True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008

VIA HAND DELIVERY

February 6, 2014
The Hon. Porter Goss, Chairman
The Hon. David Skaggs, Vice-Chairman
Office of Congressional Ethics
U.S. House of Representatives
P.O. Box 895
Washington, D.C. 20515-0895
Re: Complaint Against Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Request for
Investigation by Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE)
Dear Chairman Goss and Vice-Chairman Skaggs:
On behalf of True the Vote, King Street Patriots, Engelbrecht Enterprises, my husband Brian
Engelbrecht and myself, Catherine Engelbrecht, we hereby submit this letter seeking a formal
investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) into certain actions, pressures and
unauthorized and improper inquiries initiated against my organizations, my family and me by
the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (House
OGR Committee), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).
Specifically, we believe that Rep. 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.
The rules of the U.S. House of Representatives impose basic standards of honesty, integrity and
public service on all Members, Officers, employees and staff of the House, to-wit:
A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall
conduct himself at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.
[House Rule 23, clause 1.]
The House Ethics manual describes the application of that rule as follows:
Members, officers, and employees of the House must observe the broad ethical
standards articulated in the Code of Official Conduct (Rule 23) of the House of
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
Representatives. House Ethics Manual, House Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct, 110
th
Congress, 2d Session, 2008, p. 12.
One of the citizens organizations that I founded, True the Vote, has been on the receiving end
of abusive attacks from Rep. Cummings, which purportedly were on behalf of the House OGR
Committee but were not. We ask the OCE to determine whether the communications to me
and to my organization, True the Vote, constituted a violation of the rules of the House of
Representatives.
Further, in the last four years, both of my organizations, my familys businesses and our
personal finances have been subjected to over 15 instances of audit or investigation by four
separate federal agencies since 2010 all of which immediately followed my founding of two
citizens organizations in Texas and filing IRS Forms 1023 and 1024 seeking tax-exemption for
those two entities.
We therefore request that OCE investigate whether Rep. Cummings and/or any person on his
staff or at his direction played any role whatsoever in causing or initiating any or all of the
inquiries and actions of multiple federal agencies to descend upon my organizations, my family
and our personal business(es) over the past four years.
Appended here are letters from Rep. Cummings
1
which can only be characterized as a concerted
effort on his part to bully True the Vote. The letters represent that he is acting on behalf of the
House OGR Committee; however, we have subsequently learned that this was not an official
committee activity or inquiry, but rather Rep. Cummings and his staffs personal inquiry
into the operations and activities of my grassroots citizens organization.
What possible interest can Rep. Cummings have in that grassroots organization, whose only
objective is to protect the integrity and honesty of Americas elections? We are a voters rights
organization and we have been maligned and mistreated by Rep. Cummings attacks.

1
Rep. Elijah Cummings record of correspondence:
1
st
Cummings letter to TTV, 10/4/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/110033576/2012-10-04-EEC-to-Engelbrecht-
TrueTheVote)
TTV Response to 1
st
Cummings letter, 10/5/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/109125685/2012-October-5-TTV-
Cummings-Letter)
2
nd
Cummings letter to TTV, 10/18/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/110448892/2012-10-18-cummings-to-ttv)
TTV Response to 2
nd
Cummings letter, 10/29/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/111492227/Cummings-29-October-
Letter)
3
rd
Letter to TTV, 12/20/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/144911644/2012-20-12-EEC-to-
TTV?secret_password=84s6h5wqjbncgutkvh4)
TTV Response to 3
rd
Letter, 1/4/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/144912427/2013-January-4-TTV-Cummings-
Meeting?secret_password=r85dis6ga3l4rpin46k)
* We also wonder if the Minority Chief Counsel to the Committee, Susanne Sachsman Grooms, who we understand
may have worked at the IRS in recent years, played any role whatsoever in the targeting by the IRS of True the Vote
and King Street Patriots, as well as the audits of my personal and business tax returns.
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
We believe that Rep. Cummings actions have violated the House rules, represent an abuse of
power on his part and are unethical and arrogant. We want to know whether Rep. Cummings
attention to True the Vote played any role in the federal agency actions related to my family and
me including the three-plus years delay in the granting of the tax exempt status of True the
Vote and King Street Patriots.
As background, for 16 years prior to my founding of two citizens groups (King Street Patriots
and True the Vote), my husband and I operated small businesses in the oil and gas industry and
maintained some agricultural business without ever being subject to personal or business
audits, site visits, interviews or inquiries by any governmental agencies.
After filing applications for tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the
two organizations: for King Street Patriots in June, 2010 and for True the Vote in July 2010, my
experience changed dramatically.
Five months after initially filing for tax-exempt status (December 2010), local agents from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted our non-profit offices seeking information on specific
attendees at public meetings held weekly by King Street Patriots. At those meetings, citizens
(usually numbering several hundred) attended and discussed issues, legislation, the
Constitution and the impact on our country of many policies and legislation being proposed in
Washington. While the agents were courteous, it is nonetheless daunting for FBI agents to
show up and ask questions about something youre involved in. The agents did not offer much
explanation into the nature of their investigation or why they were seeking information about
our meetings or the attendees at the meetings. A second, similar site visit from the FBI
occurred in January of 2011, followed by telephone calls checking in on us. In all, our
organization was contacted six times by agents of the FBI seeking information and asking for
updates on our King Street Patriots organization.
Also that month (January 2011
2
), my family business, Engelbrecht Enterprises, was notified that
the IRS had selected our business to be audited for both the 2008 and 2009 tax years. This was
the first time our business had ever been audited.
By February 2011, neither non-profit organization had received an answer on their respective
applications for tax-exempt status. True the Vote received a written request from the IRS for
more information, due by March 8, 2011.
3
In May 2011 the FBI continued regular phone and in-person contact with volunteers of one non-
profit organization awaiting determination by the IRS. Subsequent meetings with FBI
investigators occurred in June, November and December of 2011. Most points of contact did not
involve any specific subject matter. Most phone calls consisted of agents asking how we were
doing, and little more. No direct contact with FBI investigators has occurred since December
2011.

2
IRS confirmation of audit appointment, 1/21/2011 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147846234/1-21-11-IRS-
Engelbrecht-Ent?secret_password=1yhhzb97v09cfgu7c3h3)
3
IRS Request for More Information: True the Vote, 2/15/2011 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/154763155/03-07-11-
Response-to-IRS-Letter-Dated-Feb-15-2011-1?secret_password=ur7h6ryxhdsq03plhrb)
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
In June 2011 the IRS notified my husband and me that we had been scheduled for audits of our
personal joint tax returns for 2008 and 2009.
4
[The episode actually yielded refunds as a
result]. This was my familys first-ever audit of personal tax returns.
In the meanwhile, concerned that our applications for tax-exempt status were being subjected to
undue delays, my office requested that Senator John Cornyn (Texas) make an inquiry with the
IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Service, seeking assistance in expediting our applications for
exempt status. On October 27, 2011, Sen. Cornyn was notified that the Cincinnati Office had no
additional information and was under specific guidance from the Washington Office regarding
our applications.
5
The Taxpayer Advocate Service did not disclose to Congress that our applications were, in fact,
not isolated but were part of a larger targeting scheme against hundreds of conservative issue
organizations.
6
In February 2012, both True the Vote
7
and King Street Patriots
8
were notified that the IRS
unfortunatelyneed[ed] more information before we can complete our consideration of your
application. The questions were extensive, burdensome and intrusive. In the case of True the
Votes request for more information, the IRS sought responses to at least 105 separate
questions in single inquiries.
This was the second round of IRS questioning for TTV and the first for KSP. Other targeted
groups also received burdensome questionnaires at the same time, and some of those were
actually questioned about relationships with my organizations.
9
My company has had a firearms license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms &
Explosives for a number of years, but have never exercised the authority under the license and
have never had any visits from BATFE. However, in February 2012, agents from BATFE made
their first appearance at the premises of our family business with an unscheduled on-premises
audit. Investigators found only minor paperwork infractions and issued a warning letter.
10
Then, in July 2012, Engelbrecht Enterprises was selected for an unscheduled audit by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The business was fined tens of thousands of

4
IRS Information Document Request Form 4564, 6/1/2011 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/155162407/6-01-2011-
Audit-Schedule-for-Bryan-and-Catherine-Engelbrecht?secret_password=2ik7b9vbm3ck33rub5zz)
5
Taxpayer Advocate Service Letter to Sen. Cornyn re Catherine Engelbrecht, 10/27/2011
(http://www.scribd.com/doc/147839037/Cornyn-Letter-From-Taxpayer-
Advocate?secret_password=cy66vq1bpoczxbf5931)
6
EOD Political Advocacy Cases Screened by EO Technical, 11/16/2011
(http://www.scribd.com/doc/174215168/USA-Today-Leaked-IRS-Target-List)
7
IRS Request for More Information: True the Vote, 2/8/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/141470874/IRS-Letter-
for-True-the-Vote-Requesting-Further-Information-2-8-2012)
8
IRS Request for More Information: King Street Patriots, 2/8/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/154822593/2-8-
2012-IRS-Request-for-More-Information-KSP?secret_password=holvv50y0xwyytwe90e)
9
IRS Request for More Information: North East Tarrant Tea Party, 2/8/2012
(http://www.scribd.com/doc/149903935/IRS-Letter-Feb-2012-Tarrant-
County?secret_password=5k2rakqrprfa0g304qs)
10
BATFE case file: Engelbrecht Enterprises, Feb. 2012
(http://www.mediafire.com/view/s88gv6dgrl10cfq/DOJ+FOIA.pdf)
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
dollars for citations that even the agencys report stated were not considered High Gravity or
Serious.
11
Throughout this period, the IRS continued to delay True the Votes application for exempt status
and propounded another (third) round of questions in October 2012.
12
In April 2013, Engelbrecht Enterprises was visited for a second time in 13 months by BATFE
with another unscheduled audit.
In May 2013, upon learning of organized targeting by the IRS of conservative organizations
seeking tax exempt status, True the Vote initiated litigation to obtain its tax-exemption and to
recover damages from the IRS for the agencys violation of True the Votes constitutional
rights.
13
Subsequent to the filing of the lawsuit, the IRS and Department of Justice granted True
the Votes tax exempt status in an effort to moot the lawsuit.
14
That case is pending presently
before the US District Court in the District of Columbia.
15
In August, 2013, King Street Patriots received yet another series of questions from the IRS.
16

After submitting responses, the IRS in November 2013 more than three years after the filing of
the application for exempt status finally issued King Street Patriots exempt status as a
501(c)(4) organization
17
just weeks before issuing proposed regulations that would
substantially change the manner in which the IRS views political activities and would vastly
expand the IRS intrusion into the inner workings of citizens groups such as King Street Patriots.
Over these past three and a half years, I have tried to understand how an individual like me
could be subjected to dozens of inquiries by various federal agencies within such a compressed
time frame. Given that I had never been contacted by any such agencies, entities or agents prior
to organizing two citizens groups and filing for their tax-exempt status, I cannot but help
believe that there is some correlation of events.
My efforts to seek answers and root causes regarding the executive branch agencies sudden
interest in my family and me via Freedom of Information Act requests have proven largely
ineffective. The agencies have utterly failed to provide any responses to my questions as to how
they happened to target me, my husband, our family business and my grassroots organizations

11
OSHA Employer Citation File, 10/11/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/145524378/Engelbrecht-MFG-OSHA-
Citation-10-11-2012?secret_password=1v9eyy86nqdzgyipx7s)
12
IRS Request for More Information: True the Vote, 10/9/2012 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/197042789/Exhibit-E-
Request-for-Information-3)
13
Amended filed complaint True the Vote v. IRS, 7/22/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/142784144/Amended-
Filed-Complaint-True-the-Vote-v-IRS)
14
True the Vote 501(c)(3) designation letter, 9/26/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/171234645/9-26-2013-IRS-
501-c-3-Determination-Letter-for-True-the-Vote)
15
True the Vote Opposition to DOJ MTD, 11/15/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/185265752/True-the-Vote-Doc-
65-Response-to-Government-MTD)
16
IRS Request for More Information: King Street Patriots, 8/21/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/162532596/IRS-
Letter-to-King-Street-Patriots-Requesting-Additional-Information-Received-8-21-
2013?secret_password=ak99d5u8zyn7nayu3fc)
17
501(c)(4) IRS designation letter: King Street Patriots, 12/11/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/191856344/12-11-
2013-Letter-of-Determination-of-c4-Status)
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
for site visits, audits and inquiries.
18
It became unsurprising to receive responses from federal
agencies like the FBI that were heavily redacted, including dates of documented points of
contact.
19
The letters that we received from Rep. Cummings attacking and bullying True the Vote and me
were sent through the franking privilege and seemingly were officially from the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
We believe that his actions in using his official position to attack my organization were and are
improper and we respectfully request that Rep. Cummings be investigated and a determination
made as to the use and potential misuse of taxpayer funds to advance a personal, political
vendetta against my organizations, my family and me.
We submit that Rep. Cummings and his staff be required to respond under oath regarding their
role in initiating the targeted government attacks on my family, my business and my
organizations. We want the truth and we do not want to have people in high places able to
continue to thwart efforts to get to it.
As this timeline of events has been the subject of national media attention, and many other
citizens have urged further inquiry into the facts that resulted in these federal agency
interactions with me, I feel a duty to fellow countrymen to seek the truth, no matter where it
leads.
We will fully cooperate with the OCE in this investigation. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Catherine Engelbrecht
Founder & President
True the Vote

18
FOIA request to OSHA, 5/3/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147842564/5-3-13-FOIA-OSHA-Engelbrecht-
Poe?secret_password=197jvbwfs6ntqs9wqqm5)
FOIA request to BATFE, 5/3/13 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147842754/5-3-13-FOIA-ATF-
Engelbrecht?secret_password=1bdk2j31sn1j9tpctl8g)
FOIA request to OSHA, 5/10/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147843126/5-10-13-OSHA-
FOIA?secret_password=mfevnjs02ktxnibzxer)
FOIA request to FBI, 5/10/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147843027/5-10-13-FBI-
FOIA?secret_password=l8md5w73s0sr6mf91ho)
FOIA request to BATFE, 5/10/2013 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147843269/5-10-13-OSHA-
FOIA?secret_password=22751ofc8l8jlou9oksb)
19
FBI response to Rep. Poe FOIPA, 7/2/2013 (http://www.mediafire.com/view/q96s5veo4zssr6i/4i.pdf)
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
True the Vote | 7232 Wynnwood Lane | Houston, Texas 77008
Affirmation
I, Catherine Engelbrecht, hereby affirm and state under penalty of
perjury and in accordance with 18 U.S.C 1001, that the above and
forgoing information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and
belief, and that all evidence submitted to OCE was lawfully obtained and
is not obtained or submitted in violation of any law, rule or regulation.
_______________________
Catherine Engelbrecht
Notary Public
Before me, this ____ day of February, 2014, Catherine Engelbrecht
appeared and attested under penalty of perjury that the above and
forgoing information is true and correct to the best of her knowledge
and belief.
S E A L
_______________________
Notary Public
My Commission Expires: