In a recent interview with the "City and State" website, which covers New York politics, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said that he wants "to go after" our not-for-profit status. The threat was part of a more general attack on the New York Post, which has published a series of articles based on information we have provided. We have also provided information to the New York Times and New York Daily News . All the headlines have led to a House Ethics Committee investigation, and reportedly, a grand jury investigation of Meeks' finances.
We are not exactly quaking in our boots. Richard Nixon first made popular using the IRS to go after perceived enemies, and it has seldom worked. And just what would be the basis for Meeks' challenge to our tax status? In the interview, Meeks reveals his smoking gun:
What do I have here? [Laughs, and pulls out a big manila folder]. We just happened to have been able to get this [NLPC fundraising letter]. This was in 2009 against Charlie Rangel and this is where they say they exposed a tax cheat, Rangel.
The reporter, Chris Bragg, followed up with the obvious question of whether the letter mentioned Meeks. Nope.
And what does Meeks think is so significant about the Rangel letter? Rangel IS a tax cheat. He resigned as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and he was Censured by the entire House of Representatives. Our tax-exempt mission is to expose corruption, and in the Rangel case, we struck paydirt.
Meeks goes on to suggest that NLPC is partisan:
[The non-profit's letter] talks about how coverage has appeared [about Rangel] and talks about how it's spread, and then talks about their strategy. And this is supposed to be a not-for-profit, but they always talk about Democrats - Barack Obama, Tim Geithner, Charlie Rangel. They talk about Nancy Pelosi. So they have an agenda.
Funny, when we filed a Complaint against Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), alleging that she got a sweetheart land deal, one of her defenders characterized us as "anti-Republican." NLPC's partisanship would also come as news to Darleen Druyun, who was the highest-ranking member of the Bush administration to go to prison. She was the Defense Department procurement official exposed by NLPC in the Boeing Tanker Deal Scandal.
At least Meeks has dropped his erroneous claim that I managed Mitt Romney's first presidential campaign. He cited this in 2010 as proof of NLPC's partisanship. He had the wrong Peter Flaherty.
In the interview, Meeks did not even mention Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW), even though the group filed a Complaint against him with the Office of Congressional Ethics regarding his failure to report an unsecured personal loan from the since-indicted Edul Ahmad. Meeks also made CREW's "most corrupt" list.
Meeks flatters himself by claiming that NLPC has targeted him for political reasons. If we targeted members of Congress for political reasons, which we do not, Meeks would not make the cut. He is just not that important.
We scrutinized Meeks because it was so easy. A review of his financial disclosures provided immediate and ample fodder for investigation. It is now clear to us that Meeks may be the most corrupt member of Congress, which is saying a lot. He has certainly managed to join the corruption big leagues by ingratiating himself with international criminals like "Sir" R. Allen Stanford and Edul Ahmad.