COMMENTARY: National Organization for Marriage late again with federal tax returns

Editor's note: Fred Karger is the founder of Rights Equal Rights, formerly known as Californians Against Hate. The organization was established in July 2008 to draw attention to the major donors to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. Karger, a Republican, is also exploring the possibility of running for president in 2012.

Fred Karger makes a visit to the
NOM office and no one is there.

The 4-year-old National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and the National Organization for Marriage Foundation (NOMF) has once again failed to file its required Federal Income Tax Returns.
Their IRS 2009 returns for both of these non-profits, their 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 were due on May 15, 2010. If they received an extension, then they were due October 15, 2010. Now they are 2 ½ months late!
I recently visited their new national office in Washington, DC twice during regular office hours to view the returns.
No one was there.
They must make them available to anyone during regular business hours. We also have checked online repeatedly for their 2009 returns, and again, nothing.
What is NOM trying to hide? Why do they not file their tax returns every year?
Déjà vu

I went through the identical exercise in 2009 when I attempted to view NOM’s 2007 and 2008 990’s, but they never filed those either. We visited their then national office in Princeton, NJ many times and no one was ever there either.
One set of 990’s was 5 months late. The other set was 17 months late, when finally, the night before NOM President Brian Brown was to testify in front of the Maine Ethics Commission last year, all of their delinquent tax returns magically appeared on the NOM web site.
It was too late to stave off a State of Maine investigation of NOM, because in spite of threatening to sue the State of Maine (which NOM eventually did), the Maine Ethics Commission voted to investigate the National Organization for Marriage for election “Money Laundering.”
NOM is not above the law.
They need to file their Income Tax Returns like everyone else and every other organization. We are entitled to see just how much money they raised and spent in 2009.
Whom are they trying to protect?
NOM has sued 14 states to invalidate those state’s campaign finance laws. Twelve of those lawsuits were in 2010 alone. NOM hopes to invalidate those state’s election laws, so when they spend their millions in those 14 states, it would not have to be reported.
NOM goes into these states and attacks anyone and everyone viciously that dares to support marriage equality in this country, and they do it without obeying election laws. They even subpoenaed me last year as soon as I filed the complaint against them in Maine.
They are relentless.
Congressional investigation of NOM - now a “hate group”
We have tried repeatedly to get the Congress to investigate the National Organization for Marriage. There are numerous active complaints filed against NOM with the IRS.
We need to get to the bottom of this highly questionable organization, now officially designated a “hate hroup” by the prestigious Southern Poverty Law Center.
Where’s Doug Manchester? He’s not on bust the blacklist!
NOM now has a new web site up to defend its multi-millionaire and billionaire contributors. Their most famous donor of all is missing - hotel owner Doug Manchester.
Manchester’s own people have admitted that they are losing $1 million per month from the boycott that Californians Against Hate (now Rights Equal Rights) launched on July 17, 2008 because of Doug Manchester’s $125,000 early donation to qualify and pass California’s Proposition 8. Here is NOM’s new site: Bust the Blacklist.
Manchester’s close friend, fellow San Diegan Terry Caster, who gave $693,000 to qualify and pass Proposition 8, is on NOM’s list.
I guess the last thing Doug Manchester wants is any more publicity. He got a lousy return on his $125,000 contribution to take away marriage equality in California – at least $30 million in lost business to the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel alone!

-end-