This morning, 105 influential conservative and nonprofit leaders delivered a letter requesting Chairman Jason Chaffetz of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee to hold hearings on the efforts of state attorneys general and the IRS to force nonprofit organizations to turn over confidential lists of donors, protected by federal law.  Specifically, they want the hearings to probe:

(1) whether laws protecting the confidentiality of federal tax return information, specifically donors to nonprofit organizations, are being violated by the Attorneys General of California and New York, (2) whether the Internal Revenue Service is failing in its unique obligation to protect and police confidential federal tax return information of nonprofit organizations and their donors, and (3) whether laws need to be strengthened and penalties increased to protect confidential federal tax return information.

At contributor Mark J. Fitzgibbons, who has written about donor privacy abuse efforts of California Attorney General Kamala Harris twice, in California AG Kamala Harris wants your private information from the IRS and IRS dereliction aids California AG's donor privacy violations. Harris, who is very likely to be the Democrats’ nominee for the US Senate seat held by Barbara Boxer for the November election. Harris has been joined in these efforts by the New York AG, and they have sought IRS cooperation in their efforts:

whether laws protecting the confidentiality of federal tax return information, specifically donors to nonprofit organizations, are being violated by the Attorneys General of California and New York, (2) whether the Internal Revenue Service is failing in its unique obligation to protect and police confidential federal tax return information of nonprofit organizations and their donors, and (3) whether laws need to be strengthened and penalties increased to protect confidential federal tax return information.

Read the entire letter here, and take note of the stellar group of signers.

Chairman Chaffetz should schedule hearings promptly.