CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As allegations continue to swirl about whether the IRS targeted conservative groups for audits, a Charlotte evangelist said his religious charities were targeted too.
Franklin Graham wrote a harsh letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday suggesting audits of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse were political retribution for a full page ad Graham took out last year supporting North Carolina's Amendment One which defined marriage as being between and man and woman only.
"I do not believe the IRS audit of our two organizations last year is a coincidence or justifiable," Graham wrote. He went on to ask the president, "Will you take some immediate action to reassure Americans we are not in a new chapter of America's history -- repressive government rule?"
Rep. Robert Pittenger of Charlotte said Wednesday he's sending Graham's letter to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee as a way to make sure the allegations are investigated. On Friday, the IRS commissioner is scheduled to appear before the House committee.
"We're going to look at this and get to the bottom of why did they do this? What were their reasons? what was the basis for it? Why did they need to try to subject Billy Graham to this type of public engagement? It's wrong," Pittenger said.
Graham wasn't available to comment on his letter Wednesday. His staff says he's traveling out of the country on business for Samaritan's Purse. In his letter to then president, however, Graham says he believes the IRS was trying to intimidate him.
BGEA, Samaritan's Purse says they were targets of IRS
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