from the Atlanta Journal & Constitution:
An investigation by a U.S. senator of the Rev. Creflo Dollar, Bishop Eddie Long of metro Atlanta and four other televangelists, has been quiet but is not going away.
Dan Busby, head of the nonprofit group the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, met with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) last month. Grassley said it might be time to subpoena documents that he requested from Dollar, Long and the others.
“There will be a conclusion,” Busby predicted, but he can’t say when it will come.
Busby was in Atlanta, teaching nonprofit law at the Christian Leadership Alliance’s annual meeting.
Jill Gerber, a Grassley spokeswoman, said Monday, “We don’t put deadlines on investigations. We finish them when we finish them.”
Grassley began the inquiry 17 months ago after reports of ministers’ extravagant lifestyles while running tax-exempt organizations. He is a member of the Senate committee that oversees nonprofit regulation. He requested records from six ministers and put a deadline of March 2008 to receive the documents.
Dollar turned him down. Long sent a limited amount, along with the Rev. Kenneth Copeland and Randy and Paula White. The Rev. Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer have complied.
Mac Hunter, an attorney for Long, said he has heard nothing from Grassley recently. Calls to Dollar’s attorney and public relations agency were not returned.
