Local Pastor Investigated by IRS for Huckabee Endorsement

A Baptist pastor from Buena Park, CA endorsed Mike Huckabee and that endorsement is getting attention from the IRS:

BUENA PARK, Calif. (AP) - Southern Baptist pastor Wiley Drake said Wednesday that he is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for his endorsement of GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee in a press release written on church stationery.

Under federal tax law, church officials may legally discuss politics, but they cannot endorse candidates or parties without putting their tax-exempt status at risk. Most who do so receive only a warning.

Drake, a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention, said he received a 14-page letter from the IRS on Feb. 7.

IRS spokesman Rafael Tulino said Wednesday that he could not comment.

On Aug. 11, Drake wrote a press release on letterhead from the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park that announced his personal endorsement of Huckabee, who also is an ordained Baptist minister.

"After very serious prayer and consideration, I announce today that I am going to personally endorse Mike Huckabee," the release said. "I ask all of my Southern Baptist brothers and sister to consider getting behind Mike and helping him all you can."

He added: "I believe God has chosen Mike for such an hour, and I believe of all those running Mike Huckabee will listen to God."

Two days later, Wiley repeated his endorsement on his church-based Internet show, "The Wiley Drake Show."

A complaint was filed with the IRS by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

"I commend the IRS for investigating Pastor Drake's flagrant abuse of church resources," Barry Lynn, executive director for Americans United, said in a statement.

Drake defended his news release and comments on the talk show, saying that he was only offering his personal endorsement of Huckabee—not the church's.

"I think I'm perfectly within my rights and I am upset," he said in an interview.

His attorney, Eric Stanley, said Drake and other pastors have a right to free speech, even in politics.

"They can feel free to personally endorse candidates. It was not a church endorsement and he made that very clear," said Stanley, who is representing Drake on behalf of the Alliance Defense Fund.

I've met Pastor Drake on a couple of occasions and he and his church have often been in battles with city authorities over a variety of issues related to his homeless ministries. My experience is he's a guy who enjoys the media's attention.

In this case he may be on shaky ground. Pastors can certainly make personal endorsements, but IRS regulations are pretty clear about non-profit organizations endorsing political candidates, and having his endorsement on church letterhead could be construed as an endorsement from the church. He may not have intended it that way, but I could certainly understand how it may not play well under scrutiny.