March 25, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
The I.R.S. has revoked the tax exemption of a charity, the Abraham Lincoln Opportunity Foundation, that had been caught up in an ethics controversy involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
In a letter to the group, the revenue service said that the organization, which stopped operations in late 1994, improperly “allowed itself to be used for non-exempt purposes” by GOPAC, a political-action committee that Mr. Gingrich once used to train and educate Republican leaders and candidates. The I.R.S. said that the foundation “was active in GOPAC’s effort to train Republican political activists” by producing television programs and workshops. To pay for television productions, GOPAC lent the Abraham Lincoln fund $45,000 in 1990 and $29,500 in 1991, and the non-profit organization used charitable contributions to repay the loans, the revenue service said. The I.R.S. concluded that the foundation was operated “for the private benefit of GOPAC and other Republican interests” and should lose its tax exemption retroactively to January 1, 1990.
But the Abraham Lincoln Opportunity Foundation, which still exists legally, has filed a suit in U.S. Tax Court that denied the I.R.S.’s allegations. What’s more, the organization said that the I.R.S.’s action was inconsistent with the agency’s recent ruling that the Progress & Freedom Foundation think tank did nothing wrong when it sponsored Mr. Gingrich’s college course, “Renewing American Civilization.” In that ruling, the I.R.S. said that the Progress & Freedom Foundation did not improperly “serve the private interests of Mr. Gingrich,” or those of Republicans.
