Norm Coleman’s American Action Network accused of violating tax status

Citizens for Ethics in Washington filed an IRS complaint against former Sen. Norm Coleman’s American Action Network Tuesday alleging that the group violated its 501(c)4 status by working to elect Republicans. CREW posits that AAN used its tax status to protect Republican donors from disclosure and spent the majority of More…

Group calls for IRS probe of American Future Fund

A Washington, D.C.,-based government watchdog is calling for the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether the American Future Fund (AFF) has violated tax law.

In a letter to the IRS asking for an investigation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) says AFF is registered as a More…

U.S. Reps. Barton, Johnson make watchdog’s list of ‘Most Embarrassing Re-Elects’

U.S. Reps. Joe Barton (R-Arlington) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Dallas) figure prominently on a government watchdog’s list of “Most Embarrassing Re-Elects of 2010.” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) singled out Barton for his notorious apology to BP (among other things) and Johnson for nepotism and college More…

Campaign Finance Groups Petition Baucus: Investigate Nonprofits Yourself

Sen. Max Baucus’ (D-Mont.) letter requesting that the IRS investigate a number of Section 501 nonprofit organizations — accused of abusing their tax-exempt status by devoting the majority of their energies to election activities — is getting a lot of approval from campaign finance advocacy groups, but also More…

Watchdogs and Lobbyists Team Up to Reform Earmarks

Watchdog groups tend to cry foul when lobbyists solicit earmarks for their corporate clients from legislators. Lobbyists, in turn, often blame the groups for conjuring up images of corruption when congressmen are merely responding to their constituents’ needs. Yesterday, however, members of both tribes got together and presented a More…

Campaign Watchdogs: O’Donnell’s Spending ‘Flat-Out Illegal’

Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s GOP primary victory might be old news, but her campaign’s financial improprieties dredged up during the primary contest continue to haunt her candidacy going forward. Melanie Sloan, executive director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, says that even cursory reviews of O’Donnell’s More…

GOP Leaders Won’t Say Whether They Plan to Kill the Office of Congressional Ethics

The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), an independent agency established in 2008 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to launch investigations into congressional improprieties and make recommendations to the House Ethics Committee, seems to be performing its duties so well that it might just be out of a job. The Hill More…

Ensign Blames CREW for Ethics Woes

Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) is raising money for a legal defense fund to fight the numerous ethics charges against him. In his appeal he blames Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which he refers to as “a liberal organization,” for his present troubles, and says he’s been More…

Why Are the Rangel and Waters Hearings Happening Now?

The Ethics Committee has known about Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) violations since September 2008 and Rep. Maxine Waters’s (D-Calif.) misdeeds since June 2009, so why is it only making its findings available now? That’s the legitimate question that Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, More…

Nathan Deal: Not Your Model Reform Candidate

Now that former Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) has finally secured the GOP nomination in the state governor’s race, Democrats — including White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs — are reminding the media and voters about his less than squeaky clean past. Indeed, during his last term in office, Deal More…