Nonprofits associated with the influential fundamentalist preacher, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, accused of violating both Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules have been cleared of wrongdoing. The first complaints, filed by the Campaign Legal Center, claimed an endorsement of President Bush in a newsletter on the Falwell Ministries website during the 2004 campaign violated both tax and election laws. The second, filed by Americans United for Separation for Church and State (AU), alleged a seminary violated an IRS prohibition on partisan activity when Falwell endorsed Bush during a pre-election speech there. AU also filed a complaint with the IRS over the Falwell Confidential endorsement. Neither agency has made its findings public, and details of the agencies’ decision-making remain sketchy. News of the FEC and IRS investigations was recently released by Matthew D. Staver, an attorney for Liberty Counsel, who represented Falwell. The first set of complaints involved a July 2004 web posting of a newsletter, Falwell Confidential that contained an endorsement by Falwell of President George W. Bush in his re-election bid. The newsletter was also widely circulated in an email that included a solicitation of donations for and link to a conservative political action committee, the Campaign for Working Families. Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint with the IRS requesting an investigation. The Campaign Legal Center also filed a complaint with the IRS alleging violation of the prohibition on intervention in elections by 501(c)(3) organizations, as well as a complaint with the FEC alleging illegal general public endorsement and solicitation of contributions by a corporate entity. Falwell responded that the communications were paid for by a 501(c)(4) entity, the Liberty Alliance, and that he was speaking as an individual and publisher and was thus legally entitled to express his views. The communications were made using corporate facilities, including the groups' shared website, which does not clearly distinguish between the 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entities. It bears the name of the Jerry Falwell Ministries, the 501(c)(3), but in the About Us section says it is a project of the Liberty Alliance, the 501(c)(4). The FEC's reasons for dismissing the complaint were not given, but it appears the 6-0 vote was based on the media exemption to FEC rules regarding endorsements. Staver asserts Falwell should not lose his editorial free speech rights simply because he is also a preacher. The second complaint involved a speech by Falwell at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in August 2004. Falwell gave Bush his personal endorsement in the speech, which was reported in the press. In dismissing the complaint, the IRS seems to have given wide latitude for speakers at organizational events to express personal, partisan opinions. Stavers expressed concerned that the complaint was filed based on a newspaper report. The IRS complaints and the decisions clearing Falwell’s organizations reflect growing legal confusion about the difference between statements by individuals and statements attributed to organizations, and what constitutes genuine issue advocacy, as opposed to partisan electioneering. In 2004 the IRS initiated a new process to review cases of potential violations on the ban on partisan activity by 501(c)(3) organizations, the Political Intervention Program. The process came under fire when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was audited because its chair criticized President Bush during a July 2004 convention speech. The IRS program examined 80 cases involving alleged prohibited intervention in the 2004 election. IRS privacy rules prohibit it from publishing details about these cases, so little is known about the kinds of activities that are considered violations of the ban.