IRS probes pastor’s Huckabee endorsement
This story is being carried wide and far today. The LA Times reports:
An attorney for clergyman Wiley S. Drake confirmed Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service was investigating the pastor’s endorsement of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential bid, written on church letterhead and announced during a church-affiliated Internet radio show.
"Pastors and churches have 1st Amendment rights just like everybody else," said Erik Stanley, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund. "Wiley Drake has the same right to make a personal endorsement as anybody." The inquiry into the Buena Park pastor’s actions comes six months after Americans United for Separation of Church and State urged the IRS to investigate the nonprofit status of Drake’s church because of the endorsement. Stanley said the IRS sent Drake a letter of inquiry Feb. 5.
See also the report on MSNBC and the AP.