January 29, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
In rousing style, the televangelist Kenneth Copeland has pledged to fight efforts by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, to make his Christian ministry’s finances public, reports Roll Call, a Washington political newspaper.
In November, Mr. Grassley, who is the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, sent letters to Kenneth Copeland Ministries, in Newark, Texas, and five other television ministries to obtain their financial information.
During a closed-circuit broadcast last week to about 1,000 ministers and other guests, Roll Call reports that Mr. Copeland said he would vigorously resist the request.
“You render unto the government what belongs to the government. And you render unto God what belongs to God,” he said, according to the newspaper. “You can go get a subpoena, and I won’t give it to you,” Mr. Copeland continues. “It’s not yours, it’s God’s and you’re not going to get it and that’s something I’ll go to prison over. So, just get over it.”
Mr. Grassley’s aides told the newspaper that Mr. Copeland had supplied some information, but that it fell short of what the Senator wanted. They said he plans to send another request to get more information.
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