By Rob Nikolewski
Internal Revenue Service officials not only
wanted a wide variety of information from the Albuquerque Tea Party's
application for non-profit status, it also wanted to know what contacts
it had with people from other political organizations too.
That included an 83-year-old great-grandmother
who was once held in a World War II internment camp, New Mexico
Watchdog has discovered.
"I've always paid my taxes and everything,"
Marianne Chiffelle told New Mexico Watchdog. "What I do think is, it
doesn't surprise me...because of this government we have at the moment."
According to a review of documents conducted
by the online news organization Politico, (in a story headlined "The IRS
wants YOU -- to share everything"), the IRS asked the Albuquerque Tea
Party about connections to other groups, including "Marianne Chiffelle's
Breakfasts."
That prompted us to do some digging.
It took New Mexico Watchdog less than an hour
to learn that "Marianne Chiffelle's Breakfasts" is not some restaurant
chain, but a reference to the volunteer work of Chiffelle, a retiree who
helps organize informal 9 a.m. meetings for members of the Bernalillo
County Republican Party.
The group meets on Fridays at a Golden Corral
restaurant. "We've had these meetings for a long time," Chiffelle said.
"It's not a business."
Chiffelle is a naturalized American citizen
who was born in what was then called the Dutch East Indies, now known as
Indonesia. Her father was an executive for Shell Oil and when World War
II broke out Chiffelle was sent to a Japanese internment camp where she
spent four years, from age 12 to 16.
After the war, she moved to the Netherlands and in 1960 she and her late husband immigrated to the United States.
Since living in Albuquerque, Chiffelle has
been active in GOP politics and conservative causes. She helped
establish the Children's Freedom Scholarship Fund, which hands out
patriotic coloring books to youngsters in the Albuquerque area.
"The kids don't have any idea, they think freedom is just there for the taking," Chiffelle said.
The book includes pictures of U.S. presidents
and puzzles for kids to learn about U.S. history, as well as essays such
as "What Does Freedom Mean to You?"
New Mexico Watchdog reviewed the coloring book and found nothing advocating for political parties or organizations.
Recent entries on Chiffelle's Facebook page
include a link to a call for cuts in salaries to members of Congress,
the vice president and president, as well as a petition to send a
sympathy card to those affected by the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary
School.
While no fan of the Obama administration, Chiffelle says she is no pitchfork-wielding, anti-government type.
"The fact itself that you have to pay tax(es)
to the government is okay," she said. "But the way they interpret it and
how many rules there are, that's wrong."
The IRS is embroiled in a national scandal
after revealing that it has targeted tea party and conservative groups
for extra scrutiny when they applied for non-profit, 501(c)4 status
between 2010 and the 2012 presidential election. The Albuquerque Tea
Party is one of the organizations that's been wrangling with the IRS
since 2009.
"They (the IRS) have a job to do, I understand
that," Albuquerque Tea Party President Rick Harbaugh told New Mexico
Watchdog. "I think they overstepped that a lot."
The Politico story mentioned the IRS also
wanted the Albuquerque Tea Party to supply more information about a
group called Conspiracy Brews.
An Internet search revealed that Conspiracy
Brews is a weekly meeting of Albuquerque political types that was
founded by Janice Arnold-Jones -- a former Republican nominee for
Congress, member of the state legislature and current Albuquerque City
Council member.
"It's just a discussion group," Arnold-Jones
said. "When the group named itself, it was done in the interests of a
conspiracy for good government...it leans conservative but it's an
interesting mix of people. Our only rule is, when people speak you have
to listen."
"I attended just one meeting," Harbaugh said.
The website design for Conspiracy Brews is simple and New Mexico Watchdog found no anti-government rhetoric on the site.
Arnold-Jones said she does not lead the group and it's "not a taxable entity of any sort."
New Mexico Watchdog counted 25 attendees at the group's weekly Saturday meeting, including Chiffelle, who is a regular.
The Politico story mentioning Conspiracy Brews and Chiffelle prompted some jokes but also some serious discussion.
"The part I'm not delighted about,"
Arnold-Jones said, "is the fact that the IRS is picking and choosing
(whom to investigate) ... I think this is an incredible erosion of
trust."
As for Chiffelle, having her name mentioned as
part of the IRS investigation has drawn more attention than she's
accustomed to but she seemed genuinely unperturbed.
"Don't cut me short," Chiffelle said. "I was a
prisoner of war in the Second World War. If the Japanese couldn't kill
me, no one else can. That's my philosophy. If something is unfair, I
will fight to the death...Nothing upsets me. But I'll do something about
it."
Rob Nikolewski is a reporter with New
Mexico Watchdog, which is affiliated with the Franklin Center for
Government and Public Integrity.
You can't make this shit up. Seriously. - SoRo
http://tinyurl.com/q73ncl4
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