A right-wing activist group’s reliance on evangelical churches to attract Republican votes could put congregations in conflict with the Internal Revenue Service, legal experts say.
Turning Point Action, founded by conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk, has been involved in at least six battleground states since March, according to a study conducted by a progressive watchdog group documented and reviewed by NBC News. It is holding events with 22 churches to gather Republican votes. This is part of Turning Point’s efforts to reach people who are likely to support former President Donald Trump and encourage them to vote.
“What they’re doing is pretty much This is definitely a violation of the Johnson Amendment.”
Churches, including progressive churches and historically black congregations, have a long history of getting involved in elections by registering voters, reaching out to neighborhoods, and providing transportation to polling places. These efforts are legal as long as they do not explicitly target or exclude voters based on their party affiliation. Every year, many churches cross the line by accepting candidates or voicing their support from the pulpit, but they rarely face sanctions from the IRS.
But what Turning Point is doing — relying on congregations to run overtly partisan campaigns “is on a different level than anything I’ve seen before,” said the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. said Philip Hackney, a professor and former IRS official. He and four other nonpartisan legal experts told NBC News that such activities could jeopardize the church’s tax-exempt status.
Hackney cited Turning Point’s close ties to Trump and the Republican National Committee. In a novel strategy made possible by new leniency in campaign finance rules that allow campaigns to work with super PACs and other groups, the Trump campaign has largely delegated its turnout efforts. are. Turning Point Action is one of several outside groups that have taken over campaign efforts on behalf of the Republican Party.
“Republicans are, in effect, blatantly using the church through this system to extract votes,” Hackney said.
Turning Point Action did not respond to messages seeking comment. Trump campaign officials told NBC News that the company does not control Turning Point or its voter outreach efforts and declined to comment further. An IRS spokesperson said the agency cannot comment on specific organizations and referred reporters to federal guidelines that make it clear that churches cannot engage in partisan political activities.
Turning Point’s work with churches is openly partisan, said Corinne Wolyniec, a researcher at Documented, a nonprofit that studies the influence of corporations and wealthy donors in government and politics. She found that the conservative activist group mobilized evangelical congregations in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. At these gatherings, which Turning Point calls super chase events, Turning Point representatives train church members to use the group’s vote-tracking app. The app uses voting history data to direct volunteers to call or knock on the door of likely Republicans, ensuring no one interrupts them. “Wrong party” – meaning the Democratic Party.
At times, Turning Point officials advised pastors that there were no legal risks to that type of partisan activity, according to public videos posted by the group. But some legal experts say otherwise.
“You can’t support a particular candidate or implicitly support a group of candidates like you can with Republicans versus Democrats,” said Lloyd Meyer, a professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Law. “This effort clearly favors eliminating voters who support Republican candidates.”
Johnny Buckles, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, agreed that churches working with Turning Point are likely violating tax laws as interpreted by the IRS, but the Johnson Amendment itself is under Article 1. This is seen as a violation of the right to free speech. Fixed.
Regarding the church’s political activities, Buckles said, “I criticize the absolute prohibition, but what you are describing to me is problematic because it could potentially violate the law.” .
Documented examined dozens of social media posts, event pages, and online videos to compile a list of churches in battleground states that have hosted Super Chase events. Some churches and pastors promoted Turning Point events during services and in social media posts, according to NBC News.
On a recent Sunday, members of Crossing Community Church in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, stayed after the service and received training from Turning Point Action representatives before going out into the community to encourage Christians to vote. He called on believers to receive it.
At Freedom House Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, a flashy announcement video was played during a recent service, warning members that “the most important election of our lives is just around the corner” and urging them to participate in a turning election. Point super chase event after service.
“In 2020, 1.3 million Christians in North Carolina alone did not vote,” the narrator exclaims. “It’s time to change that.”
NBC News reached out to officials from each of the approximately 20 churches that hosted Turning Point events, but only two responded.
Greater Augusta Apostolic Church in Columbia County, Georgia, which hosted the Turning Point Super Chase event in August, denied in a statement any direct connection to Turning Point, saying it does not accept “any faith, political background or We welcome all people without exception.” ”
David Rose, pastor of Restoration Hope Church in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, confirmed in an email that Turning Point held a Super Chase event at his church in August. He said it was “not and was not an event sponsored by our church.” This is a church-related event. ”
“It is common for churches to allow other groups to use their facilities for non-church-related events,” Rose said. Rose personally promoted the Turning Point event on social media and posed for photos inside the sanctuary alongside volunteers holding placards that read “Committee.” Kamala” and “Make America Great Again.”
Even though the event was not officially approved by the church, allowing Turning Point to use its facilities, along with the pastor’s participation, most likely violated tax laws, experts said. Mr. Rose did not respond to additional questions about whether his church had requested that Turning Point rent space for an event.
Both presidential campaigns are trying to curry favor with Christian voters. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at a church in Philadelphia on Sunday and warned black congregants that if they lost, America would become a “land of chaos, fear and hate.” Meanwhile, Trump has sought to maintain support among conservative evangelical pastors who openly support him from the pulpit. (One of President Trump’s longstanding promises to evangelicals is to repeal the Johnson Amendment, named after then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who introduced the bill in Congress.) )
Training churches as unofficial proxies for the Trump campaign fits into a broader campaign by Turning Point to mobilize evangelicals. Kirk called on Christians to see conservative politics as central to the call of Jesus to their lives, while touting Trump as God’s favored candidate.
Kirk called on pastors to rally their congregations to the cause in March, when he spoke at a California megachurch about plans to create “the largest vote-tracking army in the history of Republican Republican politics.”
“In my personal opinion, you can’t be a true born-again Christian and vote Democratic in 2024,” Kirk said.
In the months that followed, churches across the country responded to this call.
Turning Point is training volunteers at Super Chase events how to use a cell phone app that provides users with the addresses and names of residents likely to support Trump. Users can upload their contacts to see which of their friends and colleagues are likely to be Republicans, or to call or text randomly assigned numbers in battleground states. You can also do it. The goal is to increase turnout among “low propensity voters,” people who Turning Point believes support Trump but have not voted consistently in the past.
Turning Point representatives have at times downplayed the tax risks of hiring churches and pastors for these jobs. When an attendee at June’s Turning Point conference asked if it was a good idea to run a voting program through the church, Turning Point field director Brett Galaszewski said that’s exactly what pastors should be doing. said.
“I think we are long past the point where church and politics are separated,” he said. “We have a country to save.”
In a separate session, Turning Point representative Shaiden Goray said there is no risk in conducting partisan political activities through the church.
“There has never been a time in history where a church has lost its 501(c)(3) or tax-exempt status because of political involvement,” Goray said. “So we want people to understand that church is the place to be.”
Mr. Galaszewski did not respond to messages, and Mr. Goray declined to comment.
Meyer, a professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Law, questioned their advice. While it’s true that the IRS rarely revoke a church’s tax-exempt status for political activity, he said there has been one documented case since the 1990s. The IRS could also take other actions, such as issuing a warning letter or initiating an audit, he said.
“Of course, the advice is, ‘You’re not going to get caught, so it’s okay,'” Meyer said.
He said pastors who want to engage in overtly partisan politics should “if you’re doing something like this and it’s against the law, and I think what they’re doing here is “I think it’s a violation, but you have to remember that you’re violating a law that was enacted by Congress,” he said.
