IRS may investigate Midwestern pastor who endorsed political candidates

By Michael Ireland
 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN  -- A Midwestern pastor who taunted the federal government to come after him from his pulpit on Sunday may get what he wanted.

According to Bob Von Sternberg, writing for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a non-profit group that has long advocated church-state separation filed a complaint Monday with the Internal Revenue Service over the Rev. Brad Brandon's endorsement of 11 candidates, most of them Republicans.

The endorsements by Brandon, who heads the Berean Bible Baptist Church in Hastings, Minnesota, amount to a "blatant violation of federal law," according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the newspaper reported.

Sternberg explains that for more than a half-century, the federal tax code has prohibited clergy from endorsing political candidates. Doing so can lead to the loss of a church's tax-exempt status.

The newspaper reports that in announcing his plan to flout the prohibition, Brandon last week called it "entirely unconstitutional," and said he hoped the IRS would take action against him.

Sternberg went on to report that although pastors across the country have staged similar protests for years (more than 100 of them this year alone), after investigating the cases, the IRS has dropped them and agency officials have declined to say why they did so.

Sternberg writes that over the years, Americans United has filed more than 100 complaints with the agency over clergy members' political endorsements.

"It's nice to know I've got a lot of company," Brandon said.

The newspaper quotes Brandon as saying that if the IRS opens an investigation, "I'm certainly not thrilled, but it's a small price to pay to protect my freedom of speech."

The Star Tribune report says Brandon has listed his endorsements on the church's web site with the admonition, "may God be glorified in the upcoming election."

The newspaper went on to report that among the candidates Brandon endorsed were the Minnesota GOP gubernatorial bid by Tom Emmer and the Minnesota congressional campaigns of Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline.

The newspaper said that of the 11 candidates endorsed, nine are Republicans, one is from the Independence Party and one is from the Constitution Party.

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