Outrage: Court acknowledges that IRS targeted True the Vote, dismisses lawsuit anyway

Brett T. | 5:54 PM on October 23, 2014

Voters’ rights group True the Vote, a nonprofit “founded to inspire and equip voters for involvement at every stage of our electoral process,” has had a hard time of it. As the 2012 election approached, Cher of all people referred to True the Vote as “a bunch of Tea Party Nazis” and “animals.” Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, who sits on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, informed True the Vote founder and president Catherine Engelbrecht that he would be launching an investigation into her organization.

Of course, all of this was happening while the IRS was targeting conservative groups and holding up applications for nonprofit status, often through several election cycles. And even though the U.S. Federal District Court didn’t deny this, True the Vote’s case against the IRS was dismissed today.

As USA Today reports, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton said that “the IRS has assured the public that they’re no longer screening applications for tax exemptions based on its political leanings” and ruled that “Unless an actual, ongoing controversy exists in this case, this court is without power to decide it.”

TRUE the VOTE Statement on #IRS Targeting Lawsuit Decision: http://t.co/WBu4OEFjtq

— True the Vote (@TrueTheVote) October 23, 2014

Engelbrecht issued the following brief statement:

The Court today correctly acknowledged that the IRS targeted True the Vote because of its perceived political beliefs. Such conduct is reprehensible and should never be acceptable in a free society. Despite this critical finding, we are stunned and disappointed in the court’s ruling which nevertheless dismisses our case. We will be evaluating our legal options and will announce our intent in that regard soon.