Two more congressional leaders have spoken out concerning the 1996
audit of Western Journalism Center, parent company of WorldNetDaily, in
light of new evidence that the audit was politically motivated.
Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said about the WJC audit, "I believe Congress
should hold hearings into (it)." He added: "There has still been no
reasonable explanation offered by the Clinton administration for its
decision to crack down on conservative non-profits, while turning a
blind eye to liberal groups."
A member of the Government Reform Committee and an assistant majority
whip, Barr took further aim at the Clinton administration, charging it
has politicized the executive branch as never before. He mentioned
specifically the political manipulation of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service that resulted in citizenship for foreign
criminals, the use of confidential FBI files by White House political
operatives, allegations that foreign military action may have been
coordinated for political impact during the impeachment process, and the
solicitation of donations from foreign sources, including communist
China.
Now, allegations of a politically motivated audit, said Barr, only
add to the already long list of White House practices of using
government agencies for any purpose it likes.
"Evidence of selective IRS auditing is simply further indication the
White House is more than willing to play politics with any agency of
government that suits its needs, whether it is the FBI, our military, or
the IRS," said Barr.
The evidence Barr is referring to is a 1997 Treasury Department
report about Western Journalism Center, titled, "Questionable Exempt
Organization Activity," which was released to Western Journalism Center
July 6 following three years of Freedom of Information Act filings. The
report reveals unequivocally that the audit began with a letter
forwarded from the White House to the Internal Revenue Service: "The
audit originated from a taxpayer who faxed a letter to the White House
expressing his concern over a one-page advertisement paid for by WCJ
(Western Center for Journalism) that asked for contributions to
investigate (White House deputy counsel Vincent) Foster's death," said
the official Treasury report. "The fax was forwarded to the EO (Exempt
Organizations) National Office and then to the respective Key District
Office for appropriate actions." The taxpayer mentioned in the report,
Paul Venze, had written a letter to Clinton on Nov. 9, 1994, after
seeing Western Journalism Center's ad in the Los Angeles Times.
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md., also commented on the politically
motivated audit of the center. "Unfortunately, the Clinton
administration's record fully justifies the suspicions that this is
politically motivated, because of their past history, such as (the
scandals involving) the 900 FBI files, the travel office, the voter
registration of ineligible aliens and a laundry list of failures by the
Justice Department and questionable IRS enforcement actions against
conservative, non-profit organizations," said Bartlett.
"This pattern by the Clinton administration undermines the integrity
and trust of the American people in their government," he added.
Western Journalism Center is one of many tax-exempt organizations
targeted for an IRS audit after angering President Clinton. Joseph
Farah, the center's founder, and editor of WorldNetDaily, first exposed
what appeared to be a pattern of audits in 1996, the same year the
center was audited.
Farah began to suspect that what had seemed to be a random audit was
indeed part of a systematic vendetta against Clinton critics when Thomas
Cederquist, the Sacramento-based IRS agent in charge of the center's
audit, told John Roux, the center's accountant, "Look, this is a
political case and the decision is going to be made at the national
level."
The center filed a $10 million lawsuit against the agent and other
IRS officials. The action was filed on behalf of the center by Larry
Klayman, chairman of the legal watchdog, Judicial Watch.
Soon after Farah's revelations, former IRS Commissioner Margaret
Milner Richardson, a close friend of the Clintons, resigned, and Rep.
Bill Archer, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and
co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, began a congressional
probe into the matter. No report has ever been released.
Earlier Stories:
- A call for hearings on IRS political audit
- Congress afraid of the White House?
- Clinton fails to name IRS oversight board
- The amazing, vanishing IRS political audit probe
- Congress still expects political audit report
- IRS-gate turns engineer into Internet warrior
- IRS, White House mum on audit of reporters
- Clinton IRS abuse worse than Nixon?
- IRS buries file in political audit
- IRS eyed tax records of critical journalist
- Documents tie Clinton to audit of journalists
- Congress backs off IRS probe
- Journalists fight IRS in new FOIA suit
- Additional background articles