President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to revoke Harvard University's tax-exempt status, and some media outlets have reported that the Internal Revenue Service is taking steps in that direction. Harvard President Alan Garber says this would be 'highly illegal.' Several U.S. senators, all Democrats, have urged the IRS inspector general to see whether the IRS has begun auditing Harvard or any nonprofits in response to his administration's requests or whether Trump has violated any laws with his pressure campaign. The Conversation U.S. asked Philip Hackney, a nonprofit law professor who previously worked in the office of the chief counsel of the IRS, and Brian Mittendorf, an expert on nonprofit accounting, to explain what it would take for the federal government to revoke a university's tax-exempt status. Before the IRS can do that, tax law requires that it first audit that charity. And it's illegal for U.S. presidents or other officials to force the IRS to conduct an audit...
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