Blog from the Capital

Former SBC Vice President Wiley Drake, who got in hot water after endorsing Mike Huckabee for President in a letter using church stationary - then made all Baptists proud by asking God to strike dead the Americans United officials who filed a complaint - says he is being investigated by the IRS.

Under federal tax law, church officials may legally discuss politics, but they cannot endorse candidates or parties without putting their tax-exempt status at risk. Most who do so receive only a warning.

Drake, a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention, said he received a 14-page letter from the IRS on Feb. 7.
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Drake defended his news release and comments on the talk show, saying that he was only offering his personal endorsement of Huckabee—not the church's.

"I think I'm perfectly within my rights and I am upset," he said in an interview.