["I am not a crook"] Tea Party groups prepare to sue IRS

[Joe Cooper]

'We could lose everything': Tea Party groups prepare to sue IRS

WASHINGTON � Jay Devereaux hadn�t paid much attention to the daily
drumbeat of partisan politics in D.C. He wasn�t a Washington nerd, and
didn�t know who said what during congressional hearings -- nor did he
care.

But when news broke that the government was using taxpayer money to bail
out Wall Street banks, he started paying attention and didn�t like what
he was hearing.

So the Florida father and information technology specialist decided to
form a group, Unite in Action, to educate people in his area about the
issues, he said. It was originally formed as a corporation before
Devereaux decided to apply for tax-exempt status from the IRS.

That was two years ago. It was never approved.

�It�s all but killed us,� Devereaux told FoxNews.com. �We could lose
everything. Today, it�s me and my organization, but tomorrow it could be
you.�

Devereaux is among a group of activists, being represented by the
American Center for Law and Justice, who are preparing to sue the federal
government for the practice of targeting Tea Party groups. ACLJ Executive
Director Jordan Sekulow told FoxNews.com he'll likely file the civil
suits next Wednesday or Thursday on behalf of more than a dozen Tea Party
groups who say they were singled out by the IRS and had their tax-exempt
status severely delayed or denied altogether.

The suits, combined with congressional inquiries and an FBI probe, signal
that the heated hearing on Capitol Hill Friday � with the outgoing IRS
chief � was just the start of a protracted legal and political battle
over the scandal.

Sekulow said the number of plaintiffs in the civil suit are growing as is
the list of who his organization wants held accountable. It�s still
unclear whether the organization will file as a class-action or
individually in the 17 different states where the complaints originate.

Litigation could take months or years and for some like Devereaux, time
isn�t on their side.

While initially waiting for IRS approval, Devereaux dipped into his own
bank account, maxed out credit cards and even borrowed money from friends
so his group could put on a civic-engagement training session at the Omni
Shoreham hotel in Washington. His goal was to eventually set up a steady
stream of revenue for a tax-exempt nonprofit.

The next time Devereaux heard from the IRS, they had requested details
and credentials on every single speaker and all the educational materials
provided in the 78 classes held at the hotel. The IRS also wanted
information on all 45 vendors, their credentials and a donor list.

Devereaux refused.

Five rounds of IRS letters later, and United in Action�s tax-exempt
status is still in limbo.

If they are denied, Devereaux�s group would owe the federal government
�somewhere in the neighborhood of $70,000 in back taxes,� he said,
referring to money he would owe the government on donations.

�It�s more than we have in our bank account,� he said.

He's not alone.

Waco Tea Party President Toby Walker said her group applied for a 501(c)
(4) status in July 2010. She�d call the IRS from time to time to check on
the progress but was basically told, �Don�t call us, we�ll call you,� she
said.

Then in February 2012, the IRS finally made contact.

Walker said she was asked questions that went well beyond the purview of
the agency's authority. They wanted to know everything about the Waco Tea
Party group, their relationships with public officials, lists of
volunteers and every single news story the group had ever been mentioned
in.

Walker said the request was so lengthy and intrusive that had she
complied with the demands, she �would have needed a U-haul truck of about
20 feet.�

While Walker�s group was finally granted tax-exempt status in March 2013,
she said a lot of damage has already been done. She said people were
afraid to support her group financially because they had not received the
IRS-stamped status.

Others were afraid that they might be targeted by the IRS if they
supported Walker�s group publicly. Having one of the most powerful
government agencies angry at them wasn�t a risk many people were willing
to take. And so the group suffered, she said.

�We spent thousands of our own dollars fighting this,� she said. �If this
happens to one organization in America, we should all be outraged.�

Allegations that the IRS had been targeting conservative groups that
applied for tax-exempt status date back years but a government report
released Wednesday backed up the claims. The White House has spent most
of the week trying to contain the fallout from the scandal. "Americans
are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," President Obama
said earlier this week.

By Friday, two of the agency�s top tax officials had been removed from
their posts. One, outgoing acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller, was
grilled Friday morning in the House Ways and Means Committee by
Republican and Democratic lawmakers who demanded answers on why the
unfair practice of targeting conservative groups was allowed to continue
on his watch.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/18/could-lose-everything-tea-
party-groups-prepare-to-sue-irs/

--
Enjoy Internet Privacy And Anonymity: http://hidemyass.com/vpn/r6995:5/

Leftists think and act like protofascists. Control is the key. And
control through fear, threat of force, and rhetorical intimidation
is the modus operandi. (Ben Shapro, "Bullies")