Connect with us

Karger Accuses NOM Of More Federal Tax Code Violations

Published

on

NOM, the National Organization For Marriage, is being accused of yet again not filing its tax returns on time — actually, of never filing its tax returns on time — by Fred Karger, the former GOP presidential candidate and LGBT activist who founded Rights Equal Rights.

“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 writes in a letter today to NOM Chairman John Eastman:

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.

Eastman, regular readers will recall, seemed to have laughed at the idea of Iran dropping a nuclear missile on New York, and seemed to call it “a good idea.”

Karger adds:

This year I filed the complaint against NOM for not reporting $345,000 in funds it apparently raised in 2008 to qualify and pass California’s Proposition 8 campaign. The California Fair Political Practices Commission that investigates less that 5% of the complaints it received has begun an investigation into these charges five months ago.

You can’t blame me for being suspicious about your funding, when year after year NOM either doesn’t file its tax returns or files them a year or two late.

So, as NOM’s Chairman and as a professor of Constitutional Law at the Chapman University School of Law, I would hope that finally there may be a modicum of integrity at the National Organization for Marriage.

We hope that someone with your distinguished record will act in accordance with the law unlike your predecessors as NOM Chairs, Robby George and Maggie Gallagher.

We assume that you will promptly obey federal law and file and release both sets of tax returns.

Related:

NOM: In 2009 We Spent $8 Million Fighting Same-Sex Marriage

GOP Presidential Candidate Fred Karger Announces He’s Filing More Charges Against NOM

Gay GOP Candidate Fred Karger Demands NOM’s Delinquent Tax Returns

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas

Published

14 hours ago

on

May 15, 2025

By

During a rally-style appearance before uniformed U.S. troops in Qatar on Thursday, President Donald Trump—serving as their Commander-in-Chief—floated the idea of a “fourth” term and falsely claimed victory in the 2020 election he lost. The appearance drew swift criticism for blurring the line between military service and political theater.

“As you know, we won three elections, okay?” Trump told the largely silent troops (video below). “And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know—I’ll have to think about that.”

“You saw the new, the new hat. The hottest hat is, it says, ‘Trump 2028: We’re driving the left crazy.'”

“When you see that. We didn’t need that hat, but, uh, it was it’s been an amazing period of time,” he concluded.

READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

Noting that Trump was speaking “at the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East,” CNN reported that the President “thanked the U.S. troops for political support.”

“There’s – nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody,” Trump said. “So, I just want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank you very much.”

CBS News national security coordinating producer Jim LaPorta, who has reported extensively on the military, wrote: “If this was a rally, the president’s remarks would be fine. But in front of service members who are expected to be apolitical, many Defense Department officials would find these remarks inappropriate.”

READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein observed: “Treating the troops like they’re at a campaign rally and sowing doubt about the past and future of American elections — all in one soundbite.”

Democratic pollster and strategist Luke Martin called it “especially jarring to see Trump flirting with blowing a hole in the Constitution in front of an entire crowd of people who literally swore an oath to protect it with their life.”

Independent journalist Mike Rothschild noted: “Making a statement like this in front of active duty troops would have generated months of scandal, hearings, and resignations in years gone by. Now it’s just another Thursday with the Mad King.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

Published

17 hours ago

on

May 15, 2025

By

Walmart has issued a stark warning about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, cautioning that their “magnitude” will directly lead to higher prices for consumers. The nation’s largest retailer made clear it will have no choice but to pass on the increased costs. President Trump, by contrast, recently claimed that Chinese manufacturers—key suppliers for Walmart and many other retailers—would probably “eat” the tariffs.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a press release, according to Yahoo Finance.

Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC, “we’re wired to keep prices low for customers, but the level of tariffs that have been proposed is pretty challenging for all retailers, for suppliers, and certainly our concern is that consumers are going to feel some of that.”

READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

“We’ve not seen a period where you’ve had prices go up this high, this quickly,” he continued (video below). “We’re well equipped and experienced in dealing with elasticities or price increases that are going up 2 or 3 percent, but not 30 percent.”

Critics took the opportunity to blast President Trump’s tariffs.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Walmart’s warning a “canary in the coal mine for the devastation Trump’s tariffs will have on Main Street,” according to The Washington Post.

“If a retailer as big as Walmart can’t escape the pain of tariffs, what chance [do] small businesses have?” he asked.

Leader Schumer called on retailers to post how much tariffs increase the cost of each product.

READ MORE: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

“Walmart’s announcement is a glaring reminder that even after supposedly backtracking on some of his tariffs, significant damage will not go away,” he added in a floor speech. “The chaos unleashed is eating away at retail, restaurants, small businesses, and middle class families wallets. It is still estimated these tariffs will cost thousands of dollars for each family each year.”

Cato Institute Vice President of General Economics Scott Lincicome served up this warning: “Buckle up.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

Published

20 hours ago

on

May 15, 2025

By

A massive banner of President Donald Trump is now hanging from the outside of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s building in Washington, D.C., opposite a banner of President Abraham Lincoln. Several critics are suggesting the hanging is fascist or authoritarian, with some saying it is giving off North Korea vibes.

“Looming down from the pillared front of the neo-classical facade is an enormous, brooding picture of President Donald Trump, adapted from his official presidential portrait,” The Independent reported. “The picture of Trump is reminiscent of portraits of leaders hanging from public buildings, often seen in dictatorships, monarchies, and in descriptions in George Orwell’s 1984 of ‘Big Brother.'”

Progressive nonprofit People For the American Way posted a photo of the USDA building with the Trump banner, also saying it is “echoing authoritarian dictatorships.”

“This is deeply fascist,” observed Democracy advocate, Army combat vet, and podcaster Fred Wellman.

READ MORE: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

“Trump is spending $92 million on a birthday military parade and plastering his face on the sides of government buildings. Washington, DC is becoming Pyongyang, North Korea,” podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen noted.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted photos of the banners being installed, while suggesting that President Trump’s policies have been good for farmers — a controversial opinion given his tariff and trade wars, and program cuts.

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wrote: “Its interesting that these freedom loving MAGA alpha males want to institute this deeply creepy 3rd world culture where we have a national daddy that must be obeyed.”

Political analyst Rachel Bitecofer warned Trump is “going to go full Putin.”

“Welcome to North America’s North Korea!” exclaimed Russell Drew, a self-described amateur historian and political junkie.

See the social media posts above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bootlicking’: Johnson Ripped for Shrugging Off Trump Ethics Oversight

 

Image: Public Domain photo via Wikimedia

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.