The Freedom From Religion Foundation has lodged a formal complaint with the IRS after the Catholic League engaged in unlawful political campaigning in a recent post, “Kamala Harris is not religion-friendly.”
The Catholic League posted the July 24 article “assessing her candidacy for president of the United States,” clearly intended to encourage readers not to vote for Kamala Harris. It concluded: “Harris’ record on life, marriage, gender ideology and religion are deeply troubling.”
The following day, the Catholic League posted a second article entitled “Spinning DEI for Kamala.” The article included several negative statements about Harris, charging that she was only chosen to be vice president because she is a Black woman. Meanwhile, a post on July 22 titled “Vance’s Catholicism under fire” defended Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance from recent attacks.
FFRF points out that, taken together, it is clear that the Catholic League is attempting to take a position in the presidential election, in violation of IRS regulations.
“Some organizations, like the Catholic League, have chosen to make a mockery of their 501(c)(3) status by reaping all of the benefits of tax exemption while knowingly violating the law by openly endorsing or opposing political candidates running for public office,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes.
The Internal Revenue Code states that to retain its 501(c)(3) status an organization cannot “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” In this instance, the Catholic League has breached the responsibilities of its tax exempt status by openly opposing one candidate for elected office, while defending a candidate on the opposing ticket. The IRS examples of violations indicate that the statements or actions do not have to explicitly say “do or don’t vote” for any particular candidate, but in context make clear the organization’s position or endorsement.
The league has a long history of attacking Harris as a candidate, including a diatribe during the 2016 vice presidential contest headlined, “Kamala Harris’ lust for abortion.” Its current piece repeats an earlier accusation that Harris supposedly “bludgeoned” an anti-abortion activist, which in fact refers not to a physical assault but to the fact that as California attorney general she authorized a raid on his home. The piece links to a previous Catholic League response about the Sept. 12, 2016 presidential debate, titled “Harris Unhinged.” When she was chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate, the league posted an article, “Kamala Harris’ Catholic problem,” in which Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented “on the problem Sen. Kamala Harris will have with Catholics.” The piece, posted on the league’s c(3) website, dissected in detail Donohue’s criticisms of her candidacy.
FFRF is urging the IRS to take appropriate action to remedy the continuing violations of 501(c)(3) regulations.
“The Catholic League is blatantly and gleefully flouting tax-exemption regulations,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The IRS should sanction it at once.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 40,000 members and several chapters across the country. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
