IRS probe of NAACP prompted by Republican fundraiser, documents show

BALTIMORE — One of the complaints that led to an IRS investigation into the NAACP’s tax-exempt status came from the chief fundraiser to Gov. Robert Ehrlich, according to documents released by the civil rights organization.

Richard Hug, who recently resigned from the University System of Maryland Board of Regents so he could go back to raising money for Ehrlich, sent a letter to the IRS shortly after the 2000 presidential campaign. The letter questioned whether the NAACP had inappropriately sought to influence the election and asked for the investigation into its tax-exempt status.

Two months later, Ehrlich — then a congressman — wrote to the IRS urging a response to Hug’s complaint.

The IRS began looking into the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in October 2004 after a speech by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond that was largely critical of President Bush’s policies. The agency said its inquiry would focus on whether Bond’s speech veered too far into political advocacy.

Political campaigning is prohibited under the NAACP’s tax-exempt status. Leaders of the group have called the IRS audit a political smear campaign.

Attorneys for the NAACP said the letters from Hug and Ehrlich were among more than 500 pages of documents the IRS gathered to begin its inquiry. The NAACP received the documents after making requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Several other members of Congress — all Republicans — forwarded letters to the IRS written by constituents who questioned the NAACP’s activities. Those lawmakers included Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

Hug said last week that his letter was prompted by a television ad sponsored by the NAACP’s National Voter Fund. In the ad, the daughter of James Byrd, a black man dragged to death by three white men in a pickup truck, faulted then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush for refusing her pleas for a hate-crime law.

Hug said the ads were an attack on Bush from a group that is prohibited from political campaigning.

“I was acting as a citizen, and I think that everyone else ought to be concerned if they have nonprofit status and they are using political ads,” he said.

Henry Fawell, a spokesman for the governor, said Ehrlich’s follow-up letter was just a brief inquiry on behalf of a constituent. “That’s what members of Congress do,” Fawell said.

Marcus Owens, an attorney for the NAACP, said the letters from Republican politicians raised questions about the motivation of the IRS probe.

“It’s clear that the NAACP drew a lot of criticism and complaints from the Republican Party and many of the complaints don’t have a lot of substance to them,” he said. “The circumstances of the audit came just weeks before the election, and apparently they were triggered from members of the Republican Party at some level.”

Johns Hopkins University political science professor Matthew Crenson said the letters point to Ehrlich’s right-wing leanings in Congress. Ehrlich has taken more moderate positions in his campaigns for governor and with his legislative agenda.

“He took every conservative positions in Congress,” Crenson said. “It’s a glimpse into an earlier Ehrlich who has been in hibernation since 2002.” (Associated Press)