DOJ, IRS give True the Vote their tax exempt status

True the Vote:

Attorneys from the Department of Justice (DOJ) advised the federal court in Washington, DC late Friday that the IRS has determined to “grant True the Vote (TTV)’s tax exempt status” with the concurrence of the DOJ.

“We are pleased and relieved that the IRS and the DOJ are finally doing what should have been done three years ago, which is to recognize TTV as a charitable and educational organization, which we have always been and will continue to be,” said True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht.

Related: TTV Adds IRS Chief Counsel Wilkins, Additional Defendants to IRS Lawsuit

TTV, the nation's leading voters’ rights organization, filed with the IRS for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in July 2010 and has been awaiting a decision on its application for more than three years. After discovering in May, 2013, that its application was part of a much larger scheme targeting perceived ‘tea party’ organizations for heightened scrutiny and years of delay in processing their applications, TTV filed suit in federal district court in Washington, D.C. requesting that the Court order that its tax-exempt status be granted. ActRight Legal Foundation, a 501(c)(3) a fundamental rights public interest law firm, represents True the Vote in the lawsuit (True the Vote v. United States of America (Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-00734-RBW)).

In addition, DOJ is arguing to the Court that since the IRS is now willing to grant TTV’s tax exempt status, the lawsuit should be dismissed as ‘moot’.

Related: True the Vote v. Internal Revenue Service FAQs

Cleta Mitchell, lead counsel in the litigation, and a partner at Foley & Lardner, LLP in Washington, DC, responded to the DOJ filings by noting, “While we are glad the IRS has realized TTV’s tax exempt status should be granted and is now moving to rectify its failure to do sooner, this case is far from moot. There are still many questions to be answered, such as:

• When is the IRS going to actually issue its letter granting tax exempt status to True the Vote?
• What about the costs and damages incurred by True the Vote for the past three years while the IRS unlawfully delayed issuing the letter of recognition?
• What about all of the confidential and proprietary information sought and demanded from True the Vote that the Treasury Inspector General has stated was not necessary for determining True the Vote’s eligibility for exempt status, and which is now apparently going to be made public?
• What about the violation of True the Vote’s constitutional rights by the IRS and its agents and employees during the course of these last 3 years?

“This lawsuit is about getting to the truth and we are not going to stop until we find out the answers to these and many other questions,” added Ms. Mitchell.
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It is about time.  The government's abuse of those involved in True the Vote is a major scandal and Mitchell is right to continue the case and find out who was responsible for the abuse at both the DOJ and the IRS. This was one of the most egregious of the cases that came to light when the IRS abuses were first disclosed.  It is ironic that the news came to light on the same day Lois Lerner announced her retirement from the IRS.  Isn't that an interesting coincidence.