EXCLUSIVE � A conservative legal group is accusing the American
Federation of Teachers, the nation's second-largest teachers union, of
misreporting funds used on political causes to the IRS and is
requesting an audit of the organization.

In a Wednesday letter to the IRS, a copy of which was provided
exclusively to the Washington Examiner, the Landmark Legal Foundation
requested the tax collection agency investigate the teachers union for
allegedly failing to report its expenses related to political advocacy
properly on its annual tax forms.

The union, led by President Randi Weingarten, has been a fixture of
Democratic Party politics for years. Weingarten often appears with
Democratic political candidates at campaign rallies, and the union has
a long and well-documented history of supporting liberal causes, along
with Democratic politicians and political action committees.

As a 501(c)5 tax-exempt organization, the AFT must annually submit Form
990 to the IRS. The form asks organizations if they have "engage[d] in
direct or indirect political campaign activities on behalf of or in
opposition to candidates for public office" with a yes or no answer
box.

The union checked "no" in response to the form's question from 2016 to
2019, according to 990 forms reviewed by the legal group.

"On its four most recent, publicly available tax returns, the AFT
reports that it does not use general treasury revenue to fund political
activities," Landmark Legal Foundation said in its letter. "AFT also
reports that it made no transfers to any related political
organization."

The complaint to the IRS alleges that Weingarten and the AFT used funds
from the "general treasury" to pay for various political activities,
including campaigning on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton in 2016, as well as sponsoring an "AFT Votes" bus tour
during the 2020 campaign that "mobilized the public to vote for
identified candidates for public office."

"If AFT is using membership dues to finance political activities, the
[IRS] should immediately assess applicable taxes and penalties," the
complaint said. "Moreover, agency fee payers and members should not
have to finance political activities that they do not support."

But in a statement to the Washington Examiner, the AFT blasted the
complaint, saying it was "sloppy" and "wrong on the facts and without
merit."

"AFT conducts its business through the appropriate accounts, including
AFT Solidarity 527, and reports its activities extensively," the union
said. "We are fully transparent about what we spend and why."

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Landmark Legal Foundation
assistant general counsel Michael O'Neill noted that the AFT's failure
to check "yes" on the 990 form for political donations set it apart
from other unions, including the National Education Association and the
Service Employees International Union, which all answer "yes" on the
form and fill out a required accompanying "Schedule C" form.

"Why does the AFT have all of these political campaign activities
directly supporting Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton, and
numerous Democrat candidates? Where does that money come from?" O'Neill
said. "This raises important questions that the Internal Revenue
Service is in a position to answer. What is really important is the
fact that the [AFT] says no on this, whereas other unions say yes."

The filed complaint comes just weeks after President Joe Biden signed
into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes funding for the
IRS to hire an additional 87,000 agents, a fact that Landmark Legal
noted in its complaint in urging the agency to investigate.

In June, the Washington Examiner reported that the AFT raked in a
record $196 million in 2021 membership fees based on a report from
Americans for Fair Treatment, a public sector union watchdog group.

That report indicated that a quarter of the AFT's 2020-2021 fiscal year
spending, at least $49 million, went to politically charged causes,
primarily funded through the union's political action committee: the
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO Committee on Political
Education.

AFT Solidarity, a 527 tax-exempt organization, is also used to fund
political causes. In 2018, the AFT donated $17.9 million to AFT
Solidarity, according to Open Secrets.

Open Secrets likewise found that 98.94% of the AFT's Committee on
Political Education's donations during the 2020 election cycle went to
Democratic candidates, a slight decline from 99.69% in 2016.

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Let's go Brandon!