Republican political operative Fred Karger, a longtime critic of LDS Church involvement in California’s 2008 Proposition 8 campaign, said Thursday he has amassed a network of lawyers, researchers, investigators and like-minded organizations to help take his fight to the IRS.

Karger, 66, visited Salt Lake City to stage on-camera auditions with young Mormons and ex-Mormons aggrieved by the Utah-based faith’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender policies.

Some of these 18- to 24-year-olds, Karger said, will be featured in a series of TV commercials to be aired in Utah early next year, encouraging others to step forward with inside information on the church’s business holdings and political dealings — including its efforts against same-sex marriage.

“Somebody has got to fight for these kids,” Karger said. “It’s inexcusable, the damage and suffering the church has caused for so many of these families.”