Evangelical Leaders Question Grassley Probe

The Associated Press reported that more than two dozen conservative Christian leaders have signed a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, whose investigation into the tax returns of high-profile ministries sets a dangerous precedent in the writers’ view.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R.-Iowa, chairs the committee and began the investigation in November by writing letters to six high-earning televangelist ministries. Grassley asked the ministries to submit reports to the committee regarding staff salaries, leisure expenses and travel. The six ministries in question retain a tax-exempt status.

Signatories of the letter to committee include leaders such as Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Moral Majority; Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association; and Ken Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state and gubernatorial candidate signed the letter. The letter indicates that the all of the targeted ministries “share the same branch of evangelicalism” and promote “socially conservative public policy positions.”

The letter also ascertains that the Internal Revenue Service already has standards in place for when it is appropriate to audit a church organization and that Grassley and the committee’s inquiries fall short of those standards.

The most common objection to the committee’s probe has been constitutionality. Many have argued that the committee is overstepping its bounds and violating the “free exercise" clause of the First Amendment.