Is Rep Nate Schatzline Misusing Nonprofit to Play Partisan Politics? 

On August 20, state Representative Nate Schatzline took the stage inside a black box-style room at the Mercy Culture Church campus in Fort Worth, where he serves as a pastor. But he wasn’t there to preach. He was there to address a gathering of For Liberty & Justice, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that Schatzline also leads. 

“Some of the people in this room are actually one of the reasons that I won local office,” Schatzline told the audience. “Some of the people in this room helped us knock on 26,000 doors for me to win my election in 2022. Because this group is not just about praying about it, we’re about acting on it. And hear me on this. Some of us, we pray all day long: ‘Lord, we want to see [Senator] Ted Cruz get in office. Lord, we want to see [former President] Donald Trump win once again and make America great again.’ … The reality is that you’re the answer to the prayer.”

Before Schatzline took the stage, the audience engaged in an hour-long, music-driven worship service, singing and listening to worship leaders on stage who prayed for Cruz and Trump. Placed on each seat in the audience was a flier promoting upcoming events, including “Block Walking for the Cruz Campaign” and “Campaign University.”

For Liberty & Justice was founded in 2022 and granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status as of that July. For 2023, the nonprofit filed a form 990-N, meaning their revenue was less than $50,000 for the year. The filing lists Schatzline as the nonprofit’s principal officer.

Despite being a 501(c)(3) organization that is barred from participating directly in political campaigns, For Liberty & Justice is an apparently political and partisan organization with multiple chapters across the state that boosts allied conservative politicians, including Schatzline himself, according to a review of social media posts and expert commentary. The organization’s tagline is, “It’s not political, it’s spiritual.” It publishes lists of “Friends & Family Candidates” that the nonprofit asserts are not endorsements but rather lists of “candidates that are involved in their local church and share our values.”  All 21 candidates on the 2024 list are Republicans. Many of those are then “prayed over” during official Mercy Culture Church services and supported on the campaign trail by For Liberty & Justice volunteers.

The featured speakers at the August 20 event included Bo French, chairman of the Tarrant County GOP, and Abraham George, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, who was also a participant in the nonprofit’s Campaign University. That program is “designed to raise up spirit-led candidates, campaign staffers, and activists who will stand for righteousness and truth in government,” per the For Liberty & Justice website.

“I want to be very clear,” Schatzline told the audience. “We’ve got two people representing the GOP here tonight, but the GOP has issues. Can we agree with that? I don’t think we have near as many issues as the DNC, right? However, we have issues, and we’re not perfect, and I think it’s great that we point that out. These two individuals that are speaking here tonight are leading the party in the right direction, back to godliness.”

When French took the microphone, he appealed to the audience to get active in Republican politics.

“There’s a couple initiatives that we’re spearheading at the Tarrant County GOP office,” French said. “One is that we have about 300 precinct chairs. They’re going to be knocking on every door, doing the kind of door-knocking that Nate talked about. That is super important. And if that’s something that you feel called to do, you can participate in that. We’re working very closely with the Cruz campaign. Senator Ted Cruz, our champion in Washington, D.C., who truly is the best senator in D.C.”

Such melding of politics and prayer is not new. Conservative Christianity has been a powerful political force for decades. But according to experts in nonprofit governance and tax law, Schatzline’s use of 501(c)(3) nonprofits to engage in politics may run afoul of IRS rules barring such nonprofits from campaigning in support of or opposition to candidates.

Federal law bars churches, and other 501(c)(3) charities, from getting directly involved in political campaigns, including endorsements, though many conservative churches routinely flout those regulations and the IRS has largely declined to enforce the law. While For Liberty & Justice is a nonprofit entity separate from Mercy Culture Church, the individuals involved in organizing and operating it are affiliated with the church, and both entities are subject to the same political restrictions. In 2022, the Texas Tribune reported that pastors at Mercy Culture have repeatedly endorsed candidates for office since it was founded in 2019—including Schatzline, who was endorsed by Mercy Culture’s lead pastor, Landon Schott, during a 2022 sermon. (Pastors are allowed to make endorsements, but not at official church activities.) Heather Schott, Landon’s wife, is also a director of For Liberty & Justice with Schatzline. 

The IRS tax code says that 501(c)(3)s like For Liberty & Justice are “precluded from, and suffer loss of exemption for, engaging in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.” They may host political candidates to speak at events but must provide “an equal opportunity to participate to all political candidates seeking the same office” and “not indicate any support for or opposition to any candidate.”

In addition to distributing fliers encouraging event attendees to campaign for Cruz and promoting lists of exclusively Republican candidates that they insist are not endorsements, For Liberty & Justice has repeatedly hosted Republican candidates at their “Night of Action” events. The nonprofit has even mobilized activists to support the campaigns of Republican candidates, according to photos on social media and Schatzline himself. “We had about 50 activists in Waco ready to get behind [the not-yet-elected] Representative Pat Curry in the general election, Senator Ted Cruz, everything,” Schatzline said during the August 20 event at Mercy Culture. 

Experts questioned these activities. “It appears that For Liberty & Justice is violating its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by assisting the campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz and the Republican Party,” said David Armiak, research director with the Center for Media and Democracy, a national watchdog organization. “According to IRS rules, 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, ‘cannot participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.’ Distributing literature promoting ‘Block walking for the Cruz Campaign’ at the For Liberty & Justice event is a direct violation of this rule.”

Andrew Cates, a Central Texas legislative and campaign law attorney, echoed similar concerns. “Sending people out to blockwalk for specific candidates, specifically as a 501(c)(3), seems pretty cut-and-dry to me as intervention in a political campaign,” he said.

Laurie Styron, executive director of the watchdog group CharityWatch, added that political charities are a growing issue. 

“Whether or not the letter of the law is being violated here, the spirit of it certainly is,” Styron said. “These kinds of activities breach public trust in the nonprofit sector at large. Public charities (501(c)(3)s) … were designed to be used as tools to promote the public good, but are now frequently being used as weapons in battles for political gain.” 

During Schatzline’s introduction of George, the Texas GOP head, Schatzline laid out his ambitions. “We have a vision of the next 10 years going into all 254 counties,” Schatzline said. “And if all 254 counties are covered with church partnerships, we will be able to knock on 1.5 million doors every election cycle to be able to truly mobilize the church. So that’s the mission.” 

Tarrant County is the largest Republican county in the nation and the only urban county in Texas that is not controlled by Democrats. Organizations like For Liberty & Justice, which has primarily been focused on Tarrant, aim to keep it that way. 

“I’m not focused on good counties like Tarrant County, because I know Bo is here, I know Nate’s here,” George said. “We have some great representatives and senators from this area. They’re going to take care of the business. There are counties that are unfortunately flippable to the Democrat side, so we’re focused more on those.”

In addition to hosting GOP officials and promoting or engaging in political campaigns, For Liberty & Justice has also received funds from Schatzline’s campaign coffers. In 2023, Schatzline’s campaign paid For Liberty & Justice $2,500, and $5,000 in 2024, for event sponsorships, per campaign finance records.

Schatzline’s campaign logo has been featured on lists of sponsors of For Liberty & Justice events. While politicians are free to spend campaign funds on sponsorships, these expenditures could invite further scrutiny given Schatzline’s role with the nonprofit. 

“It depends on whether the money is then turned around and used to support his candidacy or to then turn around and lobby him during the legislative session,” Cates told the Observer. “If the nonprofit is then used to turn around and support him, I think you’ve got a pretty clear scheme there.”

At an October 20 meeting of For Liberty & Justice, Schatzline hosted Republican state Representative David Cook, who is challenging Dade Phelan for the House speakership, and state Representative Tony Tinderholt, to “share their insights on the current political landscape and what’s at stake in this critical season,” per an event description. Schatzline, who is a member of the right-wing effort to oust Phelan, has endorsed Cook’s speaker bid. 

Schatzline did not respond to requests for comment.