ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608050090
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and The Associated Press
NOTE: Above
A wealthy Ohio businessman sent the Christian Coalition a $60,000 contribution in 1992, telling the self-described nonpartisan group that he wanted to help fund a ``massive distribution of literature'' to help re-elect President Bush.
Campaign finance experts say the transaction appears improper and could bolster the government's case accusing the tax-exempt coalition of violating federal election laws by aiding Republicans.
The coalition acknowledges it accepted the check but denies it was misused, or that any records were falsified.
The businessman, John W. Wolfe, said in a July 23, 1992, letter to Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson that ``a very good friend of mine,'' Lyn Nofziger, ``tells me your group is very supportive of President Bush and that you will be doing a massive distribution of literature on his behalf.''
Wolfe said he had been told ``you could use some financial help with that project for the President and therefore, on the recommendation of Lyn, I am pleased to send you a contribution of $60,000.''
The revelation of the Wolfe letter comes as the Christian Coalition is being challenged by the Federal Election Commission over alleged involvement in partisan politics.
The FEC filed suit against the group last week, claiming the coalition worked hand-in-hand with Republican candidates, including the 1992 Bush campaign, in distributing voter guides and mobilizing voters to go to the polls. FEC documents released last week showed that agency lawyers concluded the group provided nearly $1million in such improper assistance to the Bush campaign in 1992.
The Christian Coalition did distribute millions of voter guides in 1992, but coalition officials say the FEC is wrong about its consultation with GOP candidates and that, in any case, such coordination would not be improper because its voter guides and other statements did not expressly back any candidate. The coalition says it is a nonpartisan group that wants to educate voters and mobilize religious and social Christian conservatives to become active politically.
Wolfe, the head of a prominent Ohio family that owned the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, died in 1994.
Nofziger, a longtime Republican political consultant who served as President Reagan's political director in the White House, said Saturday that he had known Wolfe for 30 years and recalls discussing the issue with him. He said he did not work for either the Bush campaign or the Christian Coalition, but if Wolfe asked him about the coalition, ``I would have said, `It is generally supportive of Republicans. If you can give, go ahead and give.''' He said he did not know the size of Wolfe's donation.
Christian Coalition spokesman Mike Russell said a coalition official would have contacted a contributor who gave a donation of that size to thank him and to correct the mistaken impression that the group was involved in partisan electoral politics.
He said the contact would probably have been by telephone and therefore there would be no written record. ``No one specifically recalls that contributor,'' Russell said, even though he and other officials said it was one of the largest contributions the group had received.
Judy Liebert, the Christian Coalition's chief financial officer, has been on paid suspension since June after telling federal authorities about alleged irregularities in the billings of the coalition's main direct-mail vendor. She said in an interview that she recalled Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed telling her to record the Wolfe donation in the group's accounting ledger as an anonymous gift. Liebert said she followed Reed's instructions.
Coalition spokesman Russell said the organization's tax forms show the contribution listed by Wolfe's name and therefore Reed could not have told Liebert to put it down as an anonymous gift. He said he had not checked with Reed about whether he gave Liebert that instruction but, noting Wolfe's name on the tax form, said, ``Our actions speak for themselves.''
The Christian Coalition, formed by Robertson in 1989, applied to the Internal Revenue Service to be a tax-exempt organization that is permitted to do some lobbying. The IRS, which has investigated the status of other Robertson organizations for years, has yet to rule on the coalition's application.
If the application is rejected on the grounds the organization is too involved in politics, the group could owe back taxes. Unlike a charity, its donors are not permitted to take a tax deduction for their contributions.
Several lawyers said the transaction appears to violate federal election laws forbidding corporate contributions and private support for presidential candidates who accept federal funding, as Bush did.
``There are legal ways to contribute to the dialogue on issues, and to contribute to political discourse, and I'm all for them,'' said David Norcross, Republican National Committee counsel. ``But this doesn't seem to work, to me.''
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB