courtesy of Wikipedia

The National Organization for Marriage is, apparently, not very happy with Fred Karger. The former Republican Presidential contender has gone after NOM for refusing to file their federal tax returns and making them available to the public. This is required by law. Karger wrote to NOM Chairman John Charles Eastman wondering where they were as they were due to be filed last 15 May.

Eastman threatened to have Karger investigated and prosecuted for daring to ask that NOM follow the law.

Karger stated “Wonder what John Eastman and NOM don’t want the IRS and us to see in its 2011 tax returns for its 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 organizations? They sure are sensitive. NOM is a shady and corrupt organization as anyone who has followed them knows, but they have never sounded so angry or desperate before.”

Here is Eastman’s letter to Karger:

Dear Mr. Karger,

Dr. Eastman referred to our office your letter demanding access to the National Organization for Marriage’s (“NOM’s”) IRS 990 Forms. Pursuant to law, Form 990s are due on May 15, but two extensions of 3 months each may be requested. Many non-profit organizations request those extensions as NOM has in this instance. Thus, NOM’s 2011 990 is not due to the IRS until November 15.

Because Dr. Eastman pointed this out to you last year, you know your claims are false. Because you state that NOM and the Chairman of the Board have not acted in accordance with the law, your claims are defamatory. Should you choose to repeat these defamatory statements to others, you are doing so with malicious intent.

You also persist in seeking information from our 990 Forms that would disclose our donors. As you know, that information appears only on Schedule B of the form, and non-profits are not required to publicly disclose that information. Indeed, it is a felony for anyone to access that information without the permission of the taxpayer, or to further disseminate that information. You have done both, and we have referred the matter to the appropriate authorities for investigation and prosecution.

Here is Karger’s letter to Eastman:

Dear Mr. Eastman:

I am writing to alert you that the 2011 federal tax returns (990’s) of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) are not available on your website today as required by federal law. They were due in May of this year, and apparently an extension was granted until October 15, 2012. They are not up on your website nor are they on Guidestar.

As the Chairman of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a distinguished law professor and a former law school dean, I had hoped that you would perhaps try and give NOM some much needed integrity.

Karger, who founded Equal Means Equal, noted that:

NOM has not filed its tax returns on time with the Internal Revenue Service for both its 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 organizations for any of the five years since it began. I have had to visit your various NOM offices year after year to request them. Others and I have sent certified letters requesting your 990’s and never received them. I finally had to file multiple complaints with the IRS to force your organization to release its tax returns.

I have been the most prominent watchdog of the National Organization for Marriage since June of 2008, soon after it was established. I watched NOM grow from nothing to an operation working in over half the states on each and every anti-gay legal and political battle. NOM is also deeply involved in hundreds of state and federal candidate campaigns. Additionally, all your federal lobbying and other activities in Washington, DC rival that of the Family Research Council and the American Family Association.

The National Organization for Marriage is under investigation in several states currently, and they are resisting making their donor lists public despite the fact that legally they are required to do so.