American Bridge 21st Century filed a formal complaint with the Internal Revenue Service requesting that it investigate Turning Point USA (TPUSA) for violating its 501(c)(3) status after coordinating with Republican Party candidates — most notably Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
The complaint alleges that TPUSA violated the prohibition against political intervention by organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. American Bridge 21st Century is requesting that an investigation be opened to determine whether TPUSA engaged in impermissible political activity and supported Lake.
The complaint focuses on TPUSA’s coordination with the Kari Lake gubernatorial campaign. While TPUSA has an extensive history of overtly partisan political activity and a significant portion of TPUSA’s senior leadership has served concurrently in prominent Republican Party roles, the organization and its personnel have gone above and beyond in its blatant, repeated promotion of Kari Lake’s gubernatorial campaign.
Not only does Lake feature prominently on TPUSA’s website, but she has been promoted on TPUSA’s social media pages and participated in TPUSA events, where she appeared as a political candidate. Lake has also been on the radio show of Charlie Kirk, TPUSA’s president, and TPUSA appears to have paid for digital advertisements promoting Lake and her candidacy. Moreover, a number of TPUSA personnel are affiliated with the Lake campaign — in some cases working for both organizations simultaneously.
“By coordinating with the Kari Lake campaign, Turning Point USA has clearly violated its tax-exempt nonprofit status and intervened politically on behalf of their favored Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate,” said American Bridge 21st Century President Jessica Floyd. “We believe everyone who works in politics must be held to the highest ethical standards. At American Bridge, we will always hold Republicans and their political apparatus accountable when they break the law.”
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Published: Jun 16, 2022