Lloyd Mayer was quoted in New York Times article "As Anti-Climate Group’s Activities Rise, So Do Questions About Its Secret Finances."

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

10-12-2011

Abstract

Lloyd Mayer was quoted in the article by EVAN LEHMANN of ClimateWire on October 12, 2011

An AFP spokeswoman said the group's ads are not political activity because they don't explicitly urge voters to support or oppose the targeted candidates. But that is a generous interpretation based on narrow Federal Election Commission definitions, not the broader "smell test" employed by the IRS, says Lloyd Mayer, associate dean of the Notre Dame Law School.

"Under the federal tax law ... they are clearly political campaign activity," Mayer said of AFP's television ads. He added that "the IRS should audit AFP" because the group's assertion on the tax document "appears to be incorrect based on publicly available information."

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