Obama Administration Exposes Conservative Group’s Tax Information

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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Chris Van Hollen said in a September 10 TV appearance that "Americans for Prosperity which are the Koch Industries ... did well under the Bush administration economic policies," which is why AFP is opposing the Democrats. In a September 16 speech, President Obama again singled out Americans for Prosperity. Even Jimmy Carter took a whack at the Kochs last week.

While the attention is unwanted for the Kochs, if somewhat expected, a lawyer for Koch Industries now tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the administration may have crossed a line by revealing tax information about Koch Industries. According to Mark Holden, senior vice president and general counsel of Koch Industries, a senior Obama administration official told reporters at an August 27 on-the-record background briefing on corporate taxes:

So in this country we have partnerships, we have S corps, we have LLCs, we have a series of entities that do not pay corporate income tax. Some of which are really giant firms, you know Koch Industries is a multibillion dollar businesses. So that creates a narrower base because we've literally got something like 50 percent of the business income in the U.S. is going to businesses that don't pay any corporate income tax. They point out [in the report] you could review the boundary between corporate and non-corporate taxation as a way to broaden the base.

Holden tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that this quotation from a senior administration official "came to our attention from different avenues.  We are very concerned about why this would be said about us, particularly in this setting.  We are concerned where this information would have been obtained from. We also are concerned in light of recent events that we have been singled out by the government and others as a campaign against us because of our political views."

THE WEEKLY  STANDARD asked White House press office officials in an email on Friday to verify the quotation's accuracy, but 72 hours later they have not replied. A White House press aide reached this morning on the phone said she would look into whether a transcript of the call exists. The aide has not yet responded.

Weekly Standard