LYNCHBURG - The watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State says it has no reason to believe Liberty University acted improperly during the recent City Council elections.
Americans United, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that has filed three complaints with the IRS about LU's political activity in as many years, had previously indicated it would be closely watching the school during Lynchburg's local elections, held May 4.
This week, Executive Director Barry Lynn said the group has received no complaints about LU since the May 4 elections and has no reason to suspect anything inappropriate occurred.
Americans United has been a frequent adversary of LU, most recently filing a complaint with the IRS alleging that the school violated its nonprofit status by engaging in illegal politicking during the House of Delegates election in November.
LU has strongly denied those claims and lodged a counter-complaint accusing Americans United, a self-described nonpartisan group, of targeting conservative institutions in violation of the very tax law it purports to defend.
The IRS treats such complaints as confidential. Both LU and Americans United say they've never been contacted by federal investigators about the other's complaint.
Bill McRorie, general counsel to LU, said he was pleased to hear there were no grievances about the school in regard to the most recent election.
"Of course, that's consistent with our opinion," he said. "Because we limited our activity to getting people registered to vote. We never endorsed any candidates."
McRorie, a former city councilman himself, said he imagined the political discord seen in recent months was now dying down and the city would return to "business as usual."
"Things always get heightened before an election, but afterward people tend to go back to their knitting," he said.
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