CREW, VoteVets File Complaint Against Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concerts

Last week’s poorly researched Debbie Schlussel story on Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concerts burned some of the people who posted on it, such as David Frum. Schlussel’s claim that Hannity’s organization wasn’t giving much of the money from the concerts to charity didn’t hold up. But the door was wedged open, and now CREW and VoteVets are running through it with complaints to the FTC and IRS, accusing the Freedom Alliance (which runs the concerts) of engaging in political activity.

From Crew’s press release:

CREW’s IRS complaint against Freedom Alliance asks the IRS to consider revoking its charitable tax status because the organization has engaged in prohibited political activities.  When Freedom Alliance first formed in 1999, the IRS conditioned its charitable tax status on the organization removing politically partisan materials from its website and warned it not to intervene in political campaigns.  Despite those warnings, Freedom Alliance’s website includes links to Lt. Col. North’s columns, which are largely political, rents its mailing list to a communications firm that works for organizations that “seek to reach Republicans and conservatives across the United States,” and hosts an annual “Freedom Cruise” with Republican politicians such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.  In addition, Freedom Alliance appears to have a relationship with Team America, a PAC formed by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), dedicated to anti-immigration efforts and supporting conservative candidates.

Here’s the filing: