Media Matters for America is the liberal counterpart to the Media Research Center. Both cover media bias. The MRC covers the lies in the liberal media. Media Matters makes up stuff about conservatives. The latter is the clown show that declared victory over Fox News eons ago, which is beyond parody. Fox’s ratings have never been better in primetime, crushing liberal outlets. MMFA is also known for its unabashed defense of Hillary Clinton. David Brock, MMFA’s founder, showed that when he embarrassed himself on MSNBC during the Clinton email fiasco in 2016 and the related fallouts from the lack of transparency regarding her donors and the Clinton Foundation. Not even MSNBC could take his talking points seriously.
So, should we be shocked that MMFA is being slapped with a complaint that they violated the IRS’ electioneering rules? Probably not (via The Federalist):
The Iowa-based conservative watchdog group Patriots Foundation filed a new complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Monday against Media Matters for America (MMFA) arguing the tax-exempt group has violated its agency agreement with illegal electioneering.
Founded in 2004, the leftist non-profit was given 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status under IRS code which prohibits explicit campaign activity on behalf of any candidate or candidate’s party. In a supplemental complaint added to an existing referral over last year’s election, however, the Patriots Foundation argues the group’s interference in the California recall race violates IRS terms for tax exemption.
“MMFA has, from inception, operated as a thinly veiled partisan political organization supporting Democratic candidates for office and engaging in other improper activities,” the group wrote, outlining four parameters groups must follow in order to maintain their 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.
[…]
The watchdog group highlighted at least five other articles it said violated IRS guidelines for organizations covered under tax-exempt status, including one headlined “Larry Elder endorsed pregnancy discrimination, criticized governor for being a working mom.”
“California will be holding an election on September 14 to determine whether Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom should be recalled and, if so, who should replace him,” the article read. “Elder has become the leading recall candidate based on polling and money raised. Elder has a long history of making toxic remarks as a commentator.”
It’s about the cumulative effect here. One instance of MMFA or any 501(c)3 straying the rules won’t cause a problem, but if there are multiple pieces that promote left-wing action items, then you could land yourself in legal hot water. Media Matters was founded in 2004. Brock was one of us—a conservative who called Clarence Thomas’ accuser Anita Hill “a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty.” Now, he’s a stalwart of the Left. Go figure. We’ll see what happens with this complaint, but I doubt it will shatter MMFA. They do that all by themselves.