{"id":1516476,"date":"2022-06-15T07:49:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T11:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1516476"},"modified":"2022-06-15T07:49:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T11:49:25","slug":"california-democrats-aim-to-target-tax-exempt-status-of-patriot-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-democrats-aim-to-target-tax-exempt-status-of-patriot-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"California Democrats Aim to Target Tax Exempt Status of Patriot Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-democrats-aim-to-target-tax-exempt-status-of-patriot-groups%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1516476&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-california\">California<\/a> Democrats appear to be using the Jan. 6 hearings in Washington D.C. as a catalyst to push legislation aimed at targeting the tax-exempt status of patriot groups in the state. The legislation suggests these groups might pose a threat of \u201cinsurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB834\">Senate Bill 834<\/a> would authorize state Attorney General Rob Bonta to review non-profit groups and refer cases to the California Franchise Tax Board to possibly remove their tax-exempt status supposedly to protect against \u201cinsurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bill, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would empower the attorney general to determine whether or not a non-profit organization \u201chas actively engaged in, or incited the active engagement in, acts or conspiracies\u201d and require the attorney general to notify the California Franchise Tax Board\u2014the state equivalent of the IRS\u2014to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization found to be in violation.<\/p>\n<p>An inside source in the California legislature told The Epoch Times that the bill would grant too much power to the attorney general and could be used to weaponize the California Franchise Tax Board against patriot groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRemoving tax-exempt status by AG determination without a method to redress, basically makes the AG the judge, jury, and executioner for nonprofits and their tax-exempt status in the state, all under the guise of Jan. 6,\u201d according to the source.<\/p>\n<p>Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, questioned why\u2014if the bill is non-political as Democrats claim\u2014don\u2019t its supporters mention violent leftwing nonprofit groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, are they referring to Black Lives Matter and Antifa, the organizations that have wreaked so much havoc and caused so much destruction?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are at a sobering moment in America, where the political echo chamber in places like California and others where there is very little divergence of thought tolerated quickly morphs from a republic to tyranny,\u201d she told The Epoch Times. \u201cIt should be a sobering warning to any Californian with a pro-liberty mindset. It sounds like they\u2019re being marked for takedown.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4506691\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/06\/01\/True-the-vote-1200x792.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4506691\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/06\/01\/True-the-vote-600x396.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"396\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> True the Vote founder and president Catherine Engelbrecht makes a point during a presentation on ballot trafficking at the Arizona statehouse on May 31, 2022. Seated next to her is True the Vote data investigator Gregg Phillips. (Allan Stein\/The Epoch Times)<\/figure>\n<p>Engelbrecht hopes that \u201ccooler heads prevail\u201d and the bill is rejected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re at a point where you have to dig deep to know why you believe what you believe and then stand fast to that because things are just going to get weirder and weirder,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just some kind of bizarre brainwashing that that seems to have taken hold where up is down and two plus two is five. We\u2019re in very dangerous times.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The IRS Scandal<\/h2>\n<p>The bill seems to propose legalizing tactics eerily similar to those used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during former President Barack Obama\u2019s administration to target patriot groups, including the Tea Party.<\/p>\n<p>News of the IRS scandal broke in May 2013, but the nefarious activities of the agency had begun more than three years prior. In August 2010, the IRS made a list of groups to target, especially those with \u201cTea Party, Patriots, or 9\/12 in their names,\u201d according to a Treasury Inspector General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treasury.gov\/tigta\/auditreports\/2013reports\/201310053fr.pdf\">report<\/a> released on May 14, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman testified there was \u201cabsolutely no targeting\u201d of conservative groups but later stepped down. Shortly after, his replacement Steven Miller also resigned.<\/p>\n<p>Lois Lerner, the IRS director responsible for the oversight of tax-exempt groups, had met with Department of Justice (DOJ) officials about targeting conservative groups. Initially, Lerner claimed she was innocent but later <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/d65f4ySkWos\">took the fifth<\/a>. She was placed on administrative leave, and the U.S. House of Representatives held her in contempt of Congress. Lerner later resigned and retired with a full pension.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3253124\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/02\/27\/GettyImages-85994967.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-3253124\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-85994967-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3253124\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-85994967-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Demonstrators gather at a T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already) Party in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 15, 2009. (David McNew\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2>Tea Party Patriots<\/h2>\n<p>Dan Farley, a Tea Party organizer, told The Epoch Times that SB 834 is an attempt by the California Democrats to bolster its left-wing power base in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould the AG be pursuing those Democrat mules and Soros nonprofits exposed by geo-tracking like in the movie 2000 Mules, or patriot groups that the current CA AG hates?\u201d he posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur founders put in many layers to our government for a reason, so it wouldn\u2019t be easy to centralize power and create tyranny quickly. This is your warning to take notice that big government likely intends to weaponize the CA AG\u2019s office to crush all those who would like to shrink the size and impact of government in our lives,\u201d he wrote in the post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Dems did it under Obama with weaponizing the IRS and we all agreed that was wrong. How is this any different?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>Farley suggested Bonta should be more concerned with \u201cbringing law and order to the streets,\u201d and demanding the Biden administration secure the southern border.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to the recently released Dinesh D\u2019Souza documentary \u201c2000 Mules\u201d, which was based on research by True the Vote, Farley said Bonta should be focused on \u201cprosecuting those who intentionally cheated in elections using the same approach True the Vote did with geo-tracking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy give someone who isn\u2019t even doing the basics of his job more power?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4168807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20\/Califonrnia_Lawsuit_Walmart_21354780950744-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4168807\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Califonrnia_Lawsuit_Walmart_21354780950744-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Califonrnia Lawsuit Walmart\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4168807\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Califonrnia_Lawsuit_Walmart_21354780950744-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Califonrnia Lawsuit Walmart\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks at a news conference in Sacramento on Aug. 17, 2021. (Rich Pedroncelli\/AP Photo)<\/figure>\n<h2>True the Vote<\/h2>\n<p>Nearly a decade ago, Engelbrecht <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uQ7XK7ZBFWg\">testified<\/a> about the unfair targeting of patriot groups. She went public about the IRS scandal and described how her business and the Tea Party group King Street Patriots, which she also founded, were targeted by the IRS.<\/p>\n<p>She accused the Obama administration of \u201cconstant government persecution\u201d and sued the IRS, forcing it to admit they had systematically targeted conservative organizations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal court found that what happened to us was, in fact, not just a miscarriage of justice, but an abridgment of our civil rights,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The bill should serve as a \u201cwarning shot to all California nonprofits about what\u2019s coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a disturbing reality check,\u201d Englebrecht said. \u201cIf California were to pass something like this, it should send a chill down the spine of every Californian to know that government is intent upon silencing individuals and organizations based upon this presupposed political narrative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving been through this machine once before with the IRS,\u201d she said, \u201cno good comes from the abridgment of free speech and the targeting nonprofit organizations on the basis of perceived political identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Senate Committee Hearing<\/h2>\n<p>The California Assembly tax and revenue committee passed the bill to the Assembly public safety committee. Republican committee members abstained from the vote.<\/p>\n<p>SB 834 passed the Senate floor 28-12 on May 23. It must pass the Assembly public safety and appropriations committees before it can advance to the Assembly floor and then California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s desk to be signed into law<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Wiener told the committee the intent of the bill is to expand the California Franchise Tax Board\u2019s authority \u201cto revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits if the attorney general determines that the nonprofit has engaged in or incited various crimes including treason, insurrection, and seditious conspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wiener said SB 834 would fill an important gap in the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the Franchise Tax Board is currently directed by statute, to suspend the tax-exempt status of nonprofits supporting international terrorism, there is no explicit authority concerning nonprofits that attacked our democracy and literally tried to overthrow our government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4531517\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/06\/14\/GettyImages-1177782253-1200x1563.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy  wp-image-4531517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1177782253-600x782-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"207\" height=\"269\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4531517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1177782253-600x782-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"207\" height=\"269\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) at the Equality California Los Angeles Equality Awards 20th Anniversary event at JW Marriott Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2019. (Amanda Edwards\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe know from Jan. 6\u2014we\u2019re hearing more about it in recent days\u2014that there was a very organized effort to prevent the peaceful transition of power and to overthrow our government. And tragically, there were nonprofits involved. And we want to make sure that going forward, that these nonprofits do not get tax subsidies from California taxpayers,\u201d Wiener said.<\/p>\n<p>Two main witnesses spoke in favor of the bill. No one opposed it.<\/p>\n<p>One witness representing a group called Indivisible California State Strong, claimed her group represents 80,000 activists across the states. The groups formed across the country after the 2016 presidential election \u201cto oppose the bigoted and tyrannical Trump administration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cActs in support of an insurrection are already illegal. But also, it is of course the opposite of charitable to foment an attempted coup based upon the big lie about the known valid results of the 2020 election,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Beth Holtzman, western states civil rights counsel at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) told the committee that \u201cafter a cursory investigation, we uncovered evidence that a range of groups may be making misrepresentations in their tax filings in order to secure tax-exempt status.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holtzman accused some organizations of paying their leaders excessive salaries and diverting funds to enrich friends and family members at the expense of the tax-exempt entity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition, hateful groups with tax-exempt status, maybe using that status to raise money for violent and illegal purposes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>ADL has expertise in \u201ctracking and exposing extremist threats across the ideological spectrum,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the rising tide of hate and extremism across the country, we\u2019ve become increasingly concerned about the ways in which extremist and hateful groups operating as charitable nonprofits may be abusing their tax-exempt status to further their violent or hateful objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-brad-jones\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/WEB_BradJones2.jpg\" alt=\"Brad Jones\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Brad Jones is an award-winning journalist based in Southern California.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California Democrats appear to be using the Jan. 6 hearings in Washington D.C. as a catalyst to push legislation aimed at targeting the tax-exempt status of patriot groups in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1516476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1516476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1516476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1516476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}