Michigan State House candidate used nonprofit to endorse conservatives and extreme anti-abortion stances (which isn’t allowed)

Michigan GOP State Representative candidate Jason Woolford (R) has used his nonprofit to promote political candidates and anti-abortion views numerous times, both of which are explicitly prohibited under federal tax law. 

Woolford uses the tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization, Mission Cry/Christian Resources International, which he is the president and executive director of, to distribute bibles to impoverished areas across the globe. But Woolford appears to equally use the nonprofit as a political platform.

Back in 2016, Woolford used the Mission Cry Facebook account to endorse political candidates, with his most prominent being former U.S. President Donald Trump.

In post published onto the Mission Cry Facebook:

“Personally I love this Country and our Constitution more than I dislike Trump’s ‘what some call his ego’! He will try to change the direction of this nation. Clinton won’t. With Trump we have a chance. With Clinton we have NO CHANCE! We are called to love our neighbor and we can do this by voting! All Christians in our Nation must vote! If you are a follower of CHRIST, we need to trust the leadership of people like Franklin Graham, David Jeremiah, James Dobson etc. #trump Rev. Jason Woolford.”

Woolford also used the account to endorse Senate candidate John James in 2018, two Republican Congressional candidates in February 2020 and a Republican state representative candidate in March 2020.

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all 501(c)(3) organizations are strictly prohibited from engaging or intervening in any political campaigns for any candidate running in a public office election. Failure to follow these guidelines can result in the revocation of tax-exempt status, as well as levying certain excise taxes. Additionally, 501(c)(3) organizations may not publish or distribute printed statements or make oral statements on behalf of, or in opposition to, a candidate for public office. Consequently, a written or oral endorsement of a candidate is strictly forbidden, per the Internal Revenue Service.

During the span of 2014-2019, Jason Woolford would claim that Christian Resources International did not participate or engage in direct or indirect political campaign activities on behalf of, or in opposition to candidates for public office. This comes from an IRS Form 990, that Woolford filled out that is publicly available. 

Apart from supporting presidential candidates via social media, Woolford also has a history of using his platform to promote radical anti-abortion views and disinformation. 

In a 2019 post, the Mission Cry Facebook account would tell its followers, “You think you are wise chanting pro choice [sic] when in fact you are worshiping Satan, the one you think does not exist. Do you want to be a pawn? God let the abortion bans continue and let your people who should be cheering over this victories [sic] do so with a mighty loud roar, for it is you who has created these little babies.” 

Woolford would keep the same sentiment when, last April, Mission Cry stated on Facebook in a post: “It is so important that we get out and vote as Christians, as people who have a moral compass because there is a battle that is raging and that is to kill the unborn. My wife and I are United States Marine veterans, and we want to see people taking advantage of their freedoms and their ability to cast a vote that could put an end to the abortion agenda and abortion machine.”

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jason Woolford became an adamant anti-vaxxer and used the Mission Cry Facebook to promote websites that encouraged pushing back against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. Woolford would falsely claim in August 2021 that the vaccines were “filled with aborted baby fetus”. Woolford used his organization’s Facebook account, yet again, to repost an image in relation to his pro-life video for campaign use, while running for Michigan House District 56. 

Woolford garnered some national controversy last week over an unearthed interview from June where he shared a bizarre, race-centered, anti-abortion rant he says he gave to a Black family inside a Cracker Barrel. He is currently running for the new Michigan’s House of Representatives’ 48th district seat. MLive.com reporter Ryan Stanton declared it as one of the closest House races in the state this year.