PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Contact: Tom Zawistowski,TomZ@WethePeopleConvention.org
We the People Convention Files Amicus Brief Against
Corporate Transparency Act in Fifth Circuit Court
Claims CTA is TEA Party Targeting 2.0
Akron, OH: Today, Tom Zawistowski, President of the National We the People Convention (WTPC) organization, announced that it has filed an Amicus Brief in the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit supporting Plaintiffs-Appellees and Denial of Emergency Motion for Stay Pending Appeal in the Texas Case against the implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act by the US Department of Treasury. The WTPC filed its Amicus Brief because of its unique history with the IRS targeting of the TEA Party in 2011, which allows it to make a strong case against the CTA on Constitutional grounds. Tom Zawistowski and the We the People Convention are being represented by the American Center for Law & Justice in this case. Click here to download a PDF copy of our Amicus Brief.
Zawistowski explained, “For those who don’t know, the US Treasury is required to enforce a law passed by Congress in 2021 called the Corporate Transparency Act. That law requires an estimated 32.6 million existing small business entities to disclose their “beneficial owners” to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by December 31, 2024. While the intent of the law was originally to prevent money laundering and drug trafficking, the way the law is written and being implemented violates the Constitution on multiple levels by infringing on states rights and on business owners Privacy Rights. Which the Texas District Court Ruled on December 4th.”
Zawistowski continued, “As soon as we were notified by our accountants about the CTA Requirements for “Beneficial Owner Reporting” we recognized it for what it was - TEA Party Targeting 2.0! The idea that the federal government wanted to create a database of every small business owner in the country; every citizen who owned 20% or more of the stock in any small business in America; and every employee who has “substantial control” over the operation of the company - because less than 1% of these businesses are involved in money laundering or drug trafficking - just stinks to high heaven! Talk about over-reach! They just don’t want businesses to name these owners and stock holders and employees - they want their home addresses and copies of their drivers licenses!!! Why do they want this information? For one reason, to target them politically.”
Zawistowski noted, “Unfortunately, past experience with US government political targeting shows that it is not much of a leap to expect politicized agencies in the government, who constantly monitor my conservative podcast and social media posts to decide that perhaps they should search the CTA database to see what companies Tom Zawistowski owns or works for and then target my income to silence my Free Speech. Nearly every conservative activist/group leader in this nation either owns a small business or works for one. The CTA puts their financial security and Freedom of Speech and Assembly at Risk.”
Zawistowski concluded, “That being said, the legal structure of the We the People Convention demonstrates that the government’s past actions against us now result in a further infringement on our rights as explained in our Amicus Brief. For the reasons outlined below, it is clear that the courts should invalidate this heinous law on Constitutional grounds. It is our sincere hope that our Amicus Brief will help convince the Fifth Court of Appeal and ultimately the Supreme Court of the United States to stop this horrible law from ever being implemented.”
Below is the main argument presented to the Court by the ACLJ Representing Tom Zawistowski and the We the People Convention:
“Amici, We the People Convention (WTPC) and its President, Tom Zawistowski, are dedicated to limited constitutional governance and to protectin individual liberty, freedom, and prosperity. Amici “recruit, educate, and motivate citizens at the grassroots level to perform their constitutionally defined role in the governance of their townships, municipalities, counties, as well as in our state and nation, by providing opportunities, knowledge, and training.” Mr. Zawistowski is a “beneficial owner” of WTPC as that term is defined by the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
WTPC is a nonprofit corporation registered in the State of Ohio. Although WTPC is eligible for tax exempt status under I.R.C. § 501c, WTPC is not exempt from reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) because it has not filed for such status. President Mr. Zawistowski decided not to obtain tax exempt status because of his personal experience of IRS misconduct in 2011-2012 when he was executive director of Portage County Tea Party (PCTP) and the President of the Ohio Liberty Coalition (OLC). The IRS illegally delayed the PCTP’s and the information protected by the First Amendment right of political association. After nearly eighteen (18) months of delay, PCTP withdrew its application, and the PCTP and the OLC eventually sued the IRS with the OLC acting as a lead plaintiff in two successful federal lawsuits against the IRS.
Represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, PCTP entered into a consent decree with the IRS in which the IRS admitted that “its treatment of [PCTP and others] during the tax-exempt determinations process, including screening their applications based on their names or policy positions, subjecting those applications to heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays, and demanding of some Plaintiffs’ information that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration determined was unnecessary to the agency’s determination of their tax-exempt status, was wrong.”
Amici have reason to believe that the CTA will be similarly deployed to target nonprofit corporations with disfavored political views that do not qualify for one of the CTA’s exemptions. Amici therefore offer this brief to show that the CTA’s disclosure requirements violate the First Amendment right to freedom of association.”
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