CREW Urges IRS Investigation Into Kansas Attorney General Kline's Reelection Campaign Activities
    Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington | Press Release

    Wednesday 18 October 2006

Leaked AG memo outlines prohibited conduct.

    Washington - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today asked for an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation into the activities surrounding the reelection efforts of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.

    During the week of September 12, 2006 several Kansas-based news organizations published an internal campaign memorandum authored by Attorney General Kline that detailed his efforts to recruit churches to aid his reelection efforts. The memorandum includes several activities that may constitute illegal support of the Kline campaign by Kansas churches.

    Kline identified Light of the World and Wanamaker Woods Nazarene, both in Topeka, and an unspecified Basehor-Linwood church as churches that had agreed to help disseminate his campaign literature. Redistributing partisan campaign literature is a violation of tax laws that forbid churches and other public charities from intervening in elections.

    Attorney General Kline identified Topeka Bible Church and Overland Park's First Family Church as well as unnamed churches serving the black and hispanic communities in Kansas City, as possible locations for political forums.

    Attorney General Kline also referred to a special campaign video to be distributed to churches. He incorrectly claimed in the memo that churches could legally show the video without inviting his opponent to show his own video. Well-established IRS law dictates that churches must offer an equal opportunity to the opposing candidate. In distributing this misinformation, the Kline campaign may have caused Kansas churches to violate IRS rules.

    In another likely violation of IRS law, on September 16, 2006, Kline appeared before the TBC IronMen Ministries of the Topeka Bible Church. Following his speech, a campaign supporter invited the crowd to attend a political reception at an off-site location. IRS rules regarding candidate appearances strictly prohibit political fundraising and the use of church resources to indicate support or opposition to a candidate.

    Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, "It is appalling that the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Kansas is blatantly disregarding the laws governing churches' participation in political campaigns. The IRS should investigate his egregious conduct as well as that of the churches that may have violated the rules governing their non-profit status."

    The full complaint and supporting documents are available at CREW's website, http://www.citizensforethics.org.

    For more information, please visit http://www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202-408-5565 or press@citizensforethics.org.