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Blackburn Requests IRS Review of Clinton Foundation Exemption

MAY 19, 2015

Blackburn Requests IRS Review of Clinton Foundation Exemption

DATED MAY 19, 2015
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Blackburn, Rep. Marsha
    Neugebauer, Rep. Randy
    Franks, Rep. Trent
    Meadows, Rep. Mark
    Brooks, Rep. Mo
    DesJarlais, Rep. Scott
    Rouzer, Rep. David
    Ross, Rep. Dennis A.
    Olson, Rep. Pete
    Hultgren, Rep. Randy
    Roe, Rep. David P.
    Walberg, Rep. Tim
    Zinke, Rep. Ryan K.
    Black, Rep. Diane
    Flores, Rep. Bill
    Gohmert, Rep. Louie
    Granger, Rep. Kay
    Ratcliffe, Rep. John
    Chabot, Rep. Steve
    Jenkins, Rep. Lynn
    Jones, Rep. Walter B.
    Price, Rep. Tom
    Duncan, Rep. John J., Jr.
    Shimkus, Rep. John
    Wagner, Rep. Ann
    Williams, Rep. Roger
    Loudermilk, Rep. Barry
    Bridenstine, Rep. Jim
    Brat, Rep. Dave
    Byrne, Rep. Bradley
    Babin, Rep. Brian
    King, Rep. Steve
    Yoho, Rep. Ted S.
    Weber, Rep. Randy K., Sr.
    Fincher, Rep. Stephen Lee
    Marino, Rep. Tom
    Sessions, Rep. Pete
    Burgess, Rep. Michael C.
    McCaul, Rep. Michael T.
    Allen, Rep. Rick W.
    Long, Rep. Billy
    Newhouse, Rep. Dan
    Fleischmann, Rep. Charles J.
    Pearce, Rep. Stevan
    Perry, Rep. Scott
    Messer, Rep. Luke
    Goodlatte, Rep. Bob
    Johnson, Rep. Sam
    Salmon, Rep. Matt
    Duncan, Rep. Jeff
    Marchant, Rep. Kenny
  • Institutional Authors
    House of Representatives
  • Code Sections
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2015-11943
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2015 TNT 97-33

 

May 19, 2015

 

 

Washington, DC -- Congressman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was joined by 51 of her House colleagues today in sending a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen requesting a review of the Clinton Foundation's tax-exempt status. The letter requests that the IRS respond within 30 days.

"As I've traveled through my district and talked to constituents, many people have asked about the widely reported improprieties concerning the Clinton Foundation. That's why I decided to send a letter to Commissioner Koskinen asking the IRS to conduct a review of the Clinton Foundation's tax-exempt status," Blackburn said. "Media reports containing specific allegations have cast a cloud over the Clinton Foundation and call into question whether it is acting within the scope of its charitable mission for which it was originally granted tax-exempt status. In particular, the Clinton Foundation's admitted failure to accurately report donations from foreign governments during Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State is an issue of great public importance. President Obama himself recognized the potential for a conflict of interest to arise, which is why he had the Clinton Foundation sign an agreement outlining how foreign donations were to be handled.

"We look forward to Commissioner Koskinen's response. The allegations swirling around the Foundation are very serious and should be thoroughly vetted."

Click here to read the full text of Blackburn's letter to the IRS.

 

* * * * *

 

 

May 19, 2015

 

 

The Honorable John Koskinen

 

Commissioner

 

Internal Revenue Service

 

1111 Constitution Avenue Northwest

 

Washington, DC 20224-0002

 

 

Dear Honorable Koskinen:

We write to ask that you review the tax-exempt status of the Clinton Foundation (hereinafter "the Foundation"). The Foundation maintains that "The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation is a non profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization."1 However, recent media reports have revealed that the Foundation failed to report millions of dollars in grants from foreign governments that it accepted while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State and that it facilitated private business transactions between foreign entities. As a result, given the substantial public interest involved, we feel a prompt review of the Foundation's tax-exempt status is appropriate to determine whether it is acting within the scope of its charitable mission.

First, the Foundation is required to annually file a form 990 series return with the IRS listing foreign contributions. Unfortunately, the Foundation failed to accurately report tens of millions of dollars in foreign government grants between 2010 and 2012.2 Foundation Acting CEO Maura Pally admitted in an April 26th blog post that " . . . our error was that government grants were mistakenly combined with other donations."3 Former President Clinton recently added that "people re-file their taxes all the time" and that the omissions were "just an accident."4

However, the Foundation apparently did report such information prior to 2010. The Foundation's failure to report the donations is problematic and deserves enhanced scrutiny given Mrs. Clinton's position as Secretary of State at the time.

Second, former President Clinton and Canadian businessman Frank Giustra currently serve as board members of the Foundation. An article titled "The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from Canada" appeared in the Washington Post on May 3rd and details their relationship.5 The article notes that Giustra has donated over $100 million dollars to the Foundation since 2005 and that "Clinton has also gained regular transportation, borrowing Giustra's plane 26 times for foundation business since 2005, including 13 trips in which the two men traveled together."6 The Post adds that Giustra "closed some of the biggest deals of his career in the same countries where he traveled with Clinton."7 Giustra joined the Foundation's Board of Directors in 2013. The nexus between the Foundation and Giustra's business ventures is unusual and raises a question as to whether Foundation activities were used as a pre-text to allow Giustra to gain access to foreign individuals or entities with a stake in his private business interests.

Given these widely reported allegations, we believe a review of the appropriateness of the Foundation's tax-exempt status is necessary. Proceeding under the cloak of philanthropy, the Foundation appears to have facilitated major private business transactions between foreign entities and also failed to report substantial foreign donations during Secretary Clinton's tenure at the State Department. These actions have created an appearance of impropriety and go behind the Foundation's pledge to act primarily in furtherance of charitable causes for which it was granted tax-exempt status.

We ask that you respond within thirty days of receipt of this correspondence. Please contact Charles Flint at 202-225-2811 with questions about this request. Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

 

 

Marsha Blackburn

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Randy Neugebauer

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Trent Franks

 

Member of Congress

 

 

James Sensenbrenner

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Mark Meadows

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Mo Brooks

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Scott DesJarlais

 

Member of Congress

 

 

David Rouzer

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Dennis Ross

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Pete Olson

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Randy Hultgren

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Phil Roe

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Tim Walberg

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Ryan Zinke

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Diane Black

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Bill Flores

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Louie Gohmert

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Kay Granger

 

Member of Congress

 

 

John Ratcliffe

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Steve Chabot

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Lynn Jenkins

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Walter Jones

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Tom Price

 

Member of Congress

 

 

John Duncan

 

Member of Congress

 

 

John Shimkus

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Ann Wagner

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Roger Williams

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Barry Louderrnilk

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Jim Bridenstine

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Dave Brat

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Bradley Byrne

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Brian Babin

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Steve King

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Ted Yoho

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Randy Weber

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Stephen Fincher

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Tom Marino

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Pete Sessions

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Michael Burgess

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Michael McCaul

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Rick W. Allen

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Billy Long

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Dan Newhouse

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Chuck Fleischmann

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Steve Pearce

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Scott Perry

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Luke Messer

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Bob Goodlatte

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Sam Johnson

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Matt Salmon

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Jeff Duncan

 

Member of Congress

 

 

Kenny Marchant

 

Member of Congress

 

FOOTNOTES

 

 

1 Clinton Foundation, Frequently Asked Questions, available at https://www.clintonfoundation.org/ways-give/make-planned-gift/frequently-asked-questions#faq.

2 Rosalind S. Helderman, Clinton Foundation will amend tax filings to reflect foreign giving, WASH. POST., April 23, 2015.

3 Maura Pally, A Commitment to Honesty, Transparency, and Accountability, April 26, 2015, available at https://www.clintonfoundation.org/blog/2015/04/26/commitment-honesty-transparency-and-accountability.

4 Jeremy Diamond, Bill Clinton On Clinton Cash Case: It Won't Fly, May 6, 2015, available at http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/politics/bill-clinton-cash-book-case-wont-fly/index.html.

5 Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman and Anu Narayanswamy, The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from Canada, WASH. POST., May 3, 2015.

6Id.

7Id.

 

END OF FOOTNOTES
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Blackburn, Rep. Marsha
    Neugebauer, Rep. Randy
    Franks, Rep. Trent
    Meadows, Rep. Mark
    Brooks, Rep. Mo
    DesJarlais, Rep. Scott
    Rouzer, Rep. David
    Ross, Rep. Dennis A.
    Olson, Rep. Pete
    Hultgren, Rep. Randy
    Roe, Rep. David P.
    Walberg, Rep. Tim
    Zinke, Rep. Ryan K.
    Black, Rep. Diane
    Flores, Rep. Bill
    Gohmert, Rep. Louie
    Granger, Rep. Kay
    Ratcliffe, Rep. John
    Chabot, Rep. Steve
    Jenkins, Rep. Lynn
    Jones, Rep. Walter B.
    Price, Rep. Tom
    Duncan, Rep. John J., Jr.
    Shimkus, Rep. John
    Wagner, Rep. Ann
    Williams, Rep. Roger
    Loudermilk, Rep. Barry
    Bridenstine, Rep. Jim
    Brat, Rep. Dave
    Byrne, Rep. Bradley
    Babin, Rep. Brian
    King, Rep. Steve
    Yoho, Rep. Ted S.
    Weber, Rep. Randy K., Sr.
    Fincher, Rep. Stephen Lee
    Marino, Rep. Tom
    Sessions, Rep. Pete
    Burgess, Rep. Michael C.
    McCaul, Rep. Michael T.
    Allen, Rep. Rick W.
    Long, Rep. Billy
    Newhouse, Rep. Dan
    Fleischmann, Rep. Charles J.
    Pearce, Rep. Stevan
    Perry, Rep. Scott
    Messer, Rep. Luke
    Goodlatte, Rep. Bob
    Johnson, Rep. Sam
    Salmon, Rep. Matt
    Duncan, Rep. Jeff
    Marchant, Rep. Kenny
  • Institutional Authors
    House of Representatives
  • Code Sections
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2015-11943
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2015 TNT 97-33
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