DOJ, IRS Grant True the Vote Tax-Exempt Status

The scandal-scarred IRS has agreed to grant tax-exempt status to True the Vote, the Texas-based “election integrity” group that became one of the tea party and conservative organizations targeted by the tax collector.

True the Vote announced Monday the IRS and the Justice Department consented late Friday to grant its application for 501(c)(3) status.

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True the Vote calls itself a voters' rights organization, and was involved in efforts cleaning up voter rolls in some states, deterring fraud in Texas elections and verifying signatures in the Wisconsin governor recall election, according to the Washington Times

But earlier this year, the group discovered it was among a slew of applications the IRS had been scrutinizing and turned around to sue the agency to force it to approve the application.

News of the Internal Revenue Service decision came the same day the retirement of Lois Lerner, the IRS official at the center of the agency's tea party scandal, was announced.

True the Vote lawyer Cleta Mitchell said the fight with the IRS is far from over.

“This lawsuit is about getting to the truth and we are not going to stop until we find out the answers to these and many other questions,” Ms. Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the IRS still needs to answer for the costs and damages that resulted from the three-year delay, and to explain why they were  looking at information the IRS's internal auditor says wasn't necessary for them to make a decision.

“We are pleased and relieved that the IRS and the DOJ are finally doing what should have been done three years ago, which is to recognize TTV as a charitable and educational organization, which we have always been and will continue to be,” True The Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said in a statement to Breitbart News.

The group first filed for tax-exempt status in July 2010. With the belated approval from the IRS, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the charges.

“Since Plaintiff filed this action, the Service has determined, with the concurrence of the United States Department of Justice, to grant Plaintiff’s application for tax-exempt status and is in the process of issuing a favorable determination letter,” DOJ wrote in its motion.

Mitchell, however, still wants to know; when True the Vote will receive its tax-exempt status letter; what the government will do about the damages incurred while the group waited for over three years; what will happen to the confidential information the IRS demanded; and what about the violation of True the Vote’s employees’ rights.

The organization intends to file a counter motion to continue fighting the counts dealing with civil rights and privacy issues, Breitbart News reported.

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