Do you remember the Free Speech Foundation? You know, the one that was somehow involved in the whole Guckert-Gannon fiasco? I sent off IRS request forms in early Feb to get copies of Form 1023 (the original application for tax exempt status). I received the forms today with a letter of apology from the IRS for the delay. Much more below.
It is horribly uninformative. The application was submitted on 9/24/03. On 10/15/03 the IRS requested additional information (addressed below). Exempt status was granted in a letter from the IRS dated 11/26/03. The application lists only one name for President, Treasurer, and Secretary: Jason Wright. He is a young "up and coming" conservative. You can find more on him here (I think this is him):
http://www.yaf.org/speakers/grassroots/jason_wright_ff.html
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=602
He is also a Vice-President of a group called Frontiers of Freedom:
http://www.ff.org/
This group was started by ex-Senator Malcolm Wallop (WY).
Mr. Wright's projected income for 2004 and 2005 was about $63,000/year, so there should be a Form 990 available for the 2004 tax year (if he made his goals). No Form 990 is available for the 2003 tax year (I received that paperwork two months ago). In the application, he listed income of approximately 18,000 for Sept 11-Dec. 31, 03. I don't have a premium membership to Guidestar, so I cannot access the 2004 tax records easily (or someone else could file another request with the IRS). Jason Wright's name is now listed in the Guidestar entry (it wasn't several months ago, but they reformatted their site, so new info is available). Oddly enough, he lists a projected rent expense of almost $15,000/year for 2004 and 2005! Man, those Mailbox Etc. boxes sure are expensive!
As I said, the forms don't provide much new information. The IRS did ask that several points be addressed before giving full exemption status. Interestingly, his responses ARE NOT included in the file (and they probably should have been as the exempt status was dependent upon his answers). Here are the questions they asked:
- Who owns the domain name to the website: www.freespeechfoundation.org?
- What is the relationship between Tallon News and the Free Speech Foundation? Is Tallon News a for-profit entity? Is Talon News a 501(c)(3) organization? What is the relationship between the governing body members of Free Speech Foundation and Tallon News? (they misspelled Talon twice, which is a little odd--also, nowhere in the forms that I have is Talon or Tallon News mentioned, so it is odd that the IRS requested more info about it).
- Will the Free Speech Foundation own all intellectual property rights to all materials produced under its auspices?
- There are several questions about the "facilities" associated with the Foundation. We already know that the "facilities" at the address given consist of a post office box at a Mailboxes Etc. The IRS wants a better description of the facilities: will someone live there? Can anyone else use the facilities? They also request a detailed description of the facilities (Jason lists several costs associated with facilities in the budget, so that is why they are so interested).
- There are also several questions about expenses for travel, insurance, dues and subscriptions. There are also "consultant" fees listed in the future budgets ($24,000/year). The IRS wanted to know:
What travel expenses are to be reimbursed? What documentation is needed?
What type of insurance is required and who is the beneficiary(ies)?
What organization the entity will pay dues to?
Who are the consultants? Are contracts available for viewing? Jason had
to provide copies of the consulting agreements.
- He listed only himself as the entire board (president, secretary, and treasurer). The IRS said that was unacceptable. He had to "modify the the Board of Directors to place control in the hands of unrelated individuals selected from the community it will serve. Please submit the names of the new board members. If the organization is unwilling to do so, please explain the position." There is nothing more in the paperwork that I have about other board members.
- His documents and by-laws about the organization included with the application did not contain a conflict of interest statement. The IRS said he had to include one (and they gave one that they would like to see--too long to excerpt here). Basically, if someone is on the Board, and employed by the Free Speech Foundation, they cannot vote on items involving compensation, benefits, etc. Also, any fees and salaries paid must be reasonable and comparable to other exempt organizations of similar stature.
The IRS requested that a letter signed by at least two directors be submitted by Nov. 6, 2003, otherwise, the file would be closed. All of the above are great questions--too bad we didn't know the answers back in 2003 like the IRS did.
Considering the Free Speech Foundation is still listed as an exempt organization, someone must have addressed these issues to some degree. I might call the IRS and see if I can get a follow-up to determine what other person(s) is/are listed on the Board.