Alaska Public Interest group violates IRS laws as it goes partisan against governor

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85% OF AKPIRG STAFF, BOARD SIGNED RECALL PETITION

“Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” – Internal Revenue Service

The Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG) has the best cover for the partisan work it does on behalf of the Alaska Democratic Party. It simply says it does things in the “public interest.”

This week’s “public interest” is giving Alaskans one more reason to sign the recall petition to remove Gov. Mike Dunleavy. AKPIRG is lighting the fire of a dead movement.

AKPIRG filed a complaint against the governor for allowing the Alaska Republican Party to auction off “breakfast with Gov. Mike Dunleavy” as part of a fundraiser.

The auction came during the winter gala on Dec. 6, and was handsomely bid on — the $6,000 high bid went twice. AKPIRG says the governor violated ethics statutes because the Governor’s Mansion is public property.

Those attending the gala said the breakfast was understood to be at the governor’s discretion at a time and place of his choosing. The Mansion was only one option.

State law allows the Governor’s Mansion to be used for political events because it’s considered the governor’s private residence when he is in office. Whether having breakfast with a donor to the Republican Party is illegal is something that will now be litigated in the court of public opinion. At some point it could be litigated in an actual court room, but that’s not the point of AKPIRG’s complaint. The point is to get the frenzy going just at the time when recall petitions have been mailed to 20,000 Alaska voters.

Alaska Republican Party chairman Glenn Clary said the ethics complaint is just another part of the recall of the governor, and there’s evidence to back that up.

Must Read Alaska cross-checked the names of AKPIRG staff and board members with the list of those who signed the “application” for the petition to recall the governor. MRAK came back with quite the list.

The protestations that this is “not political” from AKPIRG’S executive director Veri di Suvero don’t past the giggle test. di Suvero is a political partisan who cut her teeth on the Bernie Sanders campaign.

From New York and relatively new to Alaska, di Suvero (she goes by the pronoun “they/them”) signed the recall petition, but she is not the only AKPIRGer to do so.

Here’s the list of her staff and board who also signed it:

Staff

  • Alexandra Veritas De Suvero, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • Rochelle Adams, undeclared, signed recall
  • Benjamin Boettger, nonpartisan, signed recall
  • Kelsey Schober, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • Erin Willahan, nonpartisan, signed recall
  • David Song, registered Democrat, did not sign
  • Phil Wright, nonpartisan, did not sign

Board

  • Nelta Edwards, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • Lois Epstein, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • Ira Slomski-Pritz, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • Genevieve Mina, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • John Kennish, nonpartisan, signed recall
  • William Kronick, registered Democrat, signed recall
  • Margaret Wilcox, registered Democrat, signed recall

Critics like Glenn Clary at the Alaska Republican Party say AKPIRG is operating as an unregistered agent of the Alaska Democratic Party, and if this is the case, the organization would be in violation of the tax-exempt status granted by the Internal Revenue Service. If it’s working as a stealth recall group, it would also be in violation of Alaska campaign laws, Such coordination would be hard to prove without a full investigation, however, an unlikely event in an era of stretched state resources.

AKPIRG says it “exists independently from national PIRGs, because Alaska is “independent by location, our people, our legislature, and our lifestyles. Our purpose is to watch-out for Alaskans’ best interest in matters of comsumer awareness and protection, legislation, and corporate interests.” The organization has strayed from its mission of consumer protection, however, and is now dedicated to researching and executing coordinated attacks on Republicans. It’s annual report says “AKPIRG works closely with the Anchorage Mayor’s Office.”

16 COMMENTS

  1. The far left, which is now, by proxy or by intent, the modern democrat, does not see the world the way the average person does, in terms of fair play or right and wrong. There is only winning ground, or losing ground. There is nothing they will not forsake, destroy, defame, or defile, in pursuit of victory. They do not compromise, unless the net total is a substantial gain in power or leverage. The do not retreat. They consume their own and anything that gets in their way of their ultimate ideal, which is the acquisition of power, pure and simple. The sooner we understand that, the better we can combat them. Truth, transparency, Reason, Logic, and free men and women, are the best chance we have to defeat them.

    • And the Hegelian dialectic insists that the only way to counter them is to adopt their mode of operation and react. The Constitution isn’t suited to people set on immorality, let alone people who have determined to make themselves ungovernable.

      .

      We’re at the dividing point.

    • Wow, you nailed it Lawrence!

      I can’t help but equate the modern Liberal, “progressive” Democrat with the very real fascism embodied in their thinking, but as a “Trekkie” (one who enjoys the fictional world of Star Trek), I think they are akin to “The Borg.” The progressives are intent on us being assimilated into the dystopia of their flawed belief system.

  2. When the thieving liberals do it, it is ok. If a conservative attempts to help right the ship they are racist, bigots, or worse. And I don’t want anyone that works closely with the Anchorage mayor screwing around with our state governor’s office.

  3. If you are a recent Democrat transplant to this state, it’s to steal the Perm Fund.
    Plain and simple.

  4. The “public” voted for Dunleavy in 2018……and Dunleavy won. THAT is the “public interest.”

  5. Maybe it is time citizens starting suing or turning complaints into APOC on groups like this. Turn about is fair play!

    • The same clowns doing this recall effort are the same ones that wanted Trump to be impeached too… This garbage needs to stop.. We have elections for a reason… We voted for our Governor… And he won.. Period. Unless there are actual reasons for impeachment or recall (which there was none for Trump and none for Dunleavy) that’s one thing. Clinton got impeached because he got caught with his nasty pants down. These transplants to Alaska is just the beginning if we don’t start fighting what they bring with them… A bad attitude, narcissistic ways and a desire to break every single rule that has ever been written… Voting works…. We spoke yet they still beat the dead horse.. By the way Recall group, you can stop your pathetic commercials.. No one watches… We turn the channel…

  6. Someone with the facts on this should post a question to the IRS and see if their 501 C 3 can be pulled

Comments are closed.