Tom Gantert
The apparent viewpoint discrimination committed by the office of the Grand Rapids city attorney may not be an isolated incident, according to the Center for Competitive Politics, a Virginia-based advocacy organization that works on First Amendment issues. In an email, CCP research fellow Scott Blackburn wrote: “This is just another example of an ongoing trend we are seeing across the country. From California to New York to the IRS in Washington, government agencies are purposefully misusing tax laws to target citizen groups for their political beliefs. Such actions are intended to intimidate donors, tie organizations up in expensive legal battles, and ultimately silence opposing viewpoints.”
CCP scholars are not the only ones to compare Mish’s conduct to the unresolved scandal involving the IRS official Lois Lerner, who resigned and invoked the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination when it was revealed that the bureau she ran had targeted conservative nonprofits for inaction on tax-exemption requests.
