DEMOCRAT
A conservative activist targeted by the IRS and other agencies claimed Thursday that Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings also tried to intimidate her, filing a formal complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics alleging an "abuse of power."
Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote and the King Street Patriots, aired the allegations during a hearing hosted by the committee on which Cummings sits.
An attorney working with her also questioned whether Cummings might have encouraged the IRS and other agencies to target her groups.
At issue are letters Cummings sent out voicing concerns about True the Vote, which advocates for strict voter ID requirements and other measures which Democratic lawmakers, including Cummings, oppose.
"Congressman Cummings on three separate occasions sent letters on letterhead from this committee, stating that he had concerns and felt it necessary to open an investigation on True the Vote," Engelbrecht said during the hearing, where she and other witnesses were otherwise testifying on IRS targeting.
She also said that after she applied for tax-exempt status, "an assortment of federal entities including law enforcement agencies, and Congressman Cummings came knocking at my door."
Her complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics claimed Cummings "misrepresented his authority as a Member of Congress to intimidate me and others associated with me, and which may be responsible for a series of incursions into my personal, organizational and business affairs by various federal agencies, agents and bureaucracies over the past four years."
Cummings said suggestions of abuse are "absolutely incorrect and not true."
He acknowledged letters were sent out, but he claimed he was merely looking into whether voting rights were being infringed.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/06/conservative-activist-claims-rep-cummings-tried-to-intimidate-her-files/