Less than a week after Rep. Mike Kelly called for an IRS audit of Planned Parenthood, the White House responded on Wednesday by saying it has "not seen anything to suggest that an audit is necessary."
Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican and member of a House Ways and Means subcommittee investigating IRS abuse, said the reply by White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz to a question from Newsmax is "frankly shocking."
At the regular briefing for reporters at the White House, Newsmax referred to remarks from Schultz earlier in the session that were critical of the effort among House Republicans to deny federal funding for Planned Parenthood. This effort began following allegations that the organization has been harvesting and selling body parts of aborted fetuses.
Noting that Kelly has written to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to request an audit of Planned Parenthood, Newsmax asked Schultz whether the administration would support an IRS audit that would clear the air of controversy.
"I haven’t heard that any of the videos or any of the issues surrounding Planned Parenthood have anything to do with the IRS," Schultz told us. "So I’m sure the commissioner of the IRS will evaluate that request as he does all the others.
"But I’ve not seen anything to suggest that an audit is necessary."
Reached by Newsmax later in the day, Kelly shot back that the White House "is parroting the same thing Planned Parenthood has been saying. If Mr. Schultz has not seen the videos — and I don’t know whether that’s true or not — then he should just go to Google and watch them."
Kelly added that it is "more than reasonable and entirely responsible to insist that the IRS closely review Planned Parenthood’s operations to see whether the group is still operating within the parameters of a 501(c)(3) [tax-exempt] status."
He emphasized that the subcommittee he serves on is dealing with the IRS "strictly from a Ways and Means point of view. For us, Planned Parenthood is a 501(c)(3) and we have to, by law, make sure it does what is structured by [tax] law to do. If not, then we have to ask just what is it doing."
Asked about a response to his July 22 letter to Koskinen requesting an audit, the Keystone State lawmaker told us he "has not gotten back a reply" and will send a follow-up letter.
"In the weeks to come," Kelly said, "I expect the White House and the IRS to reach the same commonsense conclusion and support an audit of Planned Parenthood."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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