The Freedom From Religion Foundation has asked the IRS to investigate a nonprofit religious tour featuring JD Vance as part of its efforts to support the GOP ticket, in violation of the tax code.
ProPublica published a piece detailing how preacher Lance Wallnau and a group called Ziklag, registered with the IRS as USATransForm, hosted Vance as part of its “Courage Tour.” Ziklag reportedly funds the Courage Tour, which is an official project of the tax-exempt Lance Wallnau Ministries Inc. The Vance campaign portion of the event “was tucked in between Courage Tour events,” according to ProPublica. Organizers took nominal steps to make it look like the campaign was hosted by Wallnau’s podcast, rather than the tour itself, despite evidence to the contrary.
The campaign event took place at the same venue, on the same stage and with the same audience as the rest of the tour. An email advertising the tour and campaign event described them as distinct events, but also assured attendees that they could remain in their seats to watch Vance, and that afterward, they would “seamlessly return to the Courage Tour programming.”
The Trump-Vance campaign promoted the event as “part of the Courage Tour” and said Vance’s remarks would take place “During the Courage Tour.” During the event, Vance urged audience members to vote and get others to vote as well in November. After the campaign event, Wallnau took the stage and asked for donations from the crowd while speaking of Vance’s appearance as if it were part of the tour.
An employee of Wallnau’s recognized the ruse they were trying to pull, and gave the game away, by announcing:
I just wanted to clarify: You said they came to the Courage Tour. … They didn’t. For legal reasons, the podcast hosted that. It was very separate. I don’t need the IRS coming my way.
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.” This is to ensure that tax-exempt donations, which are subsidized by all taxpayers, are not misused for political purposes. In this instance, both groups have breached the responsibilities of their tax-exempt status by hosting a campaign event as part of a tax-exempt event.
FFRF is a registered 501(c)(3) and it takes this designation, along with the accompanying privileges and responsibilities, very seriously. Some churches and religious organizations, such as Lance Wallnau Ministries and Ziklag, 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 statute by openly endorsing and supporting political candidates running for public office.
“Ministries can’t be allowed to get away with blatant politicking,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “They must abide by the same rules as other nonprofits — or lose their tax code privileges.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 40,000 members 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.
