Inside D.C.

Luetkemeyer wants HSUS IRS investigation investigated

The Obama Administration scandal involving Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting of conservative organizations applying for federal tax exempt status came to farmland this week.

A May 16 posting on conservative news site dailycaller.com by Patrick Howley reports attorney Lois G. Lerner, who for the moment heads the IRS Exempt Organizations Division and who put a public face on IRS targeting of conservative groups by publicly apologizing, includes in her biography the statement she is an “active member of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS),” and was active in 2005 pet rescue operations after Gulf Coast hurricanes, activity for which “she was widely acknowledged.”

While being a member of HSUS makes one guilty of nothing save for perhaps, in my personal opinion, questionable judgment in the choice of groups to which to donate your time and money, The Daily Caller items on Lerner and her membership in HSUS were enough to trip Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s (R, MO) trigger.

You see Luetkemeyer in March, 2010, sent a “constituent-driven” request to then IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman questioning the tax exempt status of HSUS based on what Luetkemeyer called “HSUS’s significant lobbying activity as a tax exempt group.” In May, 2010, Luetkemeyer “shared those concerns in both a personal conversation and a letter to Lerner…,” according to a May 17 press release announcing he’s renewing his inquiry.

“Luetkemeyer is also raising serious questions about IRS Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner’s political ties to HSUS in light of her recent apology for targeting conservative non-profit groups seeking tax exempt status,” says the Luetkemeyer press release.

Also on May 17, Luetkemeyer fired off letters to IRS Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Attorney General Eric Holder.  Of Lew and Holder, Luetkemeyer requests a formal investigation into the handling of his 2010 IRS request about HSUS, and in his letter to George, he wants a separate IRS investigation into the matter.

Acknowledging the IRS can’t by law comment on ongoing investigations, Luetkemeyer wrote to Lew and Holder: “While it is disconcerting to think that Ms. Lerner…may have disregarded my request for an investigation due to her own political beliefs or those of her staff, in light of the recent revelations about the activities of Ms. Lerner’s office and in the absence of any other explanation from the IRS, many Americans will arrive at this very conclusion. With that in mind I formally request that you investigate the IRS’ handling of my requests and report back to me in a timely fashion.”

In an interview with The Daily Caller, Luetkemeyer spokesperson Paul Sloca said their office, over the last three years, tried to get at least status reports from Treasury and Lerner. “They’ve told us they can’t comment on an ongoing investigation, but they won’t confirm they’ve even launched an investigation.”

This latest extension of the IRS scandal won’t be the last. More dots will be connected to other groups and issues. It appears, however, Luetkemeyer isn’t going to let his request get lost in the bigger storm yet to come.

According to The Daily Caller report, “The Humane Society of the United States declined comment.”

  • The sociopathic leaders in the “animal rights” movement (including Wayne Pacelle, of course) have woven their webs carefully over the years to secure strategic positions in our federal government sympathic to their organizations and their causes (although I doubt most of their AR-zombies/sycophants truly understand the real AR agenda of ending animal use). How people can be deceived by the “propaganda mill” BIG LIES of the charismatic AR leaders is understood if one looks at history (e.g., Third Reich rise to power and vilification of the Jews) and books outlining strategy based on history (e.g., Alinki’s ‘Rules for Radicals’). The most zealous AR “true believers” are *people-haters*, plain and simple. The most influential AR leaders are sociopaths, and at least borderline people haters, while cagily playing the game of lying to the public. Their goals include *punishing* people who use animals (food, pets, clothes), and they have little regard for humanity and perhaps less for humane treatment of animals within our society—to them, ANY use of animals is inhumane. BIG disconnect here with how the majority of true “animal welfare” people believe! The term “animal rights” should be considered an unacceptable phrase in our society because it is at its core totally sociopathic, and those who are AR “true believers” should be shunned as pariahs!

  • HSUS showed up for the cameras after Katrina in 2005 and received 35 million in donations meant for helping the animals. Problem is they left after the cameras turned off and the help came from surrounding states NOT HSUS. Louisiana threatened to sue HSUS and finally received a couple of hundred thousand dollars from HSUS to put towards a new shelter. I guess Lerner was one of the HSUS jackets seen on the news.

  • Mr. Kopperud,

    You’ve claimed that between 150,000 to 300,000 horses “abandoned” horses exist in this country, and are, presumably “on the loose.”

    PLEASE PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION OF THIS OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM.

  • Carole, thanks for mentioning the Katrina scandal. It ties into the excess lobbying issue in important ways.

    HSUS/Wayne Pacelle exploited the human and animal misery of Katrina to go on a huge mass-media fundraising and publicity campaign. The requests for “emergency Katrina” donations continued long after their brief involvement ended. Their begathon only stopped when the Louisiana Attorney General announced a formal investigation into where the heck most of that money went – and where many of the “rescued” pets ended up during their botched disaster relief work.

    Some of the Katrina windfall went into HSUS’s many bloated bank accounts. Some went to their sleazy fundraising vendors. Much of it went to lobbying. Pacelle had no intention of spending it on the intended purposes. He certainly never thought he would be held accountable, since HSUS has gotten away with so much fraud in the past. Pacelle is used to controlling the media, manipulating faux charity raters like the inept Charity Navigator, and getting corrupt government officials like Lois Lerner to cover for them. If Lerner’s lawbreaking on behalf of HSUS is part of the case against her, Pacelle will feel no remorse at all. As M. Covault stated above, he is sociopathic.

    HSUS escaped criminal charges in the Katrina case only because they were ready to go to trial using a (technically legal) loophole inserted into their fundraising pitches that allows them to use Katrina donations on “other disasters.” They repeated the same profiteering tactic after Hurricane Sandy, but were careful to officially report only a minute fraction of the money they took in. That needs to be investigated by the New York and New Jersey Attorney Generals. Sociopath Wayne Pacelle and his psychopathic organization thought the fix was in, thanks to Lerner, and that they could do as much lobbying as they want and maintain their charity status. Pacelle chose to expand HSUS’s lobbying activities in the past three years and he chose to continue using disasters and animal “rescues” to rake in big money to be used for legislation advancing his animal rights agenda.

    The IRS scandal is an excellent opportunity to connect all the dots – and demand a serious investigation of the abuses Congressman Leuktemeyer documented – plus the abuses HSUS has committed in the years since Lois Lerner chose to abuse her office to cover for them.

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