(James O'Keefe) Conservative Group Wins Nonprofit Status From I.R.S.

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

The Internal Revenue Service has granted nonprofit status to the group that brought down two senior executives at NPR and dealt a death blow to the community organizing group Acorn with videos of its employees giving tax advice to people claiming to be a pimp and prostitute.

Project Veritas, a group founded by the videographer James O’Keefe, received the status from the I.R.S. in April, according to documents gathered by The Chronicle of Philanthropy through a Freedom of Information Act request.

“It will help us expand as an organization and institution,” Mr. O’Keefe said in an interview on Thursday.

He said the money saved with the status would help Project Veritas train and equip “an army” of citizen journalists to carry out its mission: “to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/us/27veritas.html

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ARE YOU SERIOUS IRS? ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS? So people who commit home invasions go to prison for long periods of time, but this rich boy acts a fool and performs video editing tricks to knock down innocent organizations...and his group gets to be a non-profit and continue the smears. Not to mention O'Keefe getting only probation for trying to break into Senator Mary Landrieu's phone. Bad enough that the Chicago Bulls got bounced from the playoffs and the San Francisco Giants lost...but now THIS joke of a decision????? :argh:

[Hissyspit]

1. Holy fuck.

[caveat_imperator]

2. Shouldn't 'Veritas' be in quotations...

if it has to be in the name of o'keefe's criminal operation at all?
It would be nice if Anonymous would find the documents to the negotiations that lead to this decision. I can imagine how much corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct would be uncovered.

[dmr]

3. Page 16 is their "Description of Activities"

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/96774-project-veritas.html

Anyone know how to make a copy of these documents?

There had to have been an inside-political-pull to get the IRS to grant this status. Hell, all the Republicans in Congress love this guy.

:grr:

[TimLighter]

4. I saw a post here earlier that was all excited about Huffpo

reporting that the IRS was going to get Karl Rove on the same basis too.

What a joke.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/irs-karl-rove-crossroads-tax-law-donor-disclosure_n_866428.html

[999998th word]

5. Pfffft qu'elle suprise who made this decision?

Any offshore accounts or Tiffany charge accounts?

[Downwinder]

6. Are nonprofit tax returns available for public inspection?

[msanthrope]

9. Why yes, yes they are.

You have to request them , but you can get them.

[Downwinder]

10. So, we can find out who is paying O’Keefe, and who he is paying.

Is there a request form online?

[msanthrope]

11. Donor lists are generally private, except for political and private charities.

But you can get the tax return, and see what money goes where.

You can also file complaints and challenges.

Now, it depends what O'Keefe is calling this--and there's plenty of room to make Mr. O'Keefe's life filled with paperwork.

If I remember correctly, the 990T is used to request the tax form for charities.

[Downwinder]

13. Breitbart and Fox should show up there. What fun.

I might even put a website back up at 70.

Nonprofit tax returns should be available online.

[Enthusiast]

7. This is why I'm telling you

this nation is fucked.

[The Nexus]

16. Well, there are too many....

that lack the intestinal fortitude to push back harder.

[onehandle]

8. A counter group should be formed. Just to follow him around with video cameras.

24/7.

[Joe Bacon]

12. Are you surprised?

I'm not. This is what I expect from a corrupted government that is damaged beyond repair.

[City Lights]

14. Wha?

:wtf:

He should be in jail!

[fascisthunter]

15. THAT is BULLSHIT!!!!

the US govt. once again gives Republican criminals a reward.

[Quantess]

17. Ridiculous.

[defendandprotect]

18. kr -- WTF?

[sakabatou]

19. *facedesk*

[otohara]

20. In CO You Can Throw A Chicken

or a goat on what's called "gentlemen ranches" - and gain AG status, thus lowering your property tax rate to mere dollars.
or if you produce $200.00 worth of wood from your "gentlemen ranch", you gain status as a supplier of wood. (you don't have to sell the wood, just produce it)

So this doesn't surprise me - there's a loop hole for practically everything that involves paying little or no taxes to your country.

I pay more property taxes on my 1300 sq. ft house, than my newly elected governor, who pays only $75.00 on his 254 acres of prime Colorado land, because he throws a goat on the land a few months out of the year.