Six members of conservative groups that had their tax-exempt status applications held for closer scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service are on Capitol Hill this morning, telling their stories to the Ways and Means Committee.
In opening the hearing, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said "this investigation is about how and why the IRS was empowered and allowed to use a broken tax code to abuse individuals based on their beliefs, and seemingly only based on their beliefs."
The witnesses were invited by the committee to speak. They are John Eastman, chairman of the National Organization for Marriage; Dianne Belsom, representing Laurens County Tea Party; Becky Gerritson, speaking for Wetumpka Tea Party; Karen Kenney, testifying on behalf of San Fernando Valley Patriots; Sue Martinek, appearing for Coalition for Life of Iowa; and Kevin Kookogey, founder and president of Linchpins of Liberty.
Across the Hill: Meanwhile, the Senate also wants to hear from groups whose 501(c)(4) applications were pulled for an extra look by the IRS.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, put out the call in a video on his Senate website.
Hatch wants to hear from any groups that were targeted by the IRS
during its review of tax-exempt applications. To make it easy, Hatch has provided an online form and asks that the submitted information be as detailed as possible.
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