A watchdog group has filed a complaint against a church, and as a result, the church—whose top pastors include a Democrat senator—may be subject to an IRS examination. Although it hasn’t been disclosed on its tax forms, according to tax experts, the church owns an apartment complex. Even worse, it appears that the church has abandoned Christian altruism.
NEW: A watchdog group is calling for an IRS audit of Sen. Raphael Warnock's church after the Free Beacon reported that the church tried to evict disadvantaged residents from its low-income apartment building:
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 12, 2022
Via @AndrewKerrNC https://t.co/VqCEzi33lM
The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative ethical watchdog organization, filed a complaint against Atlanta, Georgia’s Ebenezer Baptist Church with the Internal Revenue Service on October 12. After learning that the church owned Columbia Tower, a low-income apartment building in the city, through two front companies managed by the church, the NLPC launched an investigation. Although the church, referred to as “the shells,” has received millions of dollars in state funds to house the homeless, over the past two years it has attempted to remove 12 people with rent arrears that only amount to an average of $408 apiece.
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is the chief executive officer of the shell organizations, which is a remarkable display of hypocrisy considering that Warnock ranted in August 2020 about how callous Republicans planned to evict impoverished people in the middle of a pandemic.
Unemployment benefits have expired, rent is due today, and many Georgia families are at risk of eviction in the middle of a pandemic.
— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) August 1, 2020
My opponents are supposed to be serving the people in Washington, but they're clearly only concerned with serving their own interests
It now appears that Warnock was the one evicting people recently, in one instance someone who was only $28.55 overdue on their rent. Additionally, $231,727 in rental money appears to have vanished between the church and the shell businesses.