In 2012 Karl Rove stated to the IRS that his group, Crossroads GPS, was a social welfare organization and would use part of the money the group raised for grants to assist other social welfare groups for non-political purposes - “not for political expenditures, consistent with the organization’s tax-exempt mission.”
But new evidence, according to Pro Publica, appears to contradict Rove’s sworn statements.
New tax documents, made public last Tuesday, indicate that at least $11.2 million of the grant money given to the group Americans for Tax Reform was spent on political activities expressly advocating for or against candidates.
This means Crossroads spent at least $85.7 million on political activities in 2012, not the $74.5 million reported to the Internal Revenue Service. That’s about 45 percent of its total expenditures.
So much for “social welfare.” That was always kind of joke. But lying to the IRS used to be a big no-no.
After the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling “social welfare” groups were allowed to run wild, spending $254 million in the 2012 elections alone. They are often called “dark money” groups because they do not disclose their donors and provide excellent opportunities for money laundering and bribery. As if we needed more of that in American politics.
Complaints to the IRS about the tax-exempt status of Crossroads and other political social welfare nonprofits have been made since 2010, but they are still pending. So is an earlier CREW complaint against Americans for Tax Reform for its spending in 2010. A scandal that erupted in May over the IRS targeting the applications of Tea Party and other conservative social welfare nonprofits may have also made the IRS more likely to take a hands-off approach to the groups, experts say.
Oh, is that what that was about? Congress throws a fit over minor offenses by IRS agents to scare the IRS off an investigation of larger offenses by big party donors and their apparatchiks?
It sounds like Karl Rove may have once again outmaneuvered justice thanks to having friends in high places who owe him a favor or two.
Photo by the White House under public domain.
