CREW FILES COMPLAINTS AGAINST ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE ORGANIZATIONS

21 Sep 2006 // Washington, DC – Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed two complaints against the Minnesota Family Institute (MFI) and one against the Minnesota Family Council (MFC) for a joint mailing that supported anti-gay State Senate candidate Kevin Goedker.

MFI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and MFC, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, are affiliated Minneapolis, Minnesota-based organizations.

In a June 2005 news story published on the CityPages.com (MN) website, state Sen. Paul Koering (R-12) stated that he supported same-sex civil unions.

In early September, 2006, the MFI and MFC sent a joint-mailing entitled Pro-Family News that clearly favored candidate Kevin Goedker over incumbent state Sen. Paul Koering in the Republican primary.

CREW filed an IRS complaint against MFI for engaging in prohibited electioneering activity and asked the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the organization. Under federal tax law, public charities such as MFI are absolutely prohibited from supporting or opposing candidates. Despite the fact the mailing was paid for by the sister organization, MFI’s name appeared throughout the publication, including the return address, indicating its support of Mr. Goedker’s campaign.

CREW also filed a complaint with the Postmaster General asking the U.S. Postal Service to investigate whether the MFI and MFC violated Postal Service rules by jointly mailing the Pro-Family News without the appropriate nonprofit postal permits. Postal Service rules require all organizations involved in joint mailings to have individual nonprofit postal permits. It is unclear whether the organizations complied with this requirement.

“MFI has clearly violated the laws that govern charitable organizations,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “The IRS should immediately investigate MFI and revoke its tax-exempt status before it engages in additional campaign activity.”

Both complaints, and all other exhibits, are available at www.citizensforethics.org.

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/press@citizensforethics.org.