Falwell pleased by Bush's pick

[Judi Lynn]

Falwell pleased by Bush's pick

Ron Brown
[email protected]
July 20, 2005

As news of President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee started streaking across the Internet, the Rev. Jerry Falwell was on the telephone with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

“Jerry, it’s just hit the wire,” Rove told Falwell, the pastor of Lynchburg’s Thomas Road Baptist Church. “It’s John Roberts.”

Like many political pundits, Falwell was a little taken back.

He was sure that Bush would nominate a woman or minority to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
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http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783945428&path=!news!archive

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FEC Clears Rev. Jerry Falwell on Complaint
By BOB LEWIS
Associated Press Writer

July 18, 2005, 9:18 PM EDT


RICHMOND, Va. -- The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint against the Rev. Jerry Falwell that said he broke federal election law by urging followers last summer to re-elect President Bush.

Falwell's lawyer, Mathew D. Staver, said in a news release Monday that the FEC notified him that it had ruled in the evangelist's favor by a vote of 6-0.

"Dr. Falwell does not lose his right to personal expression each election cycle," Staver said. "As a member of the media, the media outlets through which he communicates enjoy the protection of the First Amendment."

A similar complaint against Falwell lodged last summer with the Internal Revenue Service remains pending, said Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which filed the claim. An adverse IRS ruling could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of some of Falwell's holdings.

Falwell, founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and the defunct Moral Majority, told religious conservatives in his July 1, 2004, "Falwell Confidential" Internet newsletter that "voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush. The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable."
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http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-falwell-fec,0,7132284.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines