From LA Times:
Antiwar remarks at All Saints in Pasadena were made two days before the 2004 election. The church is ordered to hand over records. The IRS investigation was triggered by an antiwar sermon delivered by its former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, at the church two days before the 2004 presidential election.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who unsuccessfully tried to launch a Government Accountability Office investigation into the IRS’ probes of churches nationwide last year, called the summons "a very disturbing escalation" of the agency’s scrutiny of All Saints. "I don’t want religious organizations to become arms of campaigns," he said. "But they should be able to talk about issues of war and peace without fear of losing tax-exempt status. If they can’t, they’ll have little to say from the pulpit."
The extreme Christian Right pulled out all the stops during the ‘04 election and right now are planning a massive drive to elect Republicans in November,
Conservative Christian radio host James C. Dobson’s national organization, Focus on the Family, said yesterday that it will work with affiliated groups in eight battleground states to mobilize evangelical voters in the November elections. In targeting individual churches the way political organizers traditionally pinpointed certain wards, Focus on the Family is filling a void left by the near-collapse of the Christian Coalition and stepping into an area where recent Republican Party efforts have created resentment among evangelicals.
Another red flag might have been raised for the IRS’s Political Activity Compliance Initiative when Karl Rove called James Dobson to assure him that Harriet Miers was the right choice for him.
He then admitted "It was leaked to the media that I’ve had conversations with Karl Rove and the White House, which is true." He said "There is so much in the balance [with this nominee], there is no way to put it into words . . . Because of that, Dobson is begging the Lord: "If this is not the person you want on that Supreme Court, all you have to do is tell me so, and do it through any means you want to." He finally then discussed why he is supporting Miers, saying "I can’t reveal it all, because I do know things that I’m privy to that I can’t describe, because of confidentiality."
More on the story
Why isn’t Dobson’s group getting a little call from the IRS?
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