Senate Panel Probes 6 Top Televangelists
Sen. Charles Grassley Asks Ministries To Turn Over Financial Records Within One Month
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Senator Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has asked six televangelist ministries to provide, by Dec. 6th, financial statements and records for an investigation into possible impropriety. (AP)
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CBS News has learned Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating six prominent televangelist ministries for possible financial misconduct.
Letters were sent Monday to the ministries demanding that financial statements and records be turned over to the committee by December 6th.
According to Grassley's office, the Iowa Republican is trying to determine whether or not these ministries are improperly using their tax-exempt status as churches to shield lavish lifestyles.
The six ministries identified as being under investigation by the committee are led by: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Three of the six - Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar - also sit on the Board of Regents for the Oral Roberts University.
A spokesperson for Joyce Meyer Ministries provided CBS News with an IRS letter to the ministry dated October 10, 2007, that stated: "We determined that you continue to qualify as an organization exempt from Federal income tax." The letter could not be independently verified in time for this story. The ministry also pointed to audited financial statements for the last three years that are posted on the organization's Web site.
In a statement, Benny Hinn's spokesperson, Ronn Torossian, said the ministry is in the process of determining the best course of action in response to the Senate investigation. "World Healing Center Church complies with the laws that govern church and non-profit organizations and will continue to do so," Torossian wrote.
Eddie Long's New Birth Ministries says he has received the request for information from the U.S. Senate and plans to "fully comply. New Birth Ministries has several safeguards put in place to ensure all transactions are in compliance with laws applicable to churches."
In a statement to CBS News, Creflo Dollar called his ministry an "open book" and said he would comply with any "valid request" from Grassley. But he noted that the inquiry raised questions that could "affect the privacy of every community church in America."
Paula White is also expressing concern about precedents that could be set by turning over the requested information.
"We take our financial responsibilities to our partners very seriously and to the best of our knowledge we comply with all tax laws. Our audited financial statements appear on our website," said White, in a statement. "However, we are concerned about the possible precedent and ramifications of this request. We will be reviewing the request and its implications in detail over the coming weeks as we prepare our response."
Because they have tax status as churches, the ministries do not have to file IRS 990 forms like other non-profit organizations - leaving much financial information largely behind closed doors.
The letters sent Monday were the culmination of a long investigation fueled in part by complaints from Ole Anthony, a crusader against religious fraud who operates the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which describes itself as a watchdog monitoring religious media, fraud and abuse. "We've been working with them for two years," Anthony told CBS News. "We have furnished them with enough information to fill a small Volkswagen."
Anthony said after twenty years of working with media organizations to expose televangelists, he saw little reform. He says that's why he turned to another tactic, going straight to Grassley. He is confident that Grassley's inquiry will be different, "What we hope is that this will lead to reform in religious nonprofits."
The structure of many televangelist organizations - in which the leadership is often concentrated in one person or one family - has itself been the target of criticism. "Churches like these are ruled as a dictatorship," says Rod Pitzer, who directs research at Ministry Watch in North Carolina, which provides advice for donors to Christian organizations.
Pitzer welcomes the Senate committee investigation. Ministries lacking accountability, he says, "give a black eye to churches and Christians who are trying to do things in the right manner."
By Laura Strickler © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 552 CommentsDoesn''t he know that a Republican doesn''t do that or at least they haven''t for the last what 12 years. Now that the Democrats are in charge they start to take responsibility. Hey buddy let me explain how it works first you prove yourself then we talk.
Besides you will probably find out that they were donating to the GOP and working with them. They are the religious right wing remember.
Posted by monkfellow at 07:28 AM : Nov 06, 2007
+ report abuse
What "Atheist Organization" qualifies for this Tax Except Status? You couldn''t be using a little bigotry here to defend these Snake Oil Salesmen now would you? To my knowledge NO Atheist Organization does NOT pay taxes and the Tax Code does NOT allow for them to qualify under these provisions.
"MEMBERSHIP IN AMERICAN ATHEISTS
Benefits and Privileges%u2026
Your membership in American Atheists shows that you care about taking a stand for Reason, civil liberties for Atheists, and the total, absolute separation of church and state! Membership is open to all who agree with our Statement of Aims and Purposes. Joining American Atheists, though, also has it rewards! Benefits and Privileges of Membership include%u2026
(click here to apply)
Membership dues and donations to American Atheists are tax deductible."
All foundations with an educational purpose are tax exempt. These include the national and local golf and tennis organizations, chihuahua breedeers -- the whole gamut. I feel as if any organization should only be able to exempt only the funds used for charitable relief.
Bzzt! Wrong! The Constitution NEVER says we have to give favorable tax exempt status to such swindlers. Start by charging them income tax just like thee and me must pay. Then we can continue by charging "churches" property tax on all the investment properties they own.
These snake oil salesmen, right up through the Pope of Rome and the TV preachers have had a free ride too long.
Posted by honestabe8 at 08:09 AM : Nov 06, 2007
As P.T. Barnum said, "There''s a sucker born every minute".....
Your beliefs are clouding your perception. This isn''t about preventing the fleecing of the gullible. This is about abuse of tax exempt status.
You have only 3 choices of whom you will serve: 1) you think you are a god, and so you serve yourself, or 2) you serve the "god of this world," and become a worldly person destined only to death, OR 3) you serve the Lord God Almighty whom Jesus has revealed to us.
I''m all for integrity, and honesty in the Name of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Convenient how the "giving up worldy possessions to enter the kingdom of God", or something to that effect, has been removed from the Bibles of these "Holy" representatives, eh?
Geez, the Pope literally lives like a prince.....
Posted by drngray at 08:15 AM : Nov 06, 2007
There''s a fourth option you failed to mention, and that is, to realize that fairy tales are for children.
"They are soaking desperate people. On the other hand, chumps are there to be fleeced."
Is there abuse? Heck, why even hold a review? Let''s just find them all guilty and save ourselves some money.
I recommend we "presume innocence" until there is a guilty finding.
Athiest (or any non-church) organizations are already under greater scrutiny, as the article states. Churches are exempt from having to report on their finances--other non-profits are required to report.
"You subvert our rights by unconstitutionally usurping authority that is not there for you, but rather the opposite is "clearly" stated. If those people want to be deceived by those that mishandle the Word of the Lord, that is their constitutional right to do so. YOU Senator, are in the wrong."
This isn''t about anyone''s right to practice religion. It''s about our nation''s granting them immunity from taxes that all others must pay. There may or may not be anything wrong with that exemption. But when that exemption is abused in order to hide extreme wealth and lavish lifestyle, we the taxpayers had better look into it. That''s not what we grant exemption for.
Many athletes and most feature performers have personal foundations. Many of their conferences and seminars are in the Riviera, the Carribean and the South Pacific. They effectively exempt from taxation the portion of their income used for private jets and luxury hotels.
If they do not wish to set up their own foundations, a number of "churches" will sponsor their junkets in return for a substantial but smaller than income tax donation.
NEW YORKER MAGAZINE DEC 6 2004
An evangelist named Norman Grubb had been invited to speak at the station''s dedication, and Anthony was in the audience. He still isn''t sure what happened next. He has gone back and read Grubb''s books and found much to dispute in his theology. But on that day its essential message%u2014that all success is an illusion and all striving futile; that selflessness is the only real path to transcendence%u2014stirred some certainty inside him.
"It was like being taken into the heart of God," he says. An hour and a half later, the other businessmen had left the auditorium, but Anthony was still in his seat, sobbing. Religious conversions, like rock-star documentaries, nearly always follow the same pattern: the skyrocketing success and riches without fulfillment, the fall from grace and the rise to new heights on the wings of faith.
In Anthony''s case, that plot has been acted out in reverse: he found religion at the pinnacle of his career and has grown steadily poorer since. God''s purpose, he believes, is not to ease our pain or to answer our prayers but to strip us of all expectation%u2014to reveal the hollowness of our existence so that we might sacrifice our lives for others, as Christ did
Powers not specifically given to the Federal Government belong to the States, "States Rights".
Posted by skyk at 07:38 AM : Nov 06, 2007
You are absolutely correct on that account.
It gets worst the idiot in charge has your tax dollars paying for many of the religious programs but can''t find money to pay for health care for kids.
You GOP members are going down hard and you don''t even understand why.
ANother group we give tax exempt status to is PeTA who has used some of hteir tax exempt cash to bail out convicted arsonists, as well as using the money for breaking the LAWS in this country.
When these groups get tax exempt status they are agreeing to abide by the rules and LAWS, those that don''t should be investigated and their exempt status YANKED
http://www.petakillsanimals.com
The question is: What will it take to get the IRS to connect the dots and revoke PeTA''s tax exemption? Do we have to wait until someone gets killed before ...
www.naiaonline.org/articles/archives/ca_arson_terrorist(8-7-03).htm
--Posted by afmca
After initiating the impeachment of Bushit and Darth! It''s really sad that Nancy Pelosi has turned out to be so useless. But perhaps the folks who say the Dems are pretty much as bad as the Repugniscum actually have a point. It''s just business as usual for Nancy Pelosi, and the majority of Dems are too spineless to challenge Bushit.
Of course the totally supine Repug congresspeople are even more cowardly, with the notable exception of a couple of people with a conscience, people like Grassley and Hagel.
you pay something for nothing in the hopes for something big.
In both cases, old folks are throwing away their life savings.
Thank god they represent a minuscule part of the Christians population in America. Go back to your real churches and pastors and stop giving your money to these snake oil salesman.
The Demos should be beating the Repubs up on the credit card scams, insurance scams, corporate crimes, the environment, energy, health care, the destruction of the Consitution, the misguided "war" against terrorism, but Pelosi is too much DC and not enough independent thinker. In 2008, the Demos need new majority leadership in both the House and Senate.
At least the televangelists choose adults when they ''sin''...
Posted by cfin5 at 08:50 AM : Nov 06, 2007
If your going to make a statement like that, then "lead us" to what she was "caught red handed" at.
Where do we find those "matters"?
Televangelists rape our elderly financially and preach what they don''t live up to.
The world would be well off without them.
I never believed we had to "pay to pray" and that''s what these and most Organized religions do.
God hears me quite well at home.
.
Posted by Signof4
====================
EXCELLENT POINT. These two are the most blatant offenders.
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the Rainbow Coalition.
.
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the Rainbow Coalition.
.
Posted by MCVett at 09:18 AM : Nov 06, 2007
For once we agree, great point.
They''re disingenuous, overbearingly cloistering, and shameless in their pitch for your cash.
And, unlike prayers in a real church service, their pleas for cash are marked by really SEVERE praying, eyes scrinched shut reeeeal tight and hands clenched together tightly.
All this is done on a stage rife with garish and opulent adornments.
It''s their god, not God who they are addressing and it is right to investigate fraud.
God hears me quite well at home.
Posted by liberalme at 09:14 AM : Nov 06, 2007
Our own goverment has been doing this for 40 years, still is.
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