Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asking for the investigation of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, California. AU Executive Director Barry Lynn said that the church's pastor, Dr. Wiley Drake, issued a news release on church letterhead Aug. 11 endorsing Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee which leaves the church at risk for violating federal tax law barring electioneering by non-profit groups.

During a conference on rural philanthropy in his home state, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) commented that cracking down on charitable abuses or imposing new regulations on nonprofit groups such as hospitals are not among his main concerns. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) he said; "That's not at the top of my list." This may be surprising considering the report that his staff released last year with broad legislative recommendations for the nonprofit sector. During the conference last week Baucus urged foundations to double their grants to rural areas within five years.

Jon B. Eisenberg who is suing the government on behalf of the charity Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, had to write an appellate brief in a government office supervised by a Justice Department security officer. The charity Al-Haramain says they were illegally wiretapped by the National Security Agency (N.S.A). Al-Haramain and two of its lawyers were mistakenly given proof that their international communications were the subject of N.S.A. eavesdropping in the spring of 2004, and that document is the center of an appeal that will be heard on Wednesday by a panel of three federal judges.

Shortly before Congress left for their August recess, Rep. Zack Wamp (R-TN) introduced HR 3348, the United Nations Economic and Social Council Accountability Act of 2007. The bill calls on the Secretary of State to withhold funds from the UN unless it removes consultative status for all charitable organizations with any terrorist connections. While it directs the UN to investigate such organizations, it seems to conclude that the designation of an organization by the US or the UN is irrefutable.