Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-profits

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DEATH ROW JOE
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Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-profits

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Jay Sekulow: The Man Pumping the IRS Scandal on Network TV Sits At the Center of a Web of Nonprofits That Have Paid Him, His Family and Related Businesses $40 Million Since 1998
By Pam Martens: May 28, 2013
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/05/j ... ince-1998/
Jay Sekulow will never be accused of a lack of audacity. The man who has orchestrated and pumped the “scandal” that the IRS was unfairly targeting nonprofits tied to the Tea Party, is the same man who filed 27 applications with the IRS in recent years seeking tax-exempt status for Tea Party and related groups. He’s also the man who together with family and business interests have reaped at least $40 million since 1998 from a tangled web of IRS approved nonprofits with eye-popping conflicts of interest.

In the early days of the IRS controversy, Jay Sekulow was a major source of information for network news. On May 13, he framed the controversy for CBS News and the PBS Newshour. Two days later he appeared on GBTV with Glenn Beck, framing the current IRS matter as “worse” than in the days of Nixon. He also appeared on the Larry Kudlow show on CNBC, which ran a headline across the screen “Time for Independent Counsel.”

From May 14 onward, he has been interviewed repeatedly by Fox News’ commentators presenting his side of the “scandal”: interviewers included Megyn Kelly, Sean Hannity, Eric Bolling, and Jeanine Pirro. His son, Jordon Sekulow, who is part of his nonprofit empire, appeared on Geraldo Rivera’s Fox News show to pump the story.

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Judy Woodruff, Anchor on PBS NewsHour, Lets Jay Sekulow Explain the IRS Scandal

In Sekulow’s interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News, Kelly concedes just who it is that has been pushing this story, saying: “I tip my hat to you Jay because you and Mark Levin have really been the motivating forces behind this whole thing…” Later, Kelly ferociously points her finger at viewers and demands to know “whether somebody should be behind bars for this behavior.” Indeed.

Levin is the President of Landmark Legal Foundation, a nonprofit which five days ago announced it was petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Landmark Legal receives funding from right-wing foundations, Exxon Mobil and Donor’s Trust, a secretive money funnel tied to Charles Koch.

As first reported by Bob Smietana in 2011 in USA Today, just two of Jay Sekulow-related nonprofits, American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Inc. (CASE) “have paid out more than $33 million to members of Sekulow’s family and businesses they own or co-own, according to the charities’ federal tax returns.” Smietana’s research included returns filed since 1998.

That $33 million has grown to at least $40 million today. The 2011 tax return for CASE, publicly available at GuideStar.org, shows that in just the two-year period of 2010 and 2011, the nonprofit took in over $81 million. The charity is structured as a 501(c)(3), meaning that both its income is tax exempt and donations made to it are tax deductible – a big tax subsidy from the U.S. taxpayer.

Jay Sekulow is the President of CASE and his family fills four of the five slots on the Board of Directors. His wife, Pam, is the Secretary; his two sons, Jordan and Logan, are Directors; his brother, Gary, is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

Gary Sekulow is both the CFO of CASE as well as Vice President of Finance at ACLJ. In 2011, Gary Sekulow’s compensation from the two totaled $557,787. The 2011 tax return for the ACLJ shows Jay Sekulow receiving zero in “reportable compensation” and zero in “reportable compensation from related organizations.” That seems highly debatable.

The 2010 and 2011 990 tax filings with the IRS show that ACLJ paid a business called the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group a total of $5.6 million in just that two year period. The tax return notes that Jay Sekulow owns 50 percent of this business.

The 2011 tax filing with the IRS by CASE shows Jay Sekulow receiving $97,848 in “reportable compensation” with zero “compensation from related organizations.” Under “independent” contractors, CASE lists Regency Productions with a payment of $740,365. Part IV of the tax return notes that Jay Sekulow owns Regency. It also lists his sister-in-law, Kim Sekulow, as owner of a company called PFMS which received $528,705 for radio and TV agency work.

According to a 2011 analysis by the American Bar Association Journal, using research from Bob Smietana, since 1998 CASE and the ACLJ have paid out the following: (These sums exclude payments in 2011 and 2012 which were not then available to the ABA Journal.)

$15.4 million to the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, a law firm co-owned by Jay Sekulow.
$5.7 million to Gary Sekulow, Jay Sekulow’s brother.
$1.6 million to Pam Sekulow, Jay Sekulow’s wife.
$2.74 million in private jet lease payments to companies owned by Jay Sekulow and his sister-in-law, Kim Sekulow. The companies also earned $2.89 million for space rental, media production and administrative work.

Right wing media is all fired up chasing down leads to tie the IRS controversy to the White House. All the time, sitting under their nose, with a mic and a megaphone provided by the networks to pump this story, was the real center of the scandal.

Be sure and come back tomorrow for Part II.

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Left to Right) Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel, American Center for Law and Justice; Jeanine Pirro, Fox News Host; Mark Everson, Former IRS Commissioner Appointed by President George W. Bush

A Partial Listing of Nonprofits and Businesses With Money Flows Tied to Jay Sekulow:

Advocacy Services, Inc.

Educational Resources

American Center for Law and Justice

ACLJ-DC

ACLJ-Midwest

ACLJ-Northeast (The Religious Liberty Project)

Center for Law and Justice

Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism

Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group

European Center for Law and Justice

Law and Justice Institute

Regency Productions

Slavic Center for Law and Justice

Educational Resources
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David_Lee_Halen
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Re: Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-prof

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Wow!
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Sheep_Mafia
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Re: Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-prof

Post by Sheep_Mafia »

Liberal activists don't make money too? Not that any of this matters as per usual you are all about the irrelevant. All that matters is who is going to be held accountable for targeting US citizens and groups via the IRS.
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Re: Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-prof

Post by DEATH ROW JOE »

Sheep_Mafia wrote:Liberal activists don't make money too? Not that any of this matters as per usual you are all about the irrelevant. All that matters is who is going to be held accountable for targeting US citizens and groups via the IRS.
The article as usual is over your head. Not seeing the relevance of this article proves you have no clue what is going on here. You're quite stupid.

The answer to your question is that nobody is going to be punished within the IRS for the simple reason that the IRS did not do anything improper.

Understand this simple point asswipe.

The IRS agents did not target any group based on ideology. They targeted groups because red flags were raised.

They were policing 501(c)(4) abuse and the article provides a good example of 501(c)(4) abuse. The individual who profited greatly from 501(c)(4) abuse is one of the loudest voices complaining about the IRS and trying to put pressure on the IRS to tolerate more 501(c)(4) abuse. In other words, he has ripped off the tax payer in the past and wants to distort what went on here so he can more easily rip off the tax payer in the future.
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Re: Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-prof

Post by KneelandBobDylan »

DEATH ROW JOE wrote:
Sheep_Mafia wrote:Liberal activists don't make money too? Not that any of this matters as per usual you are all about the irrelevant. All that matters is who is going to be held accountable for targeting US citizens and groups via the IRS.
The article as usual is over your head. Not seeing the relevance of this article proves you have no clue what is going on here. You're quite stupid.

The answer to your question is that nobody is going to be punished within the IRS for the simple reason that the IRS did not do anything improper.

Understand this simple point asswipe.

The IRS agents did not target any group based on ideology. They targeted groups because red flags were raised.

They were policing 501(c)(4) abuse and the article provides a good example of 501(c)(4) abuse. The individual who profited greatly from 501(c)(4) abuse is one of the loudest voices complaining about the IRS and trying to put pressure on the IRS to tolerate more 501(c)(4) abuse. In other words, he has ripped off the tax payer in the past and wants to distort what went on here so he can more easily rip off the tax payer in the future.

Excellent retort.
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Re: Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-prof

Post by MegaBeth »

The fact that only organizations with right wing philosophies were targeted shows a bias. I always thought libs were against this sort of thing. But I guess it all comes down to what team you are rooting for. If a Dem fucks up libs will say it is all an evil Republican conspiracy. If a Repub fucks up the libs say it's proof that they are all evil. What a bunch of assholes.

The future of this country is fucked, regardless of which team happens to be in power. Because both teams are filled with scumbags. Good and honorable people never make it to higher office.
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Re: Guy pushing IRS "scandal" made $40 million from non-prof

Post by tin00can »

MegaBeth wrote:The fact that only organizations with right wing philosophies were targeted shows a bias. I always thought libs were against this sort of thing. But I guess it all comes down to what team you are rooting for. If a Dem fucks up libs will say it is all an evil Republican conspiracy. If a Repub fucks up the libs say it's proof that they are all evil. What a bunch of assholes.

The future of this country is fucked, regardless of which team happens to be in power. Because both teams are filled with scumbags. Good and honorable people never make it to higher office.


I like how you start out showing your bias and then try to pretend you're unbiased.
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