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BALTIMORE -- Several Republican members of Congress sent letters to the Internal Revenue Service questioning whether the NAACP had veered into political advocacy and asked for an investigation into its tax-exempt status, according to documents released by the civil rights organization.

The IRS began looking into the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People about a month before the 2004 presidential election after a speech by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond that was largely critical of President Bush's policies.

Political campaigning is prohibited under the NAACP's tax-exempt status. The IRS said its inquiry would focus on whether Bond's speech was too political, and that the investigation is among dozens into the activities of tax-exempt groups during the 2004 election season.

The NAACP received more than 500 pages of documents the IRS has gathered to begin its inquiry. The group had made requests under the Freedom of Information Act and provided the documents to The (Baltimore) Sun.

The documents include letters that members of Congress sent to the IRS on behalf of their constituents. The lawmakers include Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Susan M. Collins of Maine, Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and former Reps. Larry Combest of Texas and Joe Scarborough of Florida. All are Republicans.

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Say, I wonder how many Republicans requested IRS investigations of the increasing political activity of tax-exempt Christian churches?  Tons, probably, don't you think?  After all, that would be the Christian thing to do.