Posted on 04/14/2004 4:50:52 PM PDT by HAL9000
LITTLE ROCK — A group dedicated to building a Counter Clinton Library museum here received a new level of legitimacy this month by becoming a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
Counterlibe Corp. of Washington, D.C., received 501(c)3 status from the IRS to pursue its goal of rebutting what it sees as "propaganda" planned for exhibits at the official $160 million Clinton Presidential Library, which is scheduled to open in downtown Little Rock on Nov. 18.
The federal recognition gives the Counter Clinton Library the same status as the presidential library and the Clinton Birthplace Foundation at Bill Clinton's birth home in Hope, Ark.
The status may also clear the way for the endorsement of former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Counter Clinton Library founder Dick Erickson says Barr, a former manager of Clinton's House impeachment trial, had agreed to lend his name to fund-raising efforts once the organization became a recognized nonprofit and would provide impeachment files from his collection at the State University of West Georgia.
Barr last week renewed his defamation lawsuit against Clinton, former Clinton campaign adviser James Carville and pornographer Larry Flynt. Barr declined to comment until he could discuss the plan more thoroughly with Erickson, although he e-mailed his congratulations Wednesday.
To keep its tax-exemption, the Counter Clinton Library must fulfill its plans of building bricks-and-mortar museums in Little Rock and Washington displaying what it promises will be documented negatives from Bill Clinton's eight years in the White House.
The organization also has 90 days to establish its level of public support. A letter from the IRS dated March 29 and received by Erickson this month tells Counterlibe Corp.: "We have determined that you can reasonably expect to be a publicly supported organization."
Erickson is visiting Little Rock this week from Houston to woo secret public support and secure a museum location in the Little Rock area.
He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that both efforts require secrecy to avoid subterfuge from Clinton's Arkansas friends.
"We will need to get a property by mid-September or October 1st to give us 45 to 60 days to prepare 16 rooms of multimedia-based exhibits," Erickson said. "We won't need much time because there aren't a lot of hard documents here. We'll have most of it on flat-screen monitors. Our academic presence will be in Washington."
But the tax-exempt status means that Erickson and co-founder John LeBoutillier, former Republican congressman from New York, will not be able to keep names of contributors or land acquisitions secret for long. Counterlibe Corp. will have to file that and other information with the IRS next year.
Erickson also acknowledged that his organization needs overt financial and public relations support from prominent Republicans. Erickson already counts on kind words from conservative media personalities like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and help with documents from insiders like Barr and fired Clinton adviser Dick Morris.
Skip Rutherford, president of the nonprofit foundation building the presidential library, was teaching a university class in Fayetteville and could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
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