This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
WASHINGTON - The LDS Church on Tuesday said it is taking "corrective action" against an employee who used his church e-mail account to forward material touting Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's potential presidential bid to other church employees and offices across the country.
The move comes as the church is defending itself against allegations a top church leader was coordinating with Romney, a Mormon, to build a nationwide network of Mormons to boost his expected 2008 White House run. The church and Romney have denied collaboration.
The employee's e-mail, obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, was headlined, "Why Romney's Mormonism Makes Him the 'Best Candidate for the GOP.' " It contained a column written by an Arizona attorney/publisher touting Romney's chances over Sen. John McCain or Sen. Hillary Clinton, who it described as "a left-wing, abortion-endorsing, socialist-leaning, gay agenda-adopting, Bill Clinton-marrying liberal."
The column apparently was originally published in an online paper called Beehivestandardweekly.com, which lists a Las Vegas office. A phone call to the number Tuesday reached a recorded message saying the publication had decided to "close our doors" after 30 years in business. But the publication remains online.
While not requesting volunteers for Romney's potential campaign, the column discusses how Mormons in the West could help advance Romney's chances. The e-mail appears to be sent from the church's Facilities Management Office in Longmont, Colo., and was sent to several church e-mail addresses as well as similar offices from Helena, Mont., to Kansas City, Mo.
"When one considers what an army of volunteers can do for Romney - unpaid and motivated - and how many Western and cross-party voters he will get out, you start to see the true picture of why Romney is the best candidate for the Republican Party," the e-mailed column says.
Alerted to the e-mail, church spokesman Dale Bills said the message was sent by an individual church employee representing his own personal views.
"However, sending it on the church e-mail system to other church offices and employees is inappropriate, and corrective action will be taken," Bills said. "The church's political neutrality policy indicates that church mailing lists are not be used for political purposes."
Bills did not name the employee.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spent the past several days responding to a story, first reported in the Boston Globe, that a political consultant to Romney wrote in e-mails that the church had a point man to help coordinate an effort, dubbed the Mutual Values and Priorities program, or MVP, to set up a web of Mormons to help Romney if he chooses to run.
The consultant, Don Stirling, wrote that Elder Jeffrey Holland, a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve and a former president of Brigham Young University, had suggested using the alumni association of the BYU Marriott School of Management to launch the network, the Globe reported. Shortly after that discussion, the dean and associate dean of the school sent out requests from their school e-mail accounts requesting volunteers and supporters for Romney.
The church has said it is politically neutral and disputes the consultant's claims, noting that the church has never appointed anyone to assist Romney and is not backing any candidate. A BYU spokeswoman said it had instructed the deans to cease sending political communications on the school's accounts. Romney's campaign also has distanced itself from Stirling, saying he went too far with his written comments and there was never collaboration between the church and Romney.
The latest e-mail flap shows how difficult it can be for a large organization to ensure its employees pay attention to policies forbidding political activity. While the church can engage in some political advocacy for or against issues, it cannot under federal tax laws support a candidate for office or it risks losing its nonprofit status.