IRS Complaint Against Vanguard

The Davisite received the below IRS form 13909 Complaints against the Davis Vanguard. They were given to the Davisite by The Flatlander who received an anonymous envelope in its PO box containing the forms and other documents which appear to have been filled with the IRS.

The anonymous complaint and cover letter are below.

View 13909 Complaint

View 13909
Cover Letter

June 19, 2018

IRS EO Classification Mail Code 491ODAL 1100 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75242-1198
eoclass@irs.gov

To whom it may concern,

I am submitting the attached Form 13909 concerning the activities of the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, The People's Vanguard of Davis Inc. (aka Davis Vanguard), a blog that covers political issues in Davis, CA and Yolo County, CA. I believe that the organization was involved in a political campaign specifically, the June 2018 election for Yolo County District Attorney.

I specifically focus on the activities of Founder, Editor, and Executive Director David Greenwald between May 5, 2018 and May 22, 2018, although activities on other dates and by others associated with the Davis Vanguard may also be relevant.

During that time period, Mr. Greenwald repeatedly posted to a Facebook group whose primary purpose was to promote the campaign of Dean Johansson for Yolo County DA in the June 2018 election ("Dean Johansson for District Attorney – Volunteer Group"). On this Facebook group, he repeatedly posted links to the Davis Vanguard that promoted Dean Johansson and criticized his opponent, the incumbent DA Jeff Reisig. I did not see any articles in favor of Reisig or against Johansson on the Davis Vanguard during the period in question or during any point in the election season.

In one instance (May 9), he promised a "big story coming out in the morning that could impact this race." As promised, he posted that story (an anti-Reisig story) to the Davis Vanguard the next day and then posted a link to that story to the Johansson Facebook group. On May 15 he promised the Facebook group "another doozy" and again delivered with an anti-Reisig article on the Davis Vanguard and a link to his blog on the Facebook group. These delivered-on promises suggest that Mr. Greenwald was using the Davis Vanguard to promote the campaign of Dean Johansson with knowledge and intent to affect the race.

The repeated postings of pro-Johansson and anti-Reisig articles to a Facebook group whose purpose it was to promote Johansson seem clearly designed to help volunteers make their case for Johansson and against Reisig. He even asked volunteers for help with stories that would promote Johansson over Reisig, stories that would be posted on the Davis Vanguard.

I have included 14 pages of screenshots, ordered by date, that give evidence for the above allegations. It is my belief that the above describe activities "(a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates" and thus "constitute prohibited participation or intervention" (quoting https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/the-restriction-of political-campaign-intervention-by-section-501c3-tax-exempt-orqanizations).

Sincerely,

Anonymous

CC: The Sacramento Bee, The Davis Enterprise, The Daily Democrat, The Flatlander