| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
21 Mar 2006 01:20:42 PM |
| Object: |
An example of Exxon Mobil's insidious influence on the government |
From The Wall Street Journal, 3/21/06:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114291044305003774-TOpAth_GWFzcGJaKzMWSR6ZEXqk_20060328.html?mod=blogs
Did a Group Financed by Exxon Prompt IRS to Audit Greenpeace?
By STEVE STECKLOW
Two and a half years ago, Public Interest Watch, a self-described
watchdog of nonprofit groups, wrote to the Internal Revenue Service
urging the agency to audit Greenpeace and accusing the environmental
group of money laundering and other crimes.
Last September, the IRS began a months-long audit of the U.S. arm of
Greenpeace, known for steering its boats in the way of whaling ships
and oil tankers.
This month, Greenpeace says, it received notice from the IRS that the
group "continues to qualify for exemption from federal income tax" as
a nonprofit entity.
Greenpeace says an IRS auditor told it that the PIW letter triggered
the audit.
The IRS won't say how it decided to audit Greenpeace.
What is clear is where PIW has gotten a lot of its funding:
Exxon Mobil Corp., the giant oil company that has long been a target
of Greenpeace protests.
"I believe organizations should be scrutinized and audited, but I just
don't believe you should get targeted because ... you're a critic of
Exxon Mobil," said John Passacantando, executive director of
Greenpeace USA, the U.S. affiliate of Amsterdam-based Greenpeace
International.
____________________________________________________________
PIW's most recent federal tax filing, covering August 2003 to July
2004, states that $120,000 of the $124,094 the group received in
contributions during that period came from Exxon Mobil.
Harry
.
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