(This article, taken from The Washington Spectator, a semi-monthly,
politically-independent, non-profit newsletter published by The Public
Concerns Foundation. They encourage reprinting of their material if
credit is given.)
In 1988 the Rev. Pat Robertson, the right-wing founder of the
Christian Coalition, who has made himself a television millionaire with his
tax-exempt Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), may have heard a holy
voice telling him to seek the Republican presidential nomination.
But in violation of heathen law, CBN money - an estimated $8.5
million of it - was used to promote his futile candidacy. Now, after more
than 10 years of haggling with the Internal Revenue Service, Robertson has
agreed to a "settlement" that pays the United States an undisclosed sum
and retroactively cancels his tax exemption for the years 1986 and 1987.
His current tax exemption survives, but only if the four-member CBN
board of directors adds five OUTSIDE members.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, a Washington group that has strenuously challenged
Robertson's empire, said, "I have a one-word reaction: Hallelujah!"
Robertson's tax troubles may not be over. The Federal Election
Commission has charged the Christian Coalition, whose tax exemption is
based on the claim that the group "promotes public welfare", with
illegally spending $1.4 million to help Republican candidates,
including President George Bush in 1992. A decision is pending.
Most of the press pays very little attention to this kind of
tax-exempt piety, but in this case we can credit the government's belated
investigation of Robertson's tax evasion chiefly to Thomas Edsall, a
Washington Post reporter who started writing about it in 1985.
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page.