Well, maybe all that hard work exposing the Koch Cabal's Dark Money dealing will pay off. The IRS has been served a formal complaint from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
I wrote this diary on October 28th and CREW issued it's complaint on November 5th.
Koch Cabal Exposé Bonanza: You've Got to See This New Tax Return! Follow the $$
In the diary above, I asked tax lawyers to figure out if Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce is operating properly within IRS guidelines.
This is exactly what CREW has done. However, CREW began aggressively seeking answers about the financial dealings of Freedom Partners on October 1, 2013. I must have picked up their endeavors psychically.
Complaint Against Association for American Innovation, Inc./Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
CREW respectfully requests the IRS investigate whether activities of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc. ("Freedom Partners"....
....serve and promote the commercial and industrial interests of its members, as the Code requires.
In addition, Freedom Partners appears to have voilated the Code and IRS regulations by failing to disclose complete copies of its 2011 Form 990 tax return, including Schedule B, upon CREW's request.
The CREW complaint is an entertaining read if you are interested in the swarmy manner money is funneled to politics under the guise of helping a group of business people further their business interests.
Grab some of this and enjoy the read
Also, if you plan on filin a complaint, grab those 2009 tax returns ASAP, foundation.org only displays 3 years and, when the 2012 returns are filed, 2009 will disappear. GRAB 2009, copy paste, whatever.
I take delight in learning that the same tax concerns expressed in the diary are expressed in the CREW Complaint.
From the diary:
If the California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris, who recently caught the Koch Cabal red handed and fined them $16 million which was directly deposited into the California General Fund, is wondering where that money was funneled from, I think the answer is in this diary.
The above shows that Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Inc granted $104,678,000 to the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR) which had to pay a portion of a $1,000,000 fine for it's part in the California referendums case you can read about in the diary cited in the paragraph above and which states on its 2011 990 Tax Return a total grant revenue of only $25,318,576. I'm not a tax expert, but those numbers don't jive at a glance. If you live in California, please do share this with AG Harris.
From the complaint:
The biggest recipient, the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR), received three separate grants totally $115 million through the end of 2011.
Notably, this amount exceeds the total annual revenues CPPR reported receiving since it was extablished in 2009 BY MORE THAN $14 MILLION. (emphasis mine)
I am thankful to CREW for its work. Will the IRS respond?
I really think there is some money to be made by eager tax accountants and tax lawyers if they would take the time to team up and sift through the Koch Cabal tax returns and, when they find glaring examples in tax returns that the IRS simply is not catching, FILE FORMAL COMPLAINTS with the IRS.
Click
here for the 990 IRS Complaint form.
Click here to find Non-Profit tax returns.
It is helpful to have the EIN numbers.
Here's how Freedom Partners revenue flowed in. From their 2011 tax return
Here you go. There are six pics.
Happy Hunting
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
In this diary you will find easy instructions on how to take those EIN#s above and found out how those organizations spent their money. The foundations.org site is searchable. Happy 990 Tax Return Hunting:
Koch Cabal Can't Hide - Searchable IRS Forms Online! w/Instructions
Here are four short videos instructing you on how to find the Dark Money funneled into your State's BALLOT MEASURES over the past few years. Oddly, 2009 seems to be missing but maybe that is just my state.
It will take only 5 minutes to watch these instructions.
Before watching the instructions, I recommend opening up another screen and bringing up this link first - Follow the Money. You can follow the instructions and find Dark Money as you watch the video. Here's Follow the Money's mission statement, an invitation for you to Follow the Money:
Mission
The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. Our comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analyses are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.
You will also find written instructions
here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Youtube link if you can't view here.
Yes, this is a retrospective tool; however, it is so important to find, learn about, and share with others how your state's democratic process is being thwarted by $Billionaires and their Koch Cabal cohorts.
Happy Hunting.
Lastly, here's the Muckety Map for Freedom Partners (interactive link here
HERE'S EXAMPLE OF A COMPLAINT filed by Common Cause against ALEC you can follow:
This matter concerns the massive underreporting of lobbying by the American Legislative Exchange Council ("ALEC").
Here's the Cover Letter
And this case submitted by a former IRS Official on behalf of Clergy Voice
Violations of the Internal Revenue Laws by The American Legislative Exchange Council (EIN: 52-0140979)
In these cases, you will find the jargon and laws to cite.
Bob Sloan wrote this diary last year where you will find more information.
Third IRS Whistleblower Complaint Brought Against American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
WHY NOT INUNDATE THE IRS WITH COMPLAINTS?