We now know that Lois Lerner, the Director of Exempt Organizations for the Internal Revenue Service - who refused to testify before a House committee by invoking the Fifth Amendment - has a paper trail that reveals her direct involvement in sending intrusive and harassing questionnaires to Tea Party groups in 2012. As you know, we represented 27 Tea Party organizations in 17 states. Of those, 15 received their tax-exempt status after lengthy delays, 10 are still pending, and two clients withdre... Continue Reading

Yesterday, May 22nd, I had the privilege to present oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, based in Chicago, on behalf of our clients in Korte v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Korte is one of the seven lawsuits the American Center for Law & Justice (“ACLJ”) has filed challenging the HHS Mandate. The Mandate requires many employers to arrange and pay for employee health insurance that covers contraceptives, abortion-ind... Continue Reading

A week ago, President Obama demanded the IRS cooperate with Congress as it investigates the agency’s intentional targeting of conservative groups. He assured the American people, “[W]e will work with Congress as it performs its oversight role. And our administration has to make sure that we are working hand in hand with Congress to get this thing fixed.” Apparently the IRS didn’t get the memo. It nonchalantly continues to treat this as an unfortunate incidence of poor ma... Continue Reading

Earlier this week, in a feeble attempt at humor on Facebook, I posted: “If you haven’t been audited by the IRS during the Obama administration, can you even call yourself a conservative?” Given the scale of the abuses, I should probably just shorten it and say, “Only RINOs don’t get audited.” My wife and I got audited in 2011, with the IRS examining every inch of our adoption the previous year. The process was painful, but we got through it, and our refund may... Continue Reading

The White House assertion that the IRS misconduct of targeting conservative groups ended in May 2012 does not match the facts. The ACLJ has received 26 IRS questionnaires sent to 18 clients during the past year – letters demanding further intrusive and intimidating questions, with the latest inquiry coming just days before the IRS revealed its targeting scheme. During the daily news briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters: “The misconduct had stoppe... Continue Reading

American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s family in Terhan was able to visit him again earlier this week. Pastor Saeed was able to get a new letter out this week to his wife Naghmeh. He sent her this letter to be shared with supporters who gathered recently, on the Christian day of Pentecost, to pray for him. He shared that despite what he has to endure on a daily basis – the beatings and internal bleeding – he has hope. The 33-year-old U.S. citizen wrote, “I will also be fre... Continue Reading

At the ACLJ we are shocked at the devastation and loss in Oklahoma. Like the rest of the nation, we watched as the tornado cut a swathe of destruction through homes, businesses, and – yes – even schools. We saw the desperate and courageous rescue efforts. We prayed, but sometimes we have to do more. James Chapter 2 declares: 14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can [that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing ... Continue Reading

The latest line from the White House on the IRS scandal (and most all the scandals his Administration is embroiled in) is what the President doesn’t know can’t hurt him. Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted at the daily press briefing today that the White House Counsel and President Obama’s Chief of Staff were told both that the IRS was being investigated for intentionally targeting the Tea Party and its initial findings that those allegations were credible several weeks ago. ... Continue Reading

Over at the Washington Post, fact-checker Glenn Kessler awarded IRS employee Lois Lerner four Pinocchios for her comically false claim that the agency had seen a “big uptick” in 501(c)(4) applications as a partial explanation for IRS targeting. The reality? The Inspector General report showed that 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) applications both declined from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010. In other words, the IRS implemented its targeting policies not in response to a “flood&rd... Continue Reading

Claims that the Internal Revenue Service's intentional targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups was not politically motivated are truly outrageous and should concern all Americans. Unbelievably, in his congressional testimony on Friday, the acting commissioner of the IRS, Steve Miller, repeatedly refused to admit that his agency "targeted" conservative groups. Yet "targeted" was precisely the term used by the Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration in both his congre... Continue Reading