Donald Trump Allies Push Legal Limits in Building the "ACORN of the Right"
Can a group tasked with voter registration and staffed with operatives tied to the president maintain its nonpartisan status?
LACHLAN MARKAY
08.23.17 12:24 PM ET
A new group with strong ties to the Trump administration is pushing the legal envelope in its efforts to register voters in Trump country.
The organization, Look Ahead America (LAA), has already drawn the attention of legal experts, who have questioned whether it should be given preferential tax-exempt status reserved for apolitical organizations. LAA has been classified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit since its launch announcement last week and is being billed as an “ACORN of the right,” a reference to the defunct left-wing community organizing group. Like ACORN, it is legally required to remain nonpartisan. But critics view the organization as a political arm for the White House. On Monday, a LAA spokesman said that its tax-exempt status is currently pending. After The Daily Beast inquired about that status, LAA removed a solicitation from its website asking for “a tax-deductible contribution,” further drawing the attention of its critics.
“Look Ahead America may not cross a line but they’re going to walk right up to it,” Austin Evers, executive director of the watchdog group American Oversight, said in an interview.
LAA insists that language regarding tax-deductions was removed not because it was legally out of bounds, but in order to avoid confusion about its tax status. It’s not actively courting donors through its website anyway, said Matthew Braynard, its executive director. “We’ve raised exactly zero so far through the site,” Braynard told The Daily Beast. “We’re 100 percent collecting and pitching large dollar right now.”
more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-allies-push-legal-limits-in-building-the-acorn-of-the-right
