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03/23/2006
'Let Freedom Ring' Criticizes Washington Group for Continued Harassment of Religious Conservatives WEST CHESTER, Pa., March 23 -- The sponsor of the Pennsylvania Pastor's Network, Let Freedom Ring, Inc., called yesterday's complaint against it and others over a Pastors Convocation earlier this month filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") 'groundless' and declared that "this IRS complaint filed by CREW with the IRS today will be dismissed just as the last complaint CREW filed against us was dismissed". Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, sponsor of the Pennsylvania Pastor's Network ("PPN") said, "CREW is a liberal front group masquerading as a non-partisan, non-political organization. The complaint filed today is no different from the one CREW filed against Let Freedom Ring for the work we did in 2004. CREW claimed then (as now) that we were violating the law. The IRS did not agree with CREW's biased assessment. Instead, the IRS dismissed the complaint because Let Freedom Ring had not violated the law." "We and all our participants have followed, and will continue to follow, both the letter and spirit of the law," Hanna continued. "This demonstrates and reinforces our commitment to informing pastors and religious leaders of their rights under the First Amendment to be involved in their community's public policy debate(s), to educate them about issues of concern to people of faith, to conduct non-partisan voter registration drives and to exercise their rights as citizens." Let Freedom Ring is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote constitutional government, economic freedom and traditional values. The Pennsylvania Pastors Network is a project of Let Freedom Ring, and held a Pastors Convocation in Valley Forge earlier this month. Other groups participated in the event but "all costs and expenses of putting on the Pastors Convocation were paid by Let Freedom Ring," said Hanna. "No individual and no organization participating in the Pastors Convocation have broken the law and we will gladly provide all materials and records to the IRS to demonstrate that fact. We are confident that, once again, CREW's complaint will be dismissed," continued Hanna. "What the media ought to be asking is why CREW, a 501(c)(3) organization, is abusing its tax exempt status by filing these frivolous complaints only against conservative organizations and Republican candidates? We have referred this question to our attorneys and have every intention of pursuing CREW legally for its harassment of our organization and, in the process, its violation of the Internal Revenue Code. "There is no basis for CREW's latest volley against us, but it does continue to build the case against them that theirs is a partisan front group and may be operating in violation of IRS regulations and campaign finance laws," Hanna concluded. An article published in The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., this month traced the links between CREW and liberal Democratic donors and operatives.
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