May 1, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Internal Revenue Service has restored the tax-exempt status of two groups with ties to former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich: the Howard H. Callaway Foundation and the Abraham Lincoln Opportunity Foundation.
The two groups were among six linked to Mr. Gingrich that in the late 1990s said they were under investigation by the revenue service. The IRS does not publicly identify groups or people under audit.
In revoking the Lincoln group’s tax exemption in 1998, the revenue service said that the organization, which stopped operations in late 1994, improperly “allowed itself to be used for nonexempt purposes” by Gopac, a political-action committee that Mr. Gingrich once used to train and educate Republican leaders and candidates. The IRS said the foundation produced television programs and workshops that helped train political activists. It also stripped tax-exempt status from the Callaway organization, which is still operating, for similar reasons.
The Lincoln foundation challenged the allegations in tax court, but the court dismissed the case in 2000 for lack of jurisdiction, since the group had dissolved. Howard Callaway then asked the IRS to review the cases.
In a letter to Mr. Callaway this spring, IRS Exempt Organizations Director Steven T. Miller said that after a review, the IRS decided to restore the tax-exempt status of both organizations.
