U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) speaks throughout the 3rd day of the verification hearing for Supreme Court candidate Judge Amy Coney Barrett prior to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., October 14, 2020.
Drew Angerer | Reuters
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has actually contacted the head of the Internal Revenue Service to examine the tax-exempt status of Turning Point U.S.A., a dark cash company led by pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk.
In a letter Tuesday to Internal Revenue Service commissioner Charles Rettig, Whitehouse stated that the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit trainee group must have their tax-exempt status evaluated since he thinks they broke Covid-19 guidelines when they apparently hosted 2 big occasions in Florida.
One of those events, according to the Washington Post, was at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s personal club.
Read the letter here.
“According to press reports and social media posts, many participants gathered and mingled indoors without wearing masks, in violation of Palm Beach County’s COVID-19 regulations.” Whitehouse informed Rettig in the letter.
“In holding these ‘superspreader’ events, Turning Point USA knowingly exposed hundreds of young people and staff working at the events to serious risk of infection,” he included.
“Accordingly, I urge the IRS to review whether it should revoke Turning Point USA’s tax-exempt status,” he later on states in the letter.
A Turning Point agent didn’t react to an ask for remark.
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with mediator Charlie Kirk after a conversation at the Generation Next online forum in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Whitehouse is the most recent member of the Senate Finance Committee to just recently contact the Internal Revenue Service to examine conservative dark cash companies. These companies are called dark cash groups since they do not openly reveal their donors.
Sen. Ron Wyden, who is the ranking Democrat on the financing committee however is anticipated to be the chairman after Democrats take control of the bulk today, asked for the Internal Revenue Service check out groups that were included with arranging the Jan. 6 rally that caused a riot on Capitol Hill.
Democrats will have control of committees after their wins in the Georgia Senate overflows. There will be a 50-50 split in the Senate, however Democrats will have a tie-breaking vote in Kamala Harris, who will end up being vice president Wednesday.
Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) group associated with Turning Point U.S.A., bused fans to the rally. A Turning Point Action representative formerly informed CNBC that the trainees returned on their buses after the rally, did not participate in the march, and condemned the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol.
Whitehouse has actually formerly targeted dark cash companies, consisting of with legislation that would expose their donors. Whitehouse, who is likewise on the judiciary committee, just recently took goal at them throughout a verification of hearing of Amy Coney Barrett, who was ultimately verified onto the Supreme Court.
