DATELINE: January 18, 2009, Chicago
Like the rest of the nation, we have been watching the Massachusetts Senate race closely. So we were intrigued today by the Martin Luther King Breakfast held first thing this morning at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.
Democratic hopeful Martha Coakley was seated at the head table and permitted to make a speech, which turned political when she asked attendees to send her to the Senate. Republican hopeful Scott Brown was not seated at the head table, nor was he permitted to make a speech. ABC News Center 5 in Boston reports that the committee sponsoring the breakfast claims that Coakley was invited to speak in her capacity as Massachusetts Attorney General.
Regardless of whether the committee is a Section 501(c)(3) organization, the committee's failure to extend an invitation to Brown to speak strikes as unfair play. However, if the committee, any of its members, or any sponsors of the breakfast are Section 501(c)(3) organizations, we believe questions exist as to whether these organizations engaged in a prohibited campaign intervention. Given the proximity to tomorrow's election, a good case can be made that this was a prohibited intervention.
Given the importance of this election to the nation, we hope the IRS will open an investigation. In the event an intervention is determined to have occurred, we believe the only appropriate course of action is the revocation of tax exemption of those Section 501(c)(3) organizations who were involved.
