The Internal Revenue Services is denying claims from a hawkish pro-Israel group, which filed suit recently in Pennsylvania suggesting that the IRS was persecuting it and other groups for their differences with the administration.
IRS agents have responded in sworn affidavits, posted by the plaintiff Z Street, that the group faces special scrutiny because it could be sending money to a country with a heightened risk of terrorism, in this case Israel.
The affidavits say the group's application was sent to the "Touch and Go" IRS division, referred to formally as Exempt Organizations Determinations Group 7830 and informally as TAG.
"A referral to TAG is appropriate whenever an application mentions providing resources to organizations in a country with a higher risk of terrorism," said Jon Waddel, the group's manager, in an affidavit. "A referral to the TAG group does not indicate that the organization supports terrorism, only that further development is necessary to ensure that the organization will put procedures in place to prevent resources from being used to support terrorism."
"Z Street's application was not referred to the TAG group because of an "Israel Special Policy" as alleged in Z Street's complaint," Waddell testified. "Z Street's application was not referred to the TAG group because its viewpoints on Israel contradict the viewpoints espoused by the Obama administration."
The agent dealing directly with Z Street, Diane Gentry, testified that she hadn't suggested that any delay in approving the group's application was connected to Obama administration policies; Z Street now says (in editorial comments on the affidavit) it never claimed she mentioned the Obama administration by name but stands by its claim that she said applications were reviewed to see whether a group's positions "contradict those of the administration." [The original Z Street complaint claims Gentry said, “These cases are being sent to a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization's activities contradict the administration's public policies."]*
Z Street's application for nonprofit status from earlier this year has not been approved or denied, and the suit has drawn skepticism from tax experts, who suggested that while a question presented in the Z Street filing (though asked of a different organization) did appear inappropriate, it probably had more to do with particular IRS agents than any broader policy.
But the group contests details of the IRS affidavits, saying it never had any intention of sending money to Israel, and objects more broadly to the "TAG" policy, accusing the IRS of equating Zionism and terrorism:
Israel is a terrorist state because terrorism happens there. True, Israel is the victim, but why quibble with details? This brings moral equivalency to a whole new level. Every Zionist should be screaming from the rooftops.
NOTE: The linked affidavits, on Z Street's website, are annotated comments from the group.
