The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee says the televangelist ministries that he's investigating for alleged financial misconduct may be ignorant about the seriousness of his probe, but they're "not going to get away with their stonewalling."
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says he is sending out a second letter to well-known "prosperity gospel" ministries, asking them to address allegations they are using their tax-exempt status to pay for lavish lifestyles. Grassley reports he has received the cooperation of only two of the six televangelists under investigation -- Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn. The ministries of Paula White, Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland have resisted the Finance Committee's probe. The senator says he may eventually issue subpoenas to ask the ministries what they "have to hide." "I'm on sound ground as far as the law is concerned, the Constitution ... I think I've got public opinion behind me...," confirms Grassley. "So eventually it gets back to them -- do they think they can get away with stonewalling? I don't think they understand the seriousness of it, and that's why this second letter is going out." He adds that it matters not to him whether he is on sound ground politically speaking. The Iowa senator fully expects the ministries to cooperate with the investigation. "I think in the end they will cooperate because in five years of investigations on non-profits, I've only had one person refuse to cooperate and that's [former lobbyist Jack] Abramoff -- and he's in prison," the lawmaker notes. "So I think that speaks about his lack of cooperation. That isn't why he's in prison, but that's the sort of a person [who] did not want to make things right." Grassley says his investigation of the multi-million-dollar ministries has been a popular topic of discussion in Iowa, where he says letters to the editor have overwhelmingly encouraged his effort. Opponents believe the Internal Revenue Service should conduct the probe. The senator believes some of those making that argument may be ignorant of the tripartite nature of the U.S. government and not fully understand Congress' oversight responsibility. The IRS is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee.
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