IRS says "SORRY"

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS sorry for scrutinizing Tea Party groups
3 hrs ago

A year ago, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress that his agency wasn't targeting tax-exempt organizations for their political views.

Except it did.

Now another IRS official has apologized for giving conservative groups with "Tea Party" and "patriot" in their names extra scrutiny, including improperly asking for lists of donors.

Lois Lerner insisted IRS higher-ups were not aware of the practice initiated by low-level employees in Cincinnati, and an IRS statement said "they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale," without explaining what other motivation there could have been.

http://now.msn.com/irs-apologizes-for-targeting-conservative-groups-3?ocid=ansnowex

IRS Apologizes For Targeting Conservative Groups In 2012 Election
Posted: 05/10/2013

WASHINGTON -- The head of the Internal Revenue Service's exempt organizations division apologized on Friday for the inappropriate targeting of conservative groups during the 2012 election. The apology by Lois Lerner, first reported by the Associated Press, revealed that groups with the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status had received greater scrutiny.

Many of the groups targeted in 2012 claimed the increased scrutiny was politically motivated, pointing to an IRS questionnaire that asked for full disclosure of nearly all materials held or created by the groups, including all web postings and tweets, relationships with candidates and officeholders, and, in some instances, lists of donors.

"That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive, and it was inappropriate. That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review," Lerner said at a Washington conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

To deal with a massive uptick in filings for 501(c)(4) social welfare status in the last few years, the IRS had centralized its review of those seeking such tax-exempt status in a Cincinnati office.

On a conference call with reporters later on Friday, Lerner explained that the inappropriate screening of conservative groups occurred after employees reviewing applications found that a number asserted that they would partake in some amount of political activity and were missing key information, including applications from some groups using "tea party" or "patriot" in their names.

According to Lerner, the employees then inappropriately designated for closer review groups using the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their names. Those groups constituted approximately 75 of the 300 organizations that received the extensive questionnaire sent out from the Cincinnati office.

"What they were doing, they were short-cutting," Lerner said. "They saw applications with these names. Every time they looked at those applications, or for a significant number of them, they said, 'Oh, we need further information,' so they short-cutted and said, 'If we see those names, we probably need further information,' and put them in that bucket," Lerner said.

Lerner said that her office took action after seeing media reports about conservative groups complaining that they were being politically targeted with demands for greater disclosure.

"That was when we went down and took a look," Lerner said. "We said we need to know the details, we need to know the facts. It was after I knew what the facts were, I notified my bosses and we put the changes in place."

Of the full 300 groups that received the extended questionnaire, 130 have been approved for tax-exempt status and another 150 are still under review, according to Lerner.

She would not put a timeline on when her office determined that conservative groups were targeted or when she told top IRS officials about those inappropriate actions. She did state that they "did not know about this at the time that they were testifying" before a congressional committee examining the potential targeting of conservative groups.

In March 2012, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a congressional panel, "There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" applying for tax-exempt status.

A statement released by the IRS hours after Lerner's apology stated, "Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale. We fixed the situation last year and have made significant progress in moving the centralized cases through our system."

But conservative groups and Republican lawmakers are calling for further action, including hearings, firings and further explanations about who in the IRS, the Treasury Department and the White House knew about the targeting.

Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin dismissed the IRS apology in a statement: "We reject a simple apology that does nothing to alleviate the danger of this happening again. Only immediate and public actions on the part of the IRS and the president will suffice. We demand the immediate resignation of all complicit in this activity and insist Congress investigate."

Lerner said in the conference call that she would not comment on whether the IRS had taken or would take any disciplinary action.

Toby Marie Walker, president of the Waco Tea Party, one of the groups that complained they were targeted in 2012, told The Huffington Post, "I don't believe for a minute this was low-level, and I never received an apology so I don't feel apologized to."

"If they apologize, they ought to apologize to the groups first and foremost that they put through the stress and the amount of money and time that we had to put into defending something when we did not do anything wrong," Walker said.

Eric Wilson, president of Kentucky 9/12, another conservative group that contended it was targeted by the IRS, said in a statement, "While we should feel vindicated for our principled stance against the government's use of the IRS as a weapon against liberty groups, we also feel there are many still unanswered questions," including "who was requesting this information, why, and for what purpose.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement calling on the White House "to conduct a transparent, government-wide review aimed at assuring the American people that these thuggish practices are not underway at the IRS or elsewhere in the administration against anyone, regardless of their political views."

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, claimed victory after Lerner apologized. Sekulow had provided legal counsel to conservative groups that complained about extensive questioning when they applied for tax-exempt status.

"We knew from the very start that this intimidation tactic was coordinated and focused directly on specific organizations," Sekulow said in a statement. "This admission by the IRS represents a significant victory for free speech and freedom of association. There was never any doubt that these organizations complied with the law and applied for tax exempt status for their activities as Americans have done for decades. And for the many tax-exempt groups we represent, this is an important day -- and underscores the need to stand up and defend your constitutional freedoms."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/irs-conservative-groups_n_3254180.html

[Jolie Rouge]

The corruption of the Obama Regime is matched only by its shamelessness.

In writing about the IRS Tea Party Snooping Scandal, Ace’s CDR M asks a question about the official response which could also apply to administration’s response to the Benghazi talking points: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/339851.php

Does anyone in position of authority know anything in this administration?


—-

*And the Benghazi talking points doctoring. http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/05/11/the-crucial-questions-about-benghazi/


---

Once again, conservatives should not let up on this issue until we know who sanctioned the targeted investigations – and who crafted the crazy things they asked Tea Party groups.

Basically, the excuse the Obama team is offering is that, oh, we’re not corrupt, we’re just incompetent. http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/10/10-crazy-things-the-irs-asked-tea-party-groups/


The Obama Regime goes to their reliable strategem: IRS Scandal : http://freebeacon.com/carney-blames-bush-admin-for-irs-audit-scandal/


And, perhaps realizing they can’t blame Bush for everything, they have decided the Benghazi scandal is Romney’s fault. http://weaselzippers.us/2013/05/10/huh-carney-blames-mitt-romney-for-benghazi-scandal/

comments

I am actually stunned that this has taken so long to come to light. Living just outside of Cincinnati, I have been hearing about this for almost a year. That no one “higher up” came forward immediately to fix this “error” speaks volumes. That they actually said with a straight face that this wasn’t political just shows how adept they are at lying. That everyone is just shrugging their shoulders and saying “of course it was political, what do you expect?” is a testament to how hopeless/helpless people feel. What can we do? Nothing, since those in charge control the judges. Who cares? Not the half that put this administration in control, they all think this is great! And the rest of us? We are just republican conspiracy asses who will exaggerate ANYTHING to try to hurt this president. We must change that talking point before anything else will matter.

...

In the closing days of Obama´s first term his Mid-East Policy was unravelling. Now in the one hundred days of his second term, not only the Middle East continues to unravel but his domestic policies are unravelling. Jimmy Carter is beginning to look like a genius along side of Obama, and we know what a failure he was. I guess that makes Obama a super failure. If he survives impeachment he´ll leave office severly wounded. As more is being revealed, Democrats should take a hit in the next couple of elections. Hillary is toast. The Dems will have to look hard to find a new face who will be as virgin as Snow White. If the Republicans can´t make hay in 2014, and capture the White House in 2016; it will be time to start a new party.

[Jolie Rouge]

Federal oversight group says claim that senior IRS officials were unaware of extra tea party scrutiny -- isn’t entirely accurate

By Doug Powers • May 11, 2013 05:15 PM

Yesterday Michelle wrote about the IRS admitting to giving extra scrutiny to conservative groups (specifically ones that were self-described as “tea party” or “patriot” organizations) seeking tax exempt status in 2011 and 2012. Lois Lerner, head of the IRS division that oversees tax exempt groups, apologized and said the practice was initiated by “lower level workers” in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias (pause for laughter). Lerner also told the AP that at the time no high level IRS officials knew this was going on. http://news.cincinnati.com/viewart/20130510/NEWS01/305100085/IRS-Cincinnati-workers-started-singling-out-conservative-groups

Somebody might want to ask her that question again: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-apologizes-targeting-tea-party-groups


A federal watchdog’s upcoming report says senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups in 2011.
[...]
The Associated Press obtained part of the draft report.

That report says the head of the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups learned that groups were being targeted in June 2011. It does not say whether Shulman was notified.

Bonus points: According to this story in The Hill, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/299185-report-top-irs-officials-knew-of-tea-party-targeting-in-2011 not only is Lerner’s claim that no higher-ups at the IRS knew about the extra scrutiny being given to conservative groups incorrect, but that at least one of those senior officials who knew about the practice was… Lerner: http://benefitslink.com/pr/detail.php?id=39455#.UY64vUnD8eE


The report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is slated to be released next week — the AP obtained a draft copy of the report.

According to that draft, the head of the IRS division that overseas tax-exempt groups became aware that conservative groups were being targeted for scrutiny in June, 2011. The report does not say whether Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner at the time, was aware of it.


Also: http://news.cincinnati.com/viewart/20130510/NEWS01/305100085/IRS-Cincinnati-workers-started-singling-out-conservative-groups


In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.


According to Jay Carney, if anything, this might be Bush’s fault. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/carney-irs-run-bush-political-appointee_722149.html


Double bonus points: IRS official Lerner: “I’m not good at math.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/11/irs-not-good-at-math-lois-lerner_n_3259753.html?utm_hp_ref=business


It’s all starting to make sense now.


Update: Jewish groups too? http://twitchy.com/2013/05/11/whoa-did-the-irs-also-target-jewish-groups-for-extra-special-attention/


The New York Times must have declared the story dead, because they’ve buried it. http://twitchy.com/2013/05/11/nyt-buries-story-on-irs-bullying-conservatives-flashback-editorial-board-applauded-witch-hunt-in-2012/


Update II: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ways-and-means-irs-provide-all-communications-containing-words-tea-party-patriot-or


The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight has thrown down an investigative gauntlet to the Internal Revenue Service, demanding that the agency hand over by next Wednesday every communication in its records that includes the words “tea party,” “patriot” or “conservative.”

The committee is also demanding of the IRS that by next Wednesday it provide the committee with the names and titles of all individuals who were involved in targeting conservative non-profit groups for more intensive review of their applications for non-profit status


**Written by Doug Powers

[Jolie Rouge]

George Will was on a roll today, getting first at the essence of the Benghazi scandal and now about the IRS/Tea Party scandal: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/12/george-will-on-irs-tea-party-attacks-how-stupid-do-they-think-we-are/

All hell would have broken loose had IRS under W targeted “progressive” groups (video ) http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/05/12/all-hell-would-break-loose-and-irs-under-w-targetted-progressive-groups/#ooid=Z5dXJrYjpGwNWHJVliqlTTcjlbci3q5z


“The Tea Party people have known about this and were working on this,” [George] will [said Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos"] “But they said — it was just some odd underlings out in Cincinnati who did this and there was no political motive whatever involved. Now the question is, how stupid do they think we are? Just imagine, Donna Brazile, if the George W. Bush administration had an IRS underling, he’s out in Cincinnati, of course, saying we’re going to target groups with the word ‘progressive’ in their title. We’d have all hell breaking loose.”

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/05/12/all-hell-would-break-loose-and-irs-under-w-targetted-progressive-groups/

As I recall, there was much paranoia on the left about “FISA,” a Bush program to monitor the foreign financial transactions of terrorist group. The left spent the Bush Admin in a state of advanced paranoia that Dick Cheney was listening in on their pizza orders.

...

[Jolie Rouge]

No, really. Former Obama adviser David Plouffe took to Twitter to spin the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups. And boy, did he step in it.

https://o.twimg.com/1/proxy.jpg?t=FQQVBhgpaHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0cGljLmNvbS9zaG 93L2xhcmdlL2NxNm92Mi5qcGcUAhYAEgA&s=5Ij_-UdGjfnnDZNcbuU5PEBYiXqtILcU_OiW2O7pmqQ

Well, they were ‘flourishing’: David Plouffe excuses IRS targeting of conservative groups
Posted at 9:06 am on May 13, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


David Plouffe @davidplouffe

What IRS did dumb and wrong.
Impt to note GOP groups flourished last 2 elections, overwhelming Ds.
And they will use this to raise more $.

7:05 PM - 12 May 2013

:rolleyes:

Important to note that they totally asked for it. By being successful fundraisers.

Then came the immediate backpedaling attempt. Call him out for his ludicrous tweet? You are a conspiracy theorist, natch.


David Plouffe @davidplouffe

Conspiracy theorists out in full force tonight. IRS actions seem indefensible. That rightly is where focus should be. 1/2

9:23 PM - 12 May 2013


David Plouffe @davidplouffe

My previous point was that coverage in more narrow space of political impact should capture reality of what transpired last 2 elec. 2/2

9:31 PM - 12 May 2013


Basically, politics trumps morals. As usual, for Democrats.


Hair @SHannitysHair

Shorter @davidplouffe: The IRS was wrong for targeting Tea Party groups.
But, someone had to stop them from raising so much money.

5:51 AM - 13 May 2013


Sunny @sunnyright

Why would Plouffe cast himself into the arena with a tweet like that?
Not like anyone was bugging him for his opinion AND he sounds stupid.

7:35 PM - 12 May 2013


Rory Cooper @rorycooper

The whole @davidplouffe argument seems to be 'What the IRS did was bad, but...'
There should be no 'but'.

9:49 PM - 12 May 2013

National Journal’s Ron Fournier followed up with Plouffe via Twitter.


David Plouffe@davidplouffe

What IRS did dumb and wrong.
Impt to note GOP groups flourished last 2 elections, overwhelming Ds.
And they will use this to raise more $.


Ron Fournier @ron_fournier

.@davidplouffe serious questions: Why is that important to note?
Is it justification for the action you called wrong?
If not, why note?
7:27 PM - 12 May 2013

More from Fournier’s article: http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/did-david-plouffe-justify-irs-targeting-conservatives-20130512


I asked Plouffe to respond via Twitter, email or my cell phone. He responded within an hour. Here is his unedited email:


“In terms of impact. Reading much of the coverage layperson would get sense premeditated attempt to effectively silence political opponents. I do think not as a justification but as an evaluation of any impact it is important to note that it would not appear their aims or fundraising were affected. So indefensible behavior by IRS clearly the story. As people are doing analysis it’s a secondary point.”

Oh, well. Stupid laypeople and stuff. Or something.

Twitter users understand more than Smarter Than You Plouffe thinks that they do.



David Freddoso @freddoso

Plouffe didn't "justify,"
he just explained why Team Obama
would clearly want the IRS to do this.
So which is worse?

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/did-david-plouffe-justify-irs-targeting-conservatives-20130512 …
10:09 PM - 12 May 2013


Logan Dobson @LoganDobson

sure, laws were violated,
but, see, it would tend to help my political party,
and we're the good guys,
I assure you

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/did-david-plouffe-justify-irs-targeting-conservatives-20130512 …
10:12 PM - 12 May 2013


Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom

According to David Plouffe:
Because so many patriots support conservative groups
the IRS is justified in targeting them.

9:42 PM - 12 May 2013


Chris Hayes' Bike @JimmyPrinceton

Best part of Plouffe's IRSplaining:
the GOP you've been told is going extinct
is suddenly "flourishing"

- https://twitter.com/davidplouffe/status/333734823476723713 …

10:16 PM - 12 May 2013

Heh ??? Good Point :


bradcundiff @bradcundiff

Shorter Pfieffer / Plouffe:
"None of this on IRS was political
and even if it was
it was Boosh."

6:00 AM - 13 May 2013


Jim Treacher @jtLOL

@davidplouffe @jamestaranto
So you're not excusing what the IRS is doing.
You're just reminding us why it's okay.

6:26 AM - 13 May 2013


Jason B. Whitman @JasonBWhitman

Shorter @davidplouffe :
@gop groups raised a lot of money last cycle
so who cares if the IRS assaulted their right to free speech.

10:01 PM - 12 May 2013


Jay Caruso @jaycaruso

Using @davidplouffe’s logic,
bank robbers should be excused
because the banks have way more money
than the robbers do.
10:03 PM - 12 May 2013

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/well-they-were-flourishing-david-plouffe-excuses-irs-targeting-of-conservative-groups/

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/971380_504274876293349_1404583069_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s480x480/947047_504153659638804_2059363824_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

http://cdn.pophangover.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tumblr_mcugzc5Xkm1rk4mixo1_500.gif

It gets worse: IRS leaked conservative groups’ confidential documents to ProPublica
Posted at 11:06 pm on May 13, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz
Ah. IRS released confidential info on 12 groups to ProPublica last year.
Conservative groups. Natch.
http://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs …

5:26 PM - 13 May 2013


IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs...
By Justin Elliott @elliottjustin

The IRS’s Cincinnati office last year sent ProPublica the unapproved applications for several conservative groups


The latest IRS scandal is getting worse — and the official watchdog’s report hasn’t even been released yet. Today we learned that the same IRS office that admitted to targeting Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny also released confidential documents from several conservative groups to “independent” (that is, liberal) news organization ProPublica.


Will @Will6cx

ProPublica admits IRS sent them confidential applications from conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status
http://soa.li/eR7slQM

9:18 PM - 13 May 2013

Confidential information from groups like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS made it into the hands of ProPublica late last year, and now ProPublica reports that the IRS’ Cincinnati office was the source of the documents. “No unapproved applications from liberal groups were sent to ProPublica,” the site reports, while data from nine conservative groups was leaked. The independent investigative journalists at ProPublica went ahead and reported on Crossroads’ confidential application, somehow forgetting to investigate just how they came by confidential documents in the first place — until now. http://www.propublica.org/article/what-karl-roves-dark-money-nonprofit-told-the-irs


George Scoville @stackiii

Why didn't @ProPublica report on IRS leaking them confidential tax docs?
Because they're funded by lefty foundations:
http://bit.ly/14iGXlr 9:11 PM

13 May 2013


Jonathan Blake @blakeffm

Ironically, the only nonprofit that the IRS exposed as frauds is @ProPublica.

9:10 PM - 13 May 2013


Michael Goldfarb @thegoldfarb

Katzenberg-funded, 501c3 ProPublica was the preferred outlet for IRS leaks against conservative groups

http://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs …

7:36 PM - 13 May 2013


Michael Goldfarb @thegoldfarb

Actually outrageous: Katzenberg can deduct $ given to ProPublica,
the partisan 501c3 the IRS was leaking to re non-deductible right-wing

c4s8:03 PM - 13 May 2013


http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/it-gets-worse-irs-leaked-conservative-groups-confidential-documents-to-propublica/

comments

Katzenberg is Obama’s biggest individual donor and a bundler for the Obama campaign.

..

They won't even talk to the heavy hitters in this outrage, like all other Obama admin cover ups. You would think they would be running out of whitewash at the Whitehouse by now. Good bye to some pour low level smucks just following orders, wink wink. Some left wing group will pick them up for taking one for the team.

..

ProPublica must have gotten word that they'll be called out in the investigation report that's soon to be released. No other reason why they would admit to this.

I wonder how many other leftist "news" outlets received similar "confidential" info?

..

This plays right into how the left stole the last election by dirty tricks, fraud, and most likely worse. All these things are coming to light and it means the end for these leftist morons.


Hogwash: President Liar Pants claims he heard about IRS targeting conservatives ‘from news’
Posted at 1:33 pm on May 13, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


The Associated Press ✔ @AP
BREAKING: Obama says he learned of IRS focus on conservative groups when news reports broke Friday.

10:55 AM - 13 May 2013

Hogwash, indeed. As Twitchy reported, President Obama was in full stompy foot disgrace mode during his joint presser with U.K. Prime Minister Cameron today. He shamefully called the Benghazi talking points investigation a “sideshow.” http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/thats-why-he-hired-a-carney-obama-shamefully-calls-benghazi-talking-points-a-sideshow/

He was also questioned about the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups.


Sunny @sunnyright

First question from AP at press conference w/ Obama and PM Cameron:
When did you learn about IRS and did WH lie about Benghazi?

10:54 AM - 13 May 2013


Brett LoGiurato @BrettLoGiurato

The AP's Julie Pace gets the question at the Obama presser, asking about IRS and Benghazi.

10:52 AM - 13 May 2013


Zeke Miller ✔ @ZekeJMiller

Obama: “I don’t want to comment prematurely…”
says if allegations are true “then that’s outrageous”

10:54 AM - 13 May 2013

Huh. He doesn’t want to say they “acted stupidly”? Um. They have admitted to doing it, President Liar Pants. http://twitchy.com/2013/05/10/ap-irs-is-totally-sorry-for-targeting-groups-with-names-that-include-tea-party-or-patriot/


L K @OrwellForce

Friday: IRS apologizes for targeting conservatives.
Monday: Obama says "if" they targeted conservatives, that's bad.


Does Obama think the #IRS just made up that they targeted conservatives?

11:13 AM - 13 May 2013


Sunny @sunnyright

So Obama didn't learn about what his own IRS was doing for more than two years until Friday.

10:54 AM - 13 May 2013

Indeed. Unlike the New York Times, who is madly spinning for the Obama administration and the IRS, http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/thats-the-story-jaw-dropping-nyt-headline-on-irs-scandal-gives-gop-an-issue-to-seize-on/ Ms. Pace did her job. And did it well.

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/hogwash-president-liar-pants-claims-he-heard-about-irs-targeting-conservatives-from-news/

[Jolie Rouge]

Matthew Yglesias can’t put his finger on what the IRS did wrong

Posted at 6:14 am on May 14, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


Matt Yglesias ✔ @mattyglesias

What is the IRS is supposed to do with these c4 applications?
Clearly not what they did.
But is the only answer to rubber stamp everything?

7:56 PM - 13 May 2013

Liberal Slate writer Matthew Yglesias knows the IRS did something wrong in targeting conservative 501(c)(4) groups and leaking their confidential information to liberal journalists, but he can’t quite figure out what.

Tax administration is hard!

He asks if the only alternative to selectively targeting conservative organizations is to “rubber stamp everything.”

Because giving equal scrutiny to liberal and conservative groups clearly is not an option.

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/14/matthew-yglesias-cant-put-his-finger-on-what-the-irs-did-wrong/


Bette Midler praises IRS for targeting conservative groups: ‘I LOVE THE IRS!!!’

Posted at 5:55 am on May 14, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


Bette Midler ✔ @BetteMidler

I LOVE THE IRS!!! HOW CAN A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION BE CALLED A NON-PROFIT THAT PROMOTES GENERAL WELFARE??

9:12 PM - 13 May 2013 from Manhattan, NY, United States

The Internal Revenue Service has apologized for targeting groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their names.

An inspector general’s report scheduled to be released later this week reportedly says the IRS also targeted groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution.

And if that weren’t bad enough, the IRS reportedly released conservative groups’ confidential information to the “independent” (that is, liberal) news organization ProPublica.

But Bette Midler sees no reason for concern. No reason at all.

She took to Twitter last night to announce (in all caps) that she thinks what the IRS did is just great, because in her view political organizations are not legitimate 501(c)(4)s.

And if a conservative administration targeted liberal 501(c)(4) organizations like Organizing for Action, that would be just fine, right Bette?

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/14/bette-midler-praises-irs-for-targeting-conservative-groups-i-love-the-irs/

[Jolie Rouge]

sent to me by a Liberal Friend

Tuesday, May 14, 2013 11:32 AM CDT
When the IRS targeted liberals

Under George W. Bush, it went after the NAACP, Greenpeace and even a liberal church
By Alex Seitz-Wald

http://media.salon.com/2013/05/bush_irs-620x412.jpg

While few are defending the Internal Revenue Service for targeting some 300 conservative groups, there are two critical pieces of context missing from the conventional wisdom on the “scandal.” First, at least from what we know so far, the groups were not targeted in a political vendetta — but rather were executing a makeshift enforcement test (an ugly one, mind you) for IRS employees tasked with separating political groups not allowed to claim tax-exempt status, from bona fide social welfare organizations. Employees are given almost zero official guidance on how to do that, so they went after Tea Party groups because those seemed like they might be political. Keep in mind, the commissioner of the IRS at the time was a Bush appointee.

The second is that while this is the first time this kind of thing has become a national scandal, it’s not the first time such activity has occurred.

“I wish there was more GOP interest when I raised the same issue during the Bush administration, where they audited a progressive church in my district in what look liked a very selective way,” California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said on MSNBC Monday. “I found only one Republican, [North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones], that would join me in calling for an investigation during the Bush administration. I’m glad now that the GOP has found interest in this issue and it ought to be a bipartisan concern.”

The well-known church, All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena, became a bit of a cause célèbre on the left after the IRS threatened to revoke the church’s tax-exempt status over an anti-Iraq War sermon the Sunday before the 2004 election. “Jesus [would say], ‘Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a failed doctrine,’” rector George Regas said from the dais.

The church, which said progressive activism was in its “DNA,” hired a powerful Washington lawyer and enlisted the help of Schiff, who met with the commissioner of the IRS twice and called for a Government Accountability Office investigation, saying the IRS audit violated the First Amendment and was unduly targeting a political opponent of the Bush administration. “My client is very concerned that the close coordination undertaken by the IRS allowed partisan political concerns to direct the course of the All Saints examination,” church attorney Marcus Owens, who is widely considered one of the country’s leading experts on this area of the law, said at the time. In 2007, the IRS closed the case, decreeing that the church violated rules preventing political intervention, but it did not revoke its nonprofit status.


And while All Saints came under the gun, conservative churches across the country were helping to mobilize voters for Bush with little oversight. In 2006, citing the precedent of All Saints, “a group of religious leaders accused the Internal Revenue Service yesterday of playing politics by ignoring its complaint that two large churches in Ohio are engaging in what it says are political activities, in violation of the tax code,” the New York Times reported at the time. The churches essentially campaigned for a Republican gubernatorial candidate, they alleged, and even flew him on one of their planes.

Meanwhile, Citizens for Ethics in Washington filed two ethics complaints against a church in Minnesota. “You know we can’t publicly endorse as a church and would not for any candidate, but I can tell you personally that I’m going to vote for Michele Bachmann,” pastor Mac Hammond of the Living Word Christian Center in Minnesota said in 2006 before welcoming her to the church. The IRS opened an audit into the church, but it went nowhere after the church appealed the audit on a technicality.

And it wasn’t just churches. In 2004, the IRS went after the NAACP, auditing the nation’s oldest civil rights group after its chairman criticized President Bush for being the first sitting president since Herbert Hoover not to address the organization. “They are saying if you criticize the president we are going to take your tax exemption away from you,” then-chairman Julian Bond said. “It’s pretty obvious that the complainant was someone who doesn’t believe George Bush should be criticized, and it’s obvious of their response that the IRS believes this, too.”

In a letter to the IRS, Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel, Pete Stark and John Conyers wrote: “It is obvious that the timing of this IRS examination is nothing more than an effort to intimidate the members of the NAACP, and the communities the organization represents, in their get-out-the-vote effort nationwide.”

Then, in 2006, the Wall Street Journal broke the story of a how a little-known pressure group called Public Interest Watch — which received 97 percent of its funds from Exxon Mobile one year — managed to get the IRS to open an investigation into Greenpeace. Greenpeace had labeled Exxon Mobil the “No. 1 climate criminal.” The IRS acknowledged its audit was initiated by Public Interest Watch and threatened to revoke Greenpeace’s tax-exempt status, but closed the investigation three months later.

As the Journal reporter, Steve Stecklow, later said in an interview, “This comes against a backdrop where a number of conservative groups have been attacking nonprofits and NGOs over their tax-exempt status. There have been hearings on Capitol Hill. There have been a number of conservative groups in Washington who have been quite critical.”

Indeed, the year before that, the Senate held a hearing on nonprofits’ political activity. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, the then-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the IRS needed better enforcement, but also “legislative changes” to better define the lines between politics and social welfare, since they had not been updated in “a generation.” Unfortunately, neither Congress nor the IRS has defined 501(c)4′s sufficiently to this day, leaving the door open for IRS auditors to make up their own, discriminatory rules.

Those cases mostly involved 501(c)3 organizations, which live in a different section of the tax code for real charities like hospitals and schools. The rules are much stronger and better developed for (c)3′s, in part because they’ve been around longer. But with “social welfare” (c)4 groups, the kind of political activity we saw in 2010 and 2012 is so unprecedented that you get cases like Emerge America, a progressive nonprofit that trains Democratic female candidates for public office. The group has chapters across the country, but in 2011, chapters in Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada were denied 501(c)4 tax-exempt status. Leaders called the situation “bizarre” because in the five years Nevada had waited for approval, the Kentucky chapter was approved, only for the other three to be denied.

A former IRS official told the New York Times that probably meant the applications were sent to different offices, which use slightly different standards. Different offices within the same organization that are supposed to impose the exact same rules in a consistent manner have such uneven conceptions of where to draw the line at a political group, that they can approve one organization
and then deny its twin in a different state.

All of these stories suggest that while concern with the IRS posture toward conservative groups now may be merited, to fully understand the situation requires a bit of context and history.

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/14/when_the_irs_targeted_liberals/


comments

The Obama administration is, unfortunately, in this IRS debacle. The Secretary of the Treasury is a cabinet appt and who should be informed of potentially sensitive operations in agencies under his purview. Someone reports to someone who reports to someone. If a national office was set up in Cincinnati to analyze tax-exempt applications, then I would expect that reports were written.


I don't think it looks good when the President says he learns about what's going in his administration from the news. What does he have a cabinet for, after all? To keep watch and give him the heads up on these kinds of things.


I'm not in favor of this kind of story. Progressives expected this kind of harassment from Bush--which is why Obama was elected...joyfully. We would be better than that. I find it problematic that the President cannot express his views and values forcefully enough at the outset that his administration cannot make decisions based on that outlook.

..

Of course, the Republicans and Democrats are completely different. One calls itself "Incorporated", while the other calls itself "Corporation".


That pretty much sums up all of the differences. Two private corporations that control our government, along with the Federal Reserve System, which has been found by the Supreme Court to also be a private corporation. These are the 1%.

...

Yeah, except that the Democrats spent 8 years screaming about the way that Shrub shredded our civil rights only to get in power and double down on shredding our civil rights. Republicans don't have a hammerlock on hypocrisy.

[pepperpot]

Which is worse, someone else's poor behavior or repeating it?

[Jolie Rouge]

Report: IRS flagged groups that ‘criticize how the country is being run’
Posted at 5:57 pm on May 14, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


grace wyler @grace_lightning

Most disturbing part of IRS IG report is criteria included
"statements in the case file criticize how the country is being run"

4:39 PM - 14 May 2013

It’s not hard to believe the IRS’ “apology” last Friday for targeting Tea Party groups was timed to soften the blow of the inspector general’s report on the agency, which was due to be released this week but has already leaked to several news organizations, including ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/irsigreport.pdf A quick review of the report confirms everything that’s been reported already, including that fact that the words “Tea Party,” “patriot” and “9/12 project” were enough to have an application sent to a “designated team of specialists to be worked.”

That’s not all, though. As Twitchy reported, other criteria triggering that special review included references to educating the public on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights http://twitchy.com/2013/05/11/report-irs-flagged-groups-involved-in-educating-on-the-constitution-and-bill-of-rights/ and it doesn’t stop there. Other triggers included “education of the public via advocacy/lobbying to ‘make America a better place to live’” and “statements in the case file [that] criticize how the country is being run.” More than 100 applications were flagged by the time these criteria were established.

The inspector general’s report also includes a response from the IRS. The agency’s take? The problems arose due to insufficient management oversight and they’ve since been taken care of.


Zeke Miller ✔ @ZekeJMiller

IG lists 7 questions sent to conservative groups that were unnecessary
(incl request for donor list)

pic.twitter.com/V4pMO7oi8E

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BKQda5bCcAAKYDC.png

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/14/report-irs-flagged-groups-that-criticize-how-the-country-is-being-run/


See the questions the IRS used to probe TheTeaParty.net
By Caroline May 5:29 PM 05/14/2013

The Internal Revenue Service probed TheTeaParty.net on the names of its donors and whether any of their members or donors would run for political office during one of their rounds of inquiry in 2012.

Dan Backer, an attorney with DB Capitol Strategies PLLC, who represents a half dozen conservative groups including TheTeaParty.net and Combat Veterans Training Group, explained to The Daily Caller some of the hoops the IRS had his groups jump through. TheTeaParty.net, he said, is still waiting for its tax-exempt status after three years and three rounds of inquiries. “This is the natural outgrowth of the permanent campaign and the willingness of the political left to use the mechanism of government to suppress their enemies,” he explained

According to Backer, the contention that the targeting was just a group of low-level employees in Cincinnati “is the biggest crock of garbage I have ever heard of in my entire life,” he said, adding that the decision to target these groups had to come from a higher level. “There are a whole bunch of people; multiple layers of this administrative structure were involved in making this decision and deciding two things: One, that we’re going to single out people whose names include ‘tea party’ ‘patriot’ and ‘9-12’ and, two, in singling them out we are going to subject them to a series of questions that are unique and distinct from anything involving the IRS exempt application process.”

“They weren’t asked normal questions, they were asked special questions, so somebody was involved in deciding what those questions are,” he charged.

The questions the IRS sent to TheTeaParty.net included demands for their donors and the past and future candidacy of individuals affiliated with the group — something Backer said has nothing to do with determining a group’s qualifications for 501(c)(4) status.

Backer said that reasonable, legitimate questions include those probing potential political activities such as “do you plan on giving money to candidates?” or “Is your primary purpose calling for the election of a clearly identifiable federal candidate?” Backer explained these questions were reasonable because if the answer to either was “yes” than the group would not be a (c)(4).

In a white paper Backer penned last year, he further charged that the IRS does not have the authority to request information that is unrelated to the determination of a group’s tax exempt status. In that paper, he noted that the request for donor lists would have a “chilling effect on free speech.”

Backer is in the process of reviewing the possibility of suing the IRS for their actions. “If you were to litigate against the IRS the goals would be two fold: One to find out the truth about what happened so that the individuals involved will be held accountable — and by accountable, I mean fired — to hold all these individuals accountable for their misconduct. And two, to keep this from ever happening again, either at IRS or anywhere else.”

He said that while his group may not decide to sue, he believes it is almost inevitable someone will sue the IRS over the targeting.

The IRS apologized Friday for targeting of tea party and conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Lawmakers have come out in full force to condemn the practice. The House Ways and Means Committee scheduled a hearing on the targeting for Friday.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/see-the-questions-the-irs-used-to-probe-theteaparty-net/#ixzz2TJIVerea

[Jolie Rouge]

NAACP chair: Legitimate for IRS to target 'admittedly racist' Tea Party
May 14, 2013 By: Joe Newby

On Tuesday, Julian Bond, chairman emeritus of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told MSNBC's Thomas Roberts that it was perfectly legitimate for the IRS to target conservative Tea Party organizations because, in his view, they are "admittedly racist" and tried to hurt Barack Obama politically, Mediaite reported.

Ironically, Bond made the statement after observing that his group was unfairly targeted by the IRS in 2004 after he gave a speech critical of George W. Bush. But Bond said there were no parallels between what happened to the NAACP and various conservative groups. “I don’t think there’s a double standard at all,” he said. “I think it’s entirely legitimate to look at the Tea Party.”

“I mean, here are a group of people who are admittedly racist, who are overtly political, who tried as best they can to harm President Obama in every way they can,” he added. “They are the Taliban wing of American politics and we all ought to be a little worried about them."

"It was wrong for the IRS to behave in this heavy handed manner. They didn’t explain it well before or now what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. But there are no parallels between these two," Bond said.

Roberts asked Bond if he thought his assessment was “a little harsh.”

“Not at all, not at all,” Bond responded. “The truth may hurt, but it’s the truth.”

"And, just think," Jim Hoft said at the Gateway Pundit. "This group used to care about civil rights!" http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/naacp-leader-irs-was-correct-to-target-overtly-racist-tea-party-the-taliban-wing-of-american-politics-video/

Video of Bond's comments can be seen here : http://www.examiner.com/video/julian-bond-legitimate-for-irs-to-target-racist-tea-party

http://www.examiner.com/article/naacp-chair-legitimate-for-irs-to-target-admittedly-racist-tea-party


... They are the Taliban wing of American politics ...

Seriously ??

...

Mr. Bond, I have never met a racist Tea Party person. I have however met many, many racist Dems. I have met a few racist Repub. There are racists everywhere, but no, no, never in the NAACP--no way.

..

I am offended and disgusted but not surprised. Generally speaking, Blacks are the most racist 'race' in the US today. Has anyone ever noticed how "light skinned" the black folks are that are yelling racist all the time?

...

It's funny that when they can't think of anything INTELLIGENT to say they start saying we are racist or start calling us names. The only people I am racist against are the MUSLIM'S that are targeting America to destroy us. Too bad so many libs have those ugly rose colored glasses on. If only they would taken them off they might actually see what is happening to this once great nation. I have not met one person on the "RIGHT" that is racist but have met and heard all kinds of racist remarks from the "LEFT WING RACISTS". You will find more blacks that are racist then white.

..


I have yet to hear any true conservatives call for the death of all nonwhites or liberals. While the liberals, New black panthers, Muslims, Et-al call for DEATH TO WHITEY! Yet we are the ones being call "Taliban".

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Went After “America’s Pastor” Billy Graham
by Ulsterman on May 14, 2013

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/simgad/3604618805001796593

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/billy-graham-620x326.png

Was it advertisements like this that landed Billy Graham an Obama IRS audit?

The man known as America’s pastor was among those targeted by the Internal Revenue Service after the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association ran newspaper advertisements promoting traditional marriage and biblical values.

“I am bringing this to your attention because I believe that someone in the Administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us,” wrote Franklin Graham in a letter to President Obama. “This is morally wrong and unethical – indeed some would call it ‘un-American.’”

…Graham said on Sept. 6, 2012 they received notification that the IRS would audit their taxes.

“In light of what the IRS admitted to on Friday, May 10, 2013, and subsequent revelations from other sources, I do not believe that the IRS audit of our two organizations last year is a coincidence – or justifiable,” Graham wrote.

Mark Demoss, a spokesman for Graham, told Fox News it was the first time the ministry had been audited in its history.

“These certainly appear to be politically motivated since the ministry had run some newspaper ads – not mentioning any candidates – simply urging people to vote for candidates with biblical values,” he said. LINK : http://www.redstate.com/toddstarnes/2013/05/14/billy-graham-evangelistic-assn-targeted-by-irs/

__

Notifications of IRS audits against well known and regarded conservative groups just prior to a national election – and the Obama White House would have us believe they knew nothing of this? That such intimidation tactics were not given full approval by someone higher up in the administrative chain of command? Not bloody likely.

http://theulstermanreport.com/2013/05/14/report-obama-irs-went-after-americas-pastor-billy-graham/

[Jolie Rouge]

Frank VanderSloot: ‘I’m not the only’ major Mitt Romney donor audited
8:32 PM 05/14/2013

Billionaire businessman Frank VanderSloot, a major Mitt Romney super PAC donor who was subjected to three federal agency audits after being slimed by the Obama campaign, says he isn’t the only one of his peers who was audited after donating to Romney.

VanderSloot, who was also national co-chair of the Romney campaign’s finance committee, was described in an April 2012 Obama campaign Web posting as one of eight “wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records.” Shortly after the post appeared, VanderSloot was subjected to two Internal Revenue Service audits — one focusing on his personal financies, the other related to his business interests — and a Labor Department audit of one of his businesses. When asked about whether any of the other seven donors who appeared on the list were audited as well, VanderSloot spoke cautiously, but did say he “wasn’t the only one.”

“I talked to only a handful of them since,” VanderSloot said. ”I’ve reached out to all of them. But only got calls back from a handful and most of the responses were they’re just laying low, you know, they took their own beatings and they don’t want any more of it and they don’t want to even talk about this.”

“How do I answer that?” he responded, when asked specifically if he knows if any of them were audited like he was after they were attacked by the Obama campaign.

“Yes, we talked about that, and I’m not at liberty to disclose that.”

“I don’t know that everybody [that] was on it [was] audited,” he went on. “I don’t know how many were. I know that I’m not the only one. I do know that.”

“Everybody took a beating,” he added. “And for most of them, they’ve had enough. But there were a couple who will stand up and be counted on this issue, and the others just want the thing to go away.”

VanderSloot says that he passed all the audits with flying colors. “Everything is done. No penalties. No fines,” he said. The only thing he was required to do was move one of his deductions to the next year, which will actually save him money because of the expiration of the Bush tax rates for high-income individuals in 2013. “Actually, I’ll pay less taxes because of the audits,” he said.

But, he added, the audits themselves cost him over $80,000, after taking into account the attorneys, accountants and other professionals he needed to handle them.

Last Friday, the IRS admitted that it targeted conservative and tea party groups for special scrutiny. VanderSloot says he initially found the news, which he learned about in an email from his son, “interesting.”

“So [Wall Street Journal columnist] Kim Strassel is the one who broke the story on the president’s ‘enemies list’ and pointed out to the public what was really going on here,” VanderSloot said. “And so when I first got the story after one of my sons emailed to me a link to one of the articles — one of the stories that was running — and he said, ‘Dad, you might want to take a look at this.’ Because he knows the background of all this. I just forwarded it on to Kim Strassel with the word ‘interesting.’ So I guess that was my reaction, pretty interesting.”

No evidence has yet surfaced that conservative donors were also targeted by the IRS for special scrutiny. And VanderSloot says “we need to be really careful” about trying to tie his audits directly to the White House or the president. But he does note that it was odd that he would be subjected to three audits after being attacked by the Obama campaign, when he had only faced one small audit in his entire life some three decades ago. “We had three federal agency audits in a matter of four months. Coincidence? I don’t know,” he said.

“I think we need to be careful about what we know and what we don’t know. What we know is there is a string of coincidences here that look really suspicious. That’s what we know. Whether this is really connected — did somebody actually look at the president’s list that the president’s campaign put up there and say, ‘Well, here they are, let’s go after these guys’ — well, I don’t know.”

But VanderSloot said he does know the audits have consequences. “We know this for sure: the president made the list,” he said. “In my case, he made the list of eight people. Why eight? Well, there were thousands of donors to Mitt Romney. Why choose eight? You can’t go after thousands. You have to make example of a few … and show people what happens and hopefully put a stop to these kind of donations. And from what I’ve observed I think it’s worked pretty well for President Obama. No one wants to talk. No one wants to say anything.”

He also isn’t impressed with President Obama’s statement that he intends to go after any malfeasance that may have occurred at the IRS. “President Obama said, I think yesterday, he said, ‘I’m not going to stand for this, and we’re going to go after those who did it,’” said VanderSloot.

“I would say, ‘not fair, President Obama.’ You nailed a target, for example myself, you nailed a target on my back, and then you expect nobody to shoot at it? Of course you know they’re going to shoot at it. And now you say you’re going to after [them]. So basically what you’re saying is, if you get caught, ‘I’m at least going to have to tell the public I’m going to after you.’ Now whether he does or not I don’t know. But it will be interesting to see what really happens to these people.”

But VanderSloot says he has no intention of silencing himself because of the political and media attacks that have been hurled against him, or the suspicious audits. “I think it’s dangerous not to speak up, because both the press gets more emboldened and the agencies get more emboldened,” he said. “Let us hope our nation doesn’t become one where we are afraid to speak out because the ramifications of speaking out or even making a contribution to the candidate of our choice or supporting a candidate of our choice becomes … career threatening.”

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/frank-vandersloot-im-not-the-only-major-mitt-romney-donor-audited/#ixzz2TKmDWYYD

[Jolie Rouge]

Revelations about the political thuggery of the IRS are more chilling every day. The Daily Mail reports that IRS creeps ordered Linchpins of Liberty, a conservative educational group that mentors high school and college students, to hand over a list of “who has received or will receive” training. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324716/Document-IRS-ordered-conservative-educational-group-turn-list-high-school-college-students-trained.html

The founder of the Tennessee group asked The Daily Mail, “Can you imagine my responsibility to parents if I disclosed the names of their children to the IRS?” That’s right: We’re talking about children.

Also noteworthy:



The Inspector General’s report includes a list of ‘the seven questions’ the IRS asked right-wing groups that were later ‘identified as being unnecessary.’

Its request for the list of students trained by Linchpins of Liberty was not among them.


And it doesn’t end there. The IRS reportedly sought donor rolls, prinouts of Facebook posts and more from Tea Party and conservative groups.

But remember, the IRS would have you believe its employees weren’t “motivated by political bias.” http://twitchy.com/2013/05/10/irs-our-tea-party-witch-hunt-wasnt-motivated-by-political-bias-no-comment-on-disciplinary-action/

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/15/chilling-irs-reportedly-demanded-list-of-high-school-and-college-students-from-conservative-group/

[Jolie Rouge]

We were going to applaud Dick Durbin for his rare show of character in calling for an investigation into the IRS' targeting of conservative organizations. Unfortunately, as it turns out, he wrote a letter to the IRS *calling for* these investigations. As usual, Dick Durbin has changed sides with the political winds. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/dick-durbin-to-irs-invest_n_762929.html

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s480x480/922868_374848102631700_497260459_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

3 hours ago by Dean Garrison

Liberal Organization With Ties To George Soros Got Documents From IRS

George Soros? I haven’t written about him in awhile. When you understand a simple concept it makes understanding the world a whole lot easier. Money talks. That’s it. Even the “do gooders” at ProPublica.org require money and George Soros is always willing to write a check for a good progressive cause. This IRS scandal is bigger than anyone can imagine. It has Obama’s prints on it as well as those of George Soros. Whether or not they are guilty of giving any orders, you can not deny that they are both well connected to those who were doing the dirty work.

ProPublica dropped a bombshell on Monday evening. For those who have not heard, they admitted to receiving confidential documents, at their request, from the IRS.

On Nov. 15, 2012, ProPublica requested the applications of 67 nonprofits, all of which had spent money on the 2012 elections. (Because no social welfare groups with Tea Party in their names spent money on the election, ProPublica did not at that point request their applications. We had requested the Tea Party applications earlier, after the groups first complained about being singled out by the IRS. In response, the IRS said it could find no record of the tax-exempt status of those groups — typically how it responds to requests for unapproved applications.)

Just 13 days after ProPublica sent in its request, the IRS responded with the documents on 31 social welfare groups.

One of the applications the IRS released to ProPublica was from Crossroads GPS, the largest social-welfare nonprofit involved in the 2012 election. The group, started in part by GOP consultant Karl Rove, promised the IRS that any effort to influence elections would be “limited.”

The group spent more than $70 million from anonymous donors in 2012.

So our good friends at ProPublica were receiving these documents from the IRS in the spirit of good investigative journalism. I left the paragraph about Rove and Crossroads to illustrate a point. The article I am taking these quotes from was not journalism. It was filled with left-wing opinion as well. That’s what blogs are for (like this one). We need to understand the organization that was in receipt of these documents to understand the full scope of the story. Does the end justify the means? Not when it is infringing on the liberties of others. We don’t work like that in America.

By the way…it gets better.



ProPublica also exposed a tie to Washington D.C. and you know what that means. I don’t have to spell it out for you, do I? Check this out: http://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs


Last December, Collegio wrote in an email: “As far as we know, the Crossroads application is still pending, in which case it seems that either you obtained whatever document you have illegally, or that it has been approved.”

This year, the IRS appears to have changed the office that responds to requests for nonprofits’ applications. Previously, the IRS asked journalists to fax requests to a number with a 513 area code — which includes Cincinnati. ProPublica sent a request by fax on Feb. 5 to the Ohio area code. On March 13, that request was answered by David Fish, a director of Exempt Organizations Guidance, in Washington, D.C.

In early April, a ProPublica reporter’s request to the Ohio fax number bounced back. An IRS spokesman said at the time the number had changed “recently.” The new fax number begins with 202, the area code for Washington, D.C.

Ding, ding, ding…we have a winner! The hearings on Friday promise to be full of fireworks. This is not about a lone office in Cincinnati as originally reported. This scandal goes straight to Mr. Obama’s neighborhood and I have another tie to that neighborhood later, but let’s get to Soros.

OK, so what does all of this have to do with George Soros? Soros just happens to be one of the chief financiers for ProPublica and many other media organizations. Let’s go back to a wonderful Fox News investigative piece from May 2011. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/11/dont-hear-george-soros-ties-30-major-news-organizations/


The investigative reporting start-up ProPublica is a prime example. ProPublica, which recently won its second Pulitzer Prize, initially was given millions of dollars from the Sandler Foundation to “strengthen the progressive infrastructure” – “progressive” being the code word for very liberal. In 2010, it also received a two-year contribution of $125,000 each year from the Open Society Foundations. In case you wonder where that money comes from, the OSF website is www.soros.org. It is a network of more than 30 international foundations, mostly funded by Soros, who has contributed more than $8 billion to those efforts.-

Wow, so George Soros is a major financier of ProPublica? How fascinating.

In the spirit of giving you more than what you asked for I will throw in one more name that might ring a bell. A guy named Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News, just happens to sit on the ProPublica “Advisory Board.”

Why is that important?

Ben Sherwood’s sister just happens to be Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall who is a special assistant to Barack Obama. Coincidence? Or course it is.

Like I said, it will be a very interesting hearing beginning Friday. It would seem like there could be a lot more here than a few IRS agents who don’t like conservatives. We may never know how high this goes but you should be aware that there are proven connections.

I’ve put in an illegal request for some documents that I have no business seeing. If I get them I will be sure to update you. If I do not then you will have to wait until Friday’s hearings.

http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/05/liberal-organization-with-ties-to-george-soros-got-documents-from-irs/#ixzz2TOYR3zZd

[Jolie Rouge]

Things that make you go :hmmmm: "hmmmm" ...

http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-information/616723-another-tax-cheat-3.html

[Jolie Rouge]

'Angry' Obama announces IRS leader's ouster after conservatives targeted
By Chelsea J. Carter, Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick, CNN
updated 8:09 PM EDT, Wed May 15, 2013

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to hold accountable those at the Internal Revenue Service involved in the targeting of conservative groups applying for federal tax-exempt status, beginning with the resignation of the agency's acting commissioner who was aware of the practice.

In a brief statement delivered to reporters at the East Room of the White House, the president announced that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had requested -- and accepted -- the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller.

The president said the "misconduct" detailed in the IRS Inspector General's report released Tuesday over the singling out of conservative groups is "inexcusable."

"Americans have a right to be angry about, and I'm angry about it," Obama said. "It should not matter what political stripe you're from. The fact of the matter is, the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity."

Miller was made aware of the agency's targeting of conservative groups in May 2012, according to the IRS, while serving as deputy IRS commissioner. He did not tell Congress about it when he testified before an oversight committee in July despite being questioned on the issue. Miller was named acting IRS commissioner in November.

Obama pledged to work "hand in hand" with Congress as it investigates, and he vowed new safeguards will be put in place at the IRS so that "this doesn't happen again."

In an internal message to IRS employees obtained by CNN, Miller said he would be stepping down as commissioner in early June. "This has been an incredibly difficult time for the IRS given the events of the past few days, and there is a strong and immediate need to restore public trust in the nation's tax agency," Miller wrote. "I believe the Service will benefit from having a new Acting Commissioner in place during this challenging period."

Despite his resignation, Miller is expected to testify Friday at a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.

News of Miller's resignation followed revelations that the IRS has identified two "rogue" employees in the agency's Cincinnati office as being principally responsible for the "overly aggressive" handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, a congressional source told CNN. Miller said the staffers have already been disciplined, according to another source familiar with Miller's discussions with congressional investigators. The second source said Miller emphasized that the problem with IRS handling of tax-exempt status for tea party groups was not limited to these two employees.

Miller met with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana on Tuesday to discuss an appearance before Congress.

IRS deliberately targeting tea party

Asked Wednesday in a Senate hallway about his meeting with Miller, Baucus told CNN, "I did not learn as much from the meeting as I would have liked."

"I told him that it was in his best interest to be totally cooperative -- that it's often the cover-up that causes more problems than the original malfeasance," the senator said. "And just to be totally straight with me and everybody, and he said he would."

Meanwhile, Republican congressional leaders on Wednesday accused Obama's administration of potentially criminal behavior in the handling of requests for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell suggested criminal behavior had occurred, saying that the "very serious" allegations involve "an effort to bring the power of the federal government to bear on those the administration disagreed with in the middle of a heated national election."

"It actually could be, could be criminal and we are determined to get the answers," McConnell said.

House Speaker John Boehner was more definitive, declaring that "my question is, who's going to jail over this scandal?"

He told reporters that "clearly someone violated the law" in what an IRS inspector general's report described as delayed processing of applications by groups associated with the political right wing.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who ordered a criminal investigation into the situation, said Wednesday at a congressional hearing that the investigation will look at conduct of IRS offices nationwide. "The facts will take us where ever they take us," he said.

Holder said the investigation will also examine whether IRS officials lied to Congress about the singling out of conservative groups.

While the allegations originated in the Cincinnati office, the Justice Department inquiry is based out of Washington, Holder said.

The comments came as all 45 Senate Republicans sent the White House a letter that called for the administration to "comply with all requests related to congressional inquiries without any delay" involving the controversy.

The letter called the scandal "yet another completely inexcusable attempt to chill the speech of political opponents and those who would question their government, consistent with a broader pattern of intimidation by arms of your administration to silence political dissent."

The clearly coordinated attacks were part of a GOP effort to increase pressure on the Obama administration over the controversy, one of three potential scandals that has the White House on the defensive less than four months into the president's second term.

[Jolie Rouge]

According to the report by the agency's inspector general released Tuesday, the IRS developed and followed a faulty policy to determine whether the applicants were engaged in political activities, which would disqualify the groups from receiving tax-exempt status.

The controversial move began in early 2010 and continued for more than 18 months, the report said, declaring that "the IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention."

In a statement released late Tuesday, Obama called the report findings "intolerable and inexcusable."

"The federal government must conduct itself in a way that's worthy of the public's trust, and that's especially true for the IRS. The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity. This report shows that some of its employees failed that test," the president said.

Obama also said he has directed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew "to hold those responsible for these failures accountable."

However, law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University said it was unlikely that anyone would end up facing criminal charges. "It's a violation of federal law, but rarely do people go to jail for it," Turley told CNN on Wednesday.

More often, criminal charges come from federal officials lying to cover up wrongdoing, rather than from following orders, he said. "The most likely conclusion is no one would be charged, if you look at history," Turley added.

IRS officials, according to the report, did not consult anyone beyond the agency about the development of the additional screening criteria. They believed that the criteria they came up with were a screening shortcut meant to help with the influx of applications, the report said.

The controversial actions began after the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case that greatly expanded the ability of corporations, unions and other organizations to participate in election spending, though not through direct contributions to candidates or parties.

After the ruling, the number of politically oriented groups seeking tax exempt status as social welfare organizations under section 501 (c) (4) of the federal tax code increased greatly at a time when the federal government, including the IRS, was dealing with austerity measures that reduced or stagnated personnel and resources.

The IRS' top watchdog found that the criteria used to flag potential political applications resulted in substantial delays and the request of unnecessary information from the groups.

Among the criteria used by IRS officials to flag applications was a "Be On the Look Out" list, which was discontinued in 2012, according to the report.


The criteria included:

-- Whether "Tea Party," "Patriots" or "9/12 Project" was referenced in the case file.

-- Whether the issues outlined in the application included government spending, government debt or taxes.

-- Whether there was advocating or lobbying to "make America a better place to live."

-- Whether a statement in the case file criticized how the country is being run.

-- Whether it advocated education about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The investigation by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration was initiated after congressional complaints began to surface in the media in 2012 that the IRS was targeting conservative groups and holding up applications. "Whether the inappropriate criterion was shorthand for all potential political cases or not, developing and using criteria that focuses on organization names and policy positions instead of the activities permitted under the Treasury regulations does not promote public confidence that tax-exempt laws are being adhered to impartially," the report said.

The IRS welcomed the report, saying that it agreed that aspects of its original approach in handling the influx of tax-exempt applications was inappropriate. "The IRS is required by law to determine if organizations are engaging in a legally permissible level of political activity. Centralizing these cases was necessary to achieve consistent treatment," it said in a statement.

In a written response included in the report, the IRS commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division said there was no criminal behavior behind the actions of the agents, but rather inefficient management. "We believe the front-line career employees that made the decisions acted out of a desire for efficiency and not out of any political and partisan viewpoint," the commissioner wrote.

The report's findings indicate that of the 298 cases reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status: 72 contained the name "tea party," 11 contained "9/12" and 13 contained the word "patriots," according to the report. There were 202 cases that did not contain any such reference.

Of those applications still open for review, 160 cases were open from 206 days to more than three years -- through two election cycles.

Among the recommendations made by the Treasury inspector general: The IRS must better document reasons why applications are chosen for review, develop a process to track requests for assistance, develop and provide training to employees before each election cycle and immediately resolve outstanding cases.

The report also called on Treasury to develop guidelines to explain social welfare activity -- the primary factor in obtaining tax-exempt status.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/politics/irs-conservative-targeting/index.html

Read the IRS IG report http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/politics/irs-conservative-targeting/



The clearly coordinated attacks were part of a GOP effort to increase pressure on the Obama administration over the controversy...

those meanies ... making a big deal over a few little "problems" :puke:



News of Miller's resignation followed revelations that the IRS has identified two "rogue" employees in the agency's Cincinnati office as being principally responsible for the "overly aggressive" handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status

There's your "peons" to take the blame and the rap ....

[pepperpot]

Did he huff and puff (tweaking the drama) as he stomped his foot (to show his outrage) about this? *eyeroll*

[Jolie Rouge]

So the interim chief of the IRS, who has only been on the job for 6 months, is being "forced" to step down. Since this stuff has been going on for three years, I'm sure he couldn't have been responsible for the whole mess. And what about the lady who "apologized" for this? She's still there, isn't she? Let's see what happens next.

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.5003363011069117&pid=1.7&w=251&h=188&c=7&rs=1

[Jolie Rouge]

Looks like the current administration is throwing everyone under the bus....getting crowded under there! So, to those who thought I was just being a little paranoid about mistrusting some huge decisions made at the nation's capitol...... are you considering I (and a few million more like me) may have been right?

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4765383205782483&pid=1.7&w=236&h=180&c=7&rs=1

IRS sued for improperly seizing the medical records of 10 million Americans
4:44 PM 05/15/2013

Amid a firestorm about the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting conservative groups and wide concern that the tax service will be administering Obamacare, the IRS is also the subject of a class action lawsuit alleging that 15 of its agents improperly seized 10 million Americans’ medical records.

Attorney Robert Barnes filed the lawsuit in mid-March on behalf of a John Doe Company and individuals whose records were seized in California Superior Court, according to a report from the Courthouse News Service.

“This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service (‘IRS’) agents (collectively referred to as ‘Defendants’ herein) during a raid of John Doe Company, in the southern district of California, on March 11, 2011,” the complaint, quoted by Courthouse News, reads. “In a case involving solely a tax matter involving a former employee of the company, these agents stole more than 60,000,000 medical records of more than 10,000,000 Americans, including at least 1,000,000 Californians.”

The complaint explains there was no warrant authorizing the seizure of the medical records and the records were not germane to the IRS search. The complaint alleges that the seizure violated the 4th Amendment, according to the extensive quotes from the complaint complied by Courthouse News.

“These medical records contained intimate and private information of more than 10,000,000 Americans, information that by its nature includes information about treatment for any kind of medical concern, including psychological counseling, gynecological counseling, sexual or drug treatment, and a wide range of medical matters covering the most intimate and private of concerns,” the complaint reads.

The records are believed to concern the medical records of every judge in California, every state court employee in California, members of the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild, and people in “all walks of life.”

“The search warrant authorized the seizure of financial records related principally to a former employee of the company; it did not authorize any seizure of any health care or medical record of any persons, least of all third parties completely unrelated to the matter,” the complaint, as quoted by the news outlet explains further.

“[E]ven though defendants knew that the records they were seizing were not included within the scope of the search warrant, the defendants nonetheless searched and seized the records without making any attempt to segregate the files from those that could possibly be related to the search warrant,” it adds. “In fact, no effort was made at all to even try maintaining the illusion of legitimacy and legality.”

The complaint, as quoted by Courthouse News, further alleges that the agents used the company’s facilities to watch basketball, order pizza and Coca Cola “illustrating their complete disregard of the court’s order and the Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights.”

The complaint seeks $25,000 in compensatory damages per individual, according to Courthouse News, a declaratory judgment protecting the information seized as well as the return and elimination of the records from all government databases.


http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/15/irs-sued-for-improperly-seizing-the-medical-records-of-10-million-americans/#ixzz2TSwNS85C

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS employees ‘simply did what their bosses ordered’
By Doug Powers • May 16, 2013 11:17 AM

Former acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller had originally said that a couple of lower level employees went “rogue” and “off the reservation” http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/irs-acting-commissioner-resigned-president-obama-article-1.1345175 by targeting conservative organizations for extra scrutiny. With that in mind, there’s this from FOX19 in Cincinnati: http://www.fox19.com/story/22265631/four-cincy-irs-workers-not-two-allegedly-connected-to-scandal


One of FOX19′s two sources went on say that these four IRS workers claim “they simply did what their bosses ordered.” FOX19 reported on Tuesday that the report by the Office of Inspector General states that senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting Tea Party groups as early as 2011.

In fact, according to that report, Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax exempt organizations, was told on June 29, 2011 that groups with ‘Tea Party’, ‘Patriot’ or ’9/12 Project’ in their names were being flagged for additional, and often burdensome, scrutiny.

While the IRS is pointing at ‘two rogue employees,’ the number of organizations that were singled out has swelled to nearly 500, according to Rep. Congressmen Darryl Issa and Ohio’s Jim Jordan.

The Right Scoop has the video here. http://www.therightscoop.com/report-four-cincinnati-irs-workers-claim-they-were-just-doing-what-their-bosses-ordered/

And let’s not forget that the fact that knowledge of these allegedly “rogue” activities went at least all the way to the top of the IRS for a couple of years, http://michellemalkin.com/2013/05/14/surprise-irs-officials-conservative-groups-scrutiny/ and nothing was done (Miller will testify at a congressional hearing tomorrow http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/15/irs-scandal-acting-commissioner-wont-plead-fifth/ ). Even more troubling is the leaking of that information to at least one outside group. http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/it-gets-worse-irs-leaked-conservative-groups-confidential-documents-to-propublica/

The allegations of IRS abuses continue to pour in. Here’s one more: http://washingtonexaminer.com/report-irs-denied-tax-exempt-status-to-pro-lifers-on-behalf-of-planned-parenthood/article/2529750


IRS officials refused to grant tax exempt status to two pro-life organizations because of their position on the abortion issue, according to a non-profit law firm, which said that one group was pressured not to protest a pro-choice organization that endorsed President Obama during the last election.

“In one case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for tax exempt status for Coalition for Life of Iowa. In a phone call to Coalition for Life of Iowa leaders on June 6, 2009, the IRS agent ‘Ms. Richards’ told the group to send a letter to the IRS with the entire board’s signatures stating that, under perjury of the law, they do not picket/protest or organize groups to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood,” the Thomas More Society announced today. “Once the IRS received this letter, their application would be approved.”

President Obama will be notified about this the same way he claims to be finding out about everything these days: By reading about it in news reports just like everybody else. http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/carney-white-house-notified-of-irs-targeting-tea-party-several-weeks-ago-obama-i-found-out-friday-video/

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/8/10/5af65c76-de81-4d38-8030-7db47c6d41fa.jpg

**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/05/16/report-irs-employees-simply-did-what-their-bosses-ordered/

[Jolie Rouge]

'Angry' Obama announces IRS leader's ouster after conservatives targeted
By Chelsea J. Carter, Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick, CNN
updated 8:09 PM EDT, Wed May 15, 2013

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to hold accountable those at the Internal Revenue Service involved in the targeting of conservative groups applying for federal tax-exempt status, beginning with the resignation of the agency's acting commissioner who was aware of the practice.

In a brief statement delivered to reporters at the East Room of the White House, the president announced that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had requested -- and accepted -- the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller.

The president said the "misconduct" detailed in the IRS Inspector General's report released Tuesday over the singling out of conservative groups is "inexcusable."

"Americans have a right to be angry about, and I'm angry about it," Obama said. "It should not matter what political stripe you're from. The fact of the matter is, the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity."

Miller was made aware of the agency's targeting of conservative groups in May 2012, according to the IRS, while serving as deputy IRS commissioner. He did not tell Congress about it when he testified before an oversight committee in July despite being questioned on the issue. Miller was named acting IRS commissioner in November.

Miller could remain as acting IRS commissioner until June, when he was to step down anyway
11:33 AM 05/16/2013

President Obama announced Wednesday evening that, due to the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had requested and accepted the resignation of the acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller.

“First, we’re going to hold the responsible parties accountable,” the president said. “Today, Secretary Lew took the first step by requesting and accepting the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS, because given the controversy surrounding this audit, it’s important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward,” he added.

But according to a source close to Miller, the requested resignation is something a hollow gesture, as Miller was set to step down in June anyway. “This whole idea that ‘oh, the president is taking this big step’ is a bit misleading because he was going to be stepping down as of early June anyway because his term as acting commissioner was going to be over.”

“This step by the White House is less about actually removing somebody than removing somebody who was about to step down anyway,” the source close to Miller added.

Further, Miller is set to remain as acting IRS commissioner into next week and as far as June first, the source noted. “[H]e is still the acting commissioner and he will be until at least next week and probably, potentially until June 1st,” the source said. “So there was the suggestion that he was forced to resign immediately — that is not true.”

Indeed, Miller wanted to stay on as acting commissioner so that he could go to the hearings and testify. “He wants to testify,” the source asserted, “because he thinks it is his job as IRS commissioner, he has already taken responsibility for a lot of what has happened in terms of the mistakes that were made by underlings.”

Miller had only been acting commissioner since November 2012 after Commissioner Douglas Shulman stepped down. The targeting of conservatives began in 2010. “The White House pretty clearly wanted to, were hoping to fire him, or have him resign in the hope to head off the hearings,” the source added, reiterating that Miller wants to testify before Congress. “[The White House] was thinking they fire this guy, throw his body to the wolves, and everything goes away,” the source added.

Miller is testifying Friday before the House Ways and Means Committee and will still be the acting commissioner.

Miller has retained former Special Counsel and Deputy Counsel to former President George W. Bush, William Burck, as his personal counsel.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/miller-could-remain-as-acting-irs-commissioner-until-june-when-he-was-to-step-down-anyway/#ixzz2TTNJwnWd

comments

In Obama's attempt to appear that something "drastic" was being done, this clumsy more isn't living up the hype that Obama made it out to be. Even the newspaper headlines have this whole firing, taking action, making someone accountable, punishing someone, etc. is almost as big of a farce as Obama is being our president.

Such a discrace !!

..

My favorite part of the article is that Miller ,an Obama appointee has retained a former Bush defense counsel. The irony is staggering.

..

How about Lois Lerner, who "apologized" Friday by lying about the scope of corruption, personally approved Obama's brother in less than a month and even gave retroactive approval, and also personally sent one of the illegal requests for more info to a Tea Party group? She oversees the department, and must be fired, tried, sentenced and fined.

..

Obama has such a gift for choosing just the right person for the job. Holder as AG where he is free to enforce only those laws he likes, Sibelius who doesn't even bother with the law at all, Napolitano who appears to have no idea what is going on anywhere in her bureau, this Miller who gives the impression of not having even known where the IRS office is located because he's leaving anyway,Hagel, who seems brusque and efficient and right on top of the all important PC front. Then we hear that Susan Rice might be up for Nat, Security Advisor who has NEVER to anyone's knowlege given any good security advice. Sigh. I'm sorry to have bored y'all, I'll just go be depressed some where else.

[Jolie Rouge]

And what about the lady who "apologized" for this? She's still there, isn't she?


Lois Lerner insisted IRS higher-ups were not aware of the practice initiated by low-level employees in Cincinnati, and an IRS statement said "they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale," without explaining what other motivation there could have been.

http://now.msn.com/irs-apologizes-fo...?ocid=ansnowex

IRS Apologizes For Targeting Conservative Groups In 2012 Election
Posted: 05/10/2013

WASHINGTON -- The head of the Internal Revenue Service's exempt organizations division apologized on Friday for the inappropriate targeting of conservative groups during the 2012 election. The apology by Lois Lerner, first reported by the Associated Press, revealed that groups with the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status had received greater scrutiny.

Embattled IRS official Lois Lerner’s husband’s law firm has strong Obama connections
12:13 AM 05/16/2013

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official who apologized for targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny is married to an attorney whose firm hosted a voter registration organizing event for the 2012 Obama re-election campaign, praised President Obama’s policy work, and had one of its partners appointed by Obama to a key ambassadorship.

IRS Exempt Organizations Division director Lois G. Lerner, who has been described as “apolitical” in mainstream press coverage of the IRS scandal, is married to tax attorney Michael R. Miles, a partner at the law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. The firm is based in Atlanta but has a number of offices including in Washington, D.C., where Miles works.

The 400-attorney firm hosted an organizing meeting at its Atlanta office for people interested in helping with voter registration for the Obama re-election campaign.

This is not the first of Lerner’s connections to the president to surface. Earlier this week The Daily Caller reported that Lerner personally signed the tax-exemption approval for a shady charity run by Obama’s half-brother, after an inexplicably brief one-month application process.

“Come learn more about how you can create, organize, and host a voter registration event here in Atlanta in the coming weeks. We will be meeting at at 7:30pm at 999 Peachtree St. NE, in the law offices of Sutherland, Asbill, and Brennan,” read an event posting on my.barackobama.com.

Longtime Sutherland partner David Adelman, the former Democratic minority whip of the Georgia state senate, serves as ambassador to the Republic of Singapore in the Obama administration.

“Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP announces that its partner and Georgia State Sen. David I. Adelman, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore. President Obama nominated Sen. Adelman on November 20, 2009,” according to a Sutherland press release dated March 19, 2010.

“Sutherland has a great tradition of excellence. It has been a privilege to be a part of such a fine firm,” Adelman said at the time of his confirmation, according to the Sutherland press release. “I am humbled by the confidence President Obama and Secretary Clinton have in me, and I look forward to building on the strong U.S.-Singapore relationship,” said Adelman, who joined Sutherland in 1993 and spent his entire career in private practice with the firm.

Sutherland heaped praised on Obama’s work in the U.S. Senate on legal issues pertaining to employee misclassification, which Sutherland works intensely enough on to have launched the website workerclassification.com.

“The subject of worker classification is likely to take on increased importance in light of the recent election of Barack Obama as President. While in the Senate, President Obama showed an interest in strengthening workers’ rights, particularly with respect to whether they should be classified as employees,” according to a Sutherland press release dated April 28, 2009. “Along with others, he introduced the Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act of 2007. This legislation sought to give regulatory authority to the IRS to establish standards for properly classifying workers and to repeal the Section 530 safe harbor provisions that currently allow employers to rely on industry practice or professional advice as a reasonable basis for classifying workers. Also as a senator, President Obama, along with others, introduced the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act on September 29, 2008, which sought ‘to provide a special penalty for employers who misclassify employees as nonemployees,” according to the Sutherland press release.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/embattled-irs-official-lois-lerners-husbands-law-firm-hosted-an-obama-campaign-organizing-meeting/#ixzz2TTTawHcY

[Jolie Rouge]

Senate Democrats Block Resolution Calling for IRS Investigation
Thursday, 05/16/2013 - 11:25am | posted by Jason Pye

If Senate Democrats are so bothered by the outrageous developments with the Internal Revenue Service, which targeted Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny, than why are they blocking a resolution for an independent investigation into the matter?

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) offered a resolution (PDF) that would have condemned the IRS for singling out Tea Party and other conservative groups and launched independent investigation into these discriminatory tactics. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have apparently blocked the resolution for reasons that haven’t been made clear.

“This resolution is not about Republican vs. Democrat or conservative vs. liberal. It is about arrogant and unrestrained government vs. the rule of law,” said Paul in a statement from his office. “The First Amendment cannot and should not be renegotiated depending on which party holds power.”

“Each senator took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, yet Senate Democrats chose to block my resolution and thus refused to condemn the IRS for trampling on our First Amendment rights,” he added. “I am incredibly disappointed in Washington’s party politics and I am determined to hold the IRS accountable for these unjust acts.”

Perhaps they blocked the resolution because Senate Democrats don’t necessarily have a problem with what the IRS has done. Several Democrats, including Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), have expressed concern about the scandal. But Baucus, for example, previously asked the IRS to investigate conservative groups who had tax-exempt status, as Brian Walsh notes at US News: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brian-walsh/2013/05/14/senate-democrats-pushed-for-irs-tea-party-snooping-before-criticizing-it


Over the last three years, Democratic senators repeatedly and publicly pressured the IRS to engage in the very activities that they are only now condemning today. At the same time, Republicans repeatedly and publicly warned against this abuse of government power and pointed to a series of red flags that strongly suggested conservative political organizations were being targeted by the IRS. Those warnings were deliberately ignored by the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress.

As the New York Times reported back in 2010 : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/us/politics/07irs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print


With growing scrutiny of the role of tax-exempt groups in political campaigns, Congressional Republicans are pushing back against Democrats by warning about the possible misuse of the Internal Revenue Service to audit conservative groups….And the Republicans are also upset about an I.R.S. review requested by Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who leads the Finance Committee, into the political activities of tax-exempt groups. Such a review threatens to “chill the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights,” wrote two Republican senators, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Jon Kyl of Arizona, in a letter sent to the I.R.S. on Wednesday. … Democrats dismissed the Republicans’ complaints as groundless.

You read that correctly.

The same Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who this week is calling for hearings into IRS activities, specifically called on the IRS to engage in that very conduct back in 2010. And he wasn’t the only one. Just last year, a group of seven Senate Democrats sent another letter to the IRS urging them to similarly investigate these outside political organizations. http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Newsroom/record.cfm?id=336270

That’s right, Democrats have been feigning outrage over the IRS scandal, and they’re true feelings about it are shining through by blocking Paul’s resolution. If they truly want answers and accountability for what was clearly discrimination, than they will pass this resolution and launch a full investigation. It’s that simple.

http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/13690-senate-democrats-block-resolution-calling-for-irs-investigation

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/s480x480/970236_420362181396292_897639722_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s480x480/945802_10151603166444474_952153729_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

Report: IRS Tried to Swing Election Towards Obama

The IRS targeted liberty-oriented groups. We know this now. Obama’s response was fake “firing” someone who was going to be gone next month anyway while still trying to cover-up how deep the actual scandal went. And how deep does it go?

The IRS tried to swing the election towards Obama. As Investor’s Business Daily reports, emphasis mine, “USA Today found that in the 27 months after Feb. 2010, the IRS did not approve a single Tea Party application. Over those same months, however, dozens of applications submitted by liberal groups that were engaged in the same type of activities and were seeking the same tax status as the conservative ones sailed through the agency.”

In other words, between the midterm election and the presidential election, the IRS stopped the Tea Party from growing in order to combat Obama. In a close election, that can be the difference between victory or defeat. That’s election rigging. That’s fraud. That’s illegal. That means people should go to jail.

So was this just a “low level” problem? Absolutely not. In fact, IRS workers just “did what their bosses told them“. This goes all the way to Washington. The idea that Obama didn’t know about this is a pure lie. When we finally get the proof — and we will — we’ll have more than enough to impeach AND prosecute these treasonous criminals.

Barack Obama: The Pathological Liar

Barack Obama is a liar. He’ll lie for any kind of political gain he thinks it’ll get him. He’s lied about raising taxes, Guantanamo Bay, civil liberties, the 4th Amendment, foreign policy, Benghazi, and the IRS. He lies constantly.

The latest lie is the idea that he’s going to try to punish the IRS officials who used the IRS as an attack dog on Tea-Party activists. He gave a public address yesterday, quickly said that he would accept the resignation of the acting IRS commissioner Steve Miller. Supposedly, this makes everything better, and we can move on to debating new policies that Obama wants to shove down our throats.

One small problem: Steve Miller was going to be gone next month. He basically just ended his term a month sooner than he would have. The idea that Obama changed anything substantially at all is pure dishonesty on his part. Even then, almost everyone involved in the attacks on pro-liberty groups will not be fired.

Don’t Just Fire: Jail Them

The problem is that this isn’t just a firing offense. This is a “go to jail” offense. Someone illegally used the federal government’s powers to punish people in clear violation of their right to free speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press, and every other right protected by the 9th, 14th, and other amendments to the constitution.

The notion that Steve Miller was “punished” is absurd. It’s a lie to confuse you while they go right back to what they were doing — the laws be damned. This is corruption in its simplest form.

Please help us fight back by spreading this on Facebook and Twitter. People won’t support impeachment until they know the truth — and the media is trying to keep this a cover-up. Let’s blow the lid off of this.

http://www.capitalisminstitute.org/irs-election-rigging/


IRS got marching orders from at least two Democrat senators
Published by: Dan Calabrese on Thursday May 16th, 2013

http://www.caintv.com/irs-got-marching-orders-from-a

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office
By John Parkinson & Steven Portnoy May 16, 2013 6:15pm

The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.

Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.

As the House voted to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act Thursday evening, House Speaker John Boehner expressed “serious concerns” that the IRS is empowered as the law’s chief enforcer. “Fully repealing ObamaCare will help us build a stronger, healthier economy, and will clear the way for patient-centered reforms that lower health care costs and protect jobs,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also reacted to the revelation in a brief statement late Thursday. “Stunning, just stunning,” McConnell, R-Ky. stated.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/irs-official-in-charge-during-tea-party-targeting-now-runs-health-care-office/

[Jolie Rouge]

Seems that while the IRS was targeting conservative groups ...
maybe they should have been looking a little closer nearer to "home"...


41 Obama White House aides owe the IRS $831,000 in back taxes -- and they're not alone
September 10, 2010 | 2:54am


Over the years a lot of suspicion has built up across the country about Washington and its population of opportunistic transients coming to see themselves as a special kind of person, somehow above average working Americans who don't labor down in that monument-strewn former swamp.

Well, finally, an end to all those undocumented doubts. Thanks to some diligent digging by the Washington Post, those suspicions can at last be put to rest.

They're correct. Accurate. Dead-on. Laser-guided. On target. Bingo-bango. As clear as it's always seemed to those Americans who don't feel special entitlements and do meet their government obligations.

We now know that federal employees across the nation owe fully $1 billion in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

As in, 1,000 times one million dollars. All this political jabber about giving middle-class ...

... Americans a tax cut. Thousands of feds have been giving themselves one all along -- unofficially. And these tax scofflaws include more than three dozen folks who work for the president with that newly decorated Oval Office.
The Post's T.W. Farnum did some research and found that out of the total sum, just 638 workers on Capitol Hill owe the IRS $9.3 million in back taxes. As in, overdue. The IRS gets stiffed by the legislative body that controls its budget. How Washington works.

Now, back taxes have been a problem for the Obama-Biden administration. You may recall early on that Tom Daschle was the president's top pick to run the Health and Human Services Department. But it turned out the former Democratic senator, who was un-elected from South Dakota in 2004, owed something like $120,000 to the IRS for things from his subsequent benefactor that he just forgot to pay taxes on. You know how that is. $120G's here or there. So he dropped out.

And then we learned this guy Timothy Geithner owed something like $42,000 in back taxes and penalties to the IRS, which is one of the agencies that he'd be in charge of as secretary of the Treasury. The fine fellow who's supposed to know about handling everyone else's money. In the end this was excused by Washington's bipartisan CYA culture as one of those inadvertent accidental oversights that somehow never seem to happen on the side of paying too much taxes.

And under Geithner's expert guidance the U.S. economy has been, well, wow! Just look at it.

Privacy laws prevent release of individual tax delinquents' names. But we do know that as of the end of 2009, 41 people inside Obama's very own White House owe the government they're allegedly running a total of $831,055 in back taxes. That would cover a lot of special chocolate desserts in the White House Mess.

In the House of Representatives, 421 people owe a total $6,524,892. In the Senate, 217 owe $2,774,836. In the IRS' parent department, Treasury, 1,204 owe $7,670,814. At the Labor Department, where Secretary Hilda Solis' husband had some back-tax problems before her confirmation, 463 owe $7,481,463. Eighty-one workers for the Federal Reserve System's board of governors owe $1,076,733.

Over at the Justice Department, which is so busy enforcing other laws and suing Arizona, 1,971 employees still owe $14,350,152 in overdue taxes.

Then, we come to the Department of Homeland Security, which is run by Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona who preferred to call terrorist acts "man-caused disasters." Homeland Security is keeping all of us safe by ensuring that a brave Dutch tourist is aboard every inbound international flight to thwart any would-be bomber with explosives in his underpants.

Within that department, there reside 4,856 people who owe the tax agency a whopping total of $37,012,174.

And they're checking our pockets for metal and coins?


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/09/congress-taxes-irs.html

[Jolie Rouge]

DID THE IRS GIVE ROMNEY'S TAX RETURNS TO HARRY REID?

WASHINGTON — During the 2012 presidential campaign, Harry Reid claimed to have intimate knowledge of what was secretly inside Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

As President Obama’s campaign slammed Romney nearly every day for not releasing more tax returns, the Senate majority leader repeatedly made the unsubstantiated claim that, at one point in his life, Romney hadn’t paid taxes for almost a decade.

He even did so from the floor of the U.S. Senate.


“The word’s out that he hasn’t paid any taxes for 10 years,” the Nevada Democrat claimed on the floor in August. “Let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn’t.”

It made big news at the time, but Reid’s old accusations are popping back up now that it’s been revealed that the IRS has been targeting conservative groups and in some cases, reportedly leaking their tax information.

Knowing that, could someone at the IRS have leaked Romney’s tax information to Reid? At the time, Reid claimed he learned of Romney’s tax background from someone who had once been an investor in Romney’s firm, though he wouldn’t say who.

Since the new IRS scandal broke, Republicans have found the question of who Reid got his information from — and from where — intriguing.

“We all wondered how Harry Reid had Mitt Romney’s taxes,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski told The Daily Caller. “The question is, will he call for a full investigation into the IRS?”


On Tuesday, Reid took a hard line against the IRS. “What the IRS did, of course, was inexcusable,” he said.

But a spokesman for Reid didn’t respond to TheDC’s inquiry about whether the IRS had leaked any of Romney’s tax information to him.

Here’s how Reid’s accusations went down last year: In an interview with The Huffington Post, Reid claimed he had been called by someone who had invested in Romney’s former firm, Bain Capital. That person said Romney didn’t pay taxes for 10 years.

“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” Reid told the liberal news outlet. “But obviously he can’t release those tax returns. How would it look?”

Romney’s campaign denied Reid’s accusations, eventually releasing a summary of the former Massachusetts governor’s taxes that — according to Romney staffers — showed he paid taxes over the last 20 years.

But Reid continued to argue that Romney’s tax returns included something that the Republican didn’t want everyone to see.

“He’s hiding something,” Reid said on a conference call. “He’s hiding something! It is so evident he’s hiding something!”



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/did-the-irs-give-romneys-tax-returns-to-harry-reid/#ixzz2TSfceRf6

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s480x480/946940_550915124966850_908063238_n.jpg


IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office
By John Parkinson & Steven Portnoy May 16, 2013 6:15pm

The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.

Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.

As the House voted to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act Thursday evening, House Speaker John Boehner expressed “serious concerns” that the IRS is empowered as the law’s chief enforcer. “Fully repealing ObamaCare will help us build a stronger, healthier economy, and will clear the way for patient-centered reforms that lower health care costs and protect jobs,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also reacted to the revelation in a brief statement late Thursday. “Stunning, just stunning,” McConnell, R-Ky. stated.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/irs-official-in-charge-during-tea-party-targeting-now-runs-health-care-office/

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS gave Obama foundation fast, retroactive non-profit approval
while stalling conservative applications
By Doug Powers • May 18, 2013 04:51 PM

Before we start, just to set the mood, click “play” to start the theme song of the IRS’s relationship with liberal organizations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iWrIfEgFlQ&feature=player_embedded

Conservative groups have reported waiting for the IRS to review or approve their non-profit status applications for many months and even years (as well as receiving ridiculous demands from the IRS http://washingtonexaminer.com/congressman-irs-asked-pro-life-group-about-the-content-of-their-prayers/article/2529924 ).

Other groups didn’t have to wait nearly as long. I wonder why: :hmmmm: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-stalled-conservative-groups-but-gave-speedy-approval-to-obama-foundation/2013/05/16/90c53e8a-be57-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html


When the Barack H. Obama Foundation sought tax-exempt status to raise money for good works in Kenya, the Internal Revenue Service provided quick help.

The IRS approved charitable status for the foundation, which was run by President Obama’s brother and named after his father, in about a month’s time. The IRS also agreed to give the group this important financial status retroactively, back to 2009, when it had begun its fundraising.

Lois Lerner gave this application a fast green-light in June of 2011. http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/ The IRS was even nice enough to make the non-profit status retroactive so as to not make liars and lawbreakers out of the Foundation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-stalled-conservative-groups-but-gave-speedy-approval-to-obama-foundation/2013/05/16/90c53e8a-be57-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html


In 2009, the Barack H. Obama Foundation was accused by the National Legal and Policy Center of being a scofflaw. The group had been promoting itself as a charity and seeking donations that it said would be tax-deductible, but it lacked the required tax-exempt status.


With that, here’s the graphic of the day: http://michellemalkinblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/graph1.jpg
http://michellemalkinblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/graph1.jpg

More: IRS Deliberately Chose Not to Fess Up to Scandal Before Election http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-irs-deliberately-chose-not-fess-scandal-election_724711.html




**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/05/18/irs-obama-foundation/

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS To Pro-Life Groups:
You Know You’re Gonna Have To Give Up This Whole Protest Thing, Right?
posted at 12:22 pm on May 19, 2013 by Duane Patterson

We already have seen that the Obama administration doesn’t think much of the freedom of religion clause when it interferes with the HHS regulations. We’ve been shamed into giving up the 2nd Amendment, for the children. We’ve seen the freedom of the press isn’t really freedom anymore if the Justice Department doesn’t like what you’re writing about.

But with the testimony Friday of Steven Miller to the House Ways And Means Committee, we see now that what you pray about is a legitimate tax question. And on the Hugh Hewitt Show just a big ago, Texas Congressman Kevin Brady let this slip, when it comes to what happens when pro-life groups meet up with the Internal Revenue Service.


HH: Guy Benson, you have a question for Congressman Brady?

GB: Well, yeah, Congressman, I thought that your formulation, asking the question are we still in America, it was so apropos, especially when we heard that exchange between Mr. Miller and Representative Schock of Illinois, who talked about the pro-life organization…

KB: Yes.

GB: …that was asked by the IRS in writing what type of prayers they did.

KB: Yes.

GB: I mean, that, to me, is like a whoa, holy cow type of moment. Were you blown away by that as well?

KB: Yes, and we had obviously been reading through all the material throughout the week as this thing was coming out. And not only did they ask what were the contents of you prayers, but they were asking pro-life groups to have their board of directors commit that they will not protest in front of Planned Parenthood clinics, which again, never heard of in my life. And it ought to frighten people that the IRS, that the government, is that intrusive on behalf of a political agenda.

JC: Kevin, this is John Campbell. I haven’t heard this. They made them commit that they wouldn’t protest, or else they threatened they couldn’t get a tax exempt status?

KB: Absolutely. Abosutely.

GB: Yes.

KB: That was one of the intrusive questions they asked. And this is a simple C4 application. This has never been a cross-examination of your political or religious beliefs. But this is far beyond just conservative tea party type groups. This goes to the pro-life movement as well.


Yes, if you want to get tax exempt status, you have to have your board of directors remove the ability of your group to protest at Planned Parenthood clinics.

In any normal universe, regardless of the political ideology coming down here, the ACLU should go apoplectic over any group being leaned on by the federal government to waive their right of freedom of assembly.

Sadly, this doesn’t appear to be any normal universe.

http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/05/19/irs-to-pro-life-groups-you-know-youre-gonna-have-to-give-up-this-whole-protest-thing-right/

[Jolie Rouge]

Longtime Chicago reporter John Kass on how this intimidation is not unfamiliar to anyone from the Windy City.

“IRS scandal a reminder of how I learned about The Chicago Way”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0519-20130519,0,2797334,full.column

[Jolie Rouge]

SMOKING GUN: Obama Met With IRS Union Chief the Day Before Agency Started Targeting Conservatives

Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, May 20, 2013, 8:40 AM

http://4-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/532x354xnteu-kelly-protest.jpg.pagespeed.ic.kNl4nvM-BV.jpg

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley (in tan jacket) leads a protest earlier this month.

About 250 Federal workers massed in Federal Plaza in Manhattan May 7 to protest the sequester cuts. (The Chief) http://thechiefleader.com/news/news_of_the_week/irs-staffers-the-bucks-stop-here-if-weeklong-furloughs-shelve/article_5e60aac2-bbd9-11e2-805c-001a4bcf6878.html

This explains things… President Obama met with anti-Tea Party IRS union chief Colleen Kelly in the White House the day before the agency targeted Tea Party. The Spectator reported: http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/20/obama-and-the-irs-the-smoking


“For me, it’s about collaboration.” — National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley on the relationship between the anti-Tea Party IRS union and the Obama White House

Is President Obama directly implicated in the IRS scandal?

Is the White House Visitors Log the trail to the smoking gun?

The stunning questions are raised by the following set of new facts.

According to the White House Visitors Log, provided here http://www.usnews.com/whitehouse/visitors in searchable form by U.S. News and World Report, the president of the anti-Tea Party National Treasury Employees Union, Colleen Kelley, visited the White House at 12:30pm that Wednesday noon time of March 31st.

The White House lists the IRS union leader’s visit this way:


Kelley, Colleen Potus 03/31/2010 12:30
In White House language, “POTUS” stands for “President of the United States.”

The very next day after her White House meeting with the President, according to the Treasury Department’s Inspector General’s Report, IRS employees — the same employees who belong to the NTEU — set to work in earnest targeting the Tea Party and conservative groups around America.

In short: the very day after the president of the quite publicly anti-Tea Party labor union — the union for IRS employees — met with President Obama, the manager of the IRS “Determinations Unit Program agreed” to open a “Sensitive Case report on the Tea party cases.” As stated by the IG report.



So, once again, why do federal Treasury Department employees need a union?

UPDATE: The White House Visitor’s List includes 19 visits to the White House by Colleen Kelley – though not all of these visits were by the NTEU union chief. http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/breaking-obama-met-with-irs-union-chief-the-day-before-agency-started-targeting-conservatives/

[Jolie Rouge]

Mitch McConnell On IRS Scandal: 'I Don't Think We Know What The Facts Are'
Posted: 05/19/2013 12:18 pm EDT | Updated: 05/20/2013 9:47 am EDT

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday conceded that there is no evidence that President Barack Obama or the White House were involved in the IRS' targeting of groups affiliated with the tea party. The acknowledgement follows a week of strong insinuations that the White House used the IRS to intentionally intimidate conservative groups -- talking points McConnell reiterated when making his comments. "There is a culture of intimidation throughout the administration," McConnell said on NBC's Meet the Press. "The IRS is just the most recent example."

"Do you have any evidence that the President of the United States directed what you call a culture of intimidation at the IRS to target political opponents?" host David Gregory asked.

"I don't think we know what the facts are," McConnell replied.

"That hasn't stopped you from accusing," Gregory noted.

"We're talking about an attitude that government knows best, the nanny state is here to tell us what to do and if you start criticizing, you get targeted," McConnell said.

McConnell was one of several Republican lawmakers to discuss the IRS controversy on Sunday. Earlier in the day, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) suggested strongly that the White House was involved in the scandal.

"This is rotten to the core," Ryan said on "Fox News Sunday." "This is arrogance. This is big government cronyism … To try and suggest that this is just bureacratic snafus, we already know that this is not true."

But later on "Meet The Press," Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) acknowledged that Republicans have no evidence that the administration was, in fact, involved. "Two years ago the director of the exempt organization division knew of this. Did anyone up the chain know about it? We don't know that yet," Camp said. "We don't have anything to say that the president knew about this."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/mitch-mcconnell-irs_n_3302952.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Dems Propose Shocking Solution to IRS Scandal
by Fox News Insider// May 20 2013 // 2:39pm

As seen on America Live With Megyn Kelly

Many lawmakers on the left are proposing that in the wake of the IRS scandal, the solution is to crack down on the types of social welfare groups that were targeted by the IRS in the first place. http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/18/tea-party-chair-irs-targeting-done-political-reasons

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/03/15/nancy-pelosi-i-dont-think-obama-has-ever-done-anything-for-political-reasons “There’s a very thin line, and maybe we must pass a law that makes it much clearer that these so-called social welfare organizations must make their priority promoting social welfare rather than engaging in politics.”

Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs joined America Live and stressed, “The fact of the matter is that these 501(C)(4)s are perfectly legitimate. They’ve been upheld by the Supreme Court.”

“The real issue is the abuse of power by the Internal Revenue Service!” Dobbs argued.


Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/20/dems%E2%80%99-solution-irs-scandal-crackdown-groups-were-targeted#ixzz2TrSOcuOB


Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/20/dems%E2%80%99-solution-irs-scandal-crackdown-groups-were-targeted#ixzz2TrSFBUiO

[Jolie Rouge]

On the March 2010 meeting between Obama & the IRS Union Chief
Posted by B. Daniel Blatt at 7:54 pm - May 20, 2013.

Earlier today, I caught Jim Hoft’s report on ties between the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU, which represents, among others, employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)) and the Democratic Party. Jim links us to the NTEU’s release just following the 2012 election where its president Colleen M. Kelley congratulated Obama on his reelection and noted the efforts her government employee union made on behalf of that Democrat. http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/flashback-irs-union-employees-hold-rally-with-democrats-bash-bush/

Commenting on a report that President Obama met with Miss Kelley “the day before agency targeted Tea Party“ http://spectator.org/archives/2013/05/20/obama-and-the-irs-the-smoking/ Ace wonders, as should we all, about the strange coincidence and considers the meaning of the meeting. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/340171.php He surmises how events might have unfolded in circumstances similar to this one, with a hypothetical President Tee meeting with the head of Union N which had supported him politically:


It would seem that President Tee could choose to go outside the normal chain of command to issue an illegal order by simply telling the head of Union N to inform the union members she leads to pursue the policy, rather than issuing a formal order to the head of the IRS.

Ace spins out an interesting scenario which, given what we know about Chicago politics, does not seem that far-fetched. That said, I’m with Ace who disagrees with the authors of the report he linked; “I don’t think this meeting is a smoking gun,” but I do think it is significant and news outlets should report it.

And journalists should be asking Jay Carney, in his next press briefing, to tell us what transpired in that meeting. And they should ask the president as well. Reporters should be doing what they can to learn what passed between the president and the union boss in March 2010.

UPDATE: Maybe there is nothing to that meeting. But, the time is indeed curious.


Over on the National Review’s home page, Andrew Stiles has a good piece on Miss Kelley’s union: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348811/partisan-union-irs


The IRS may be “an independent enforcement agency with only two political appointees,” in the words of White House press secretary Jay Carney, but its employees are represented by a powerful, deeply partisan union whose boss has publicly disparaged the Tea Party and criticized the Republican party for having ties to it.

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/05/20/the-march-2010-meeting-between-obama-the-irs-union-chief/

comments

The IRS office couldn’t have started this operation with only a few hours notice, that much is clear. The policy decisions would have had to have been made much earlier, criteria drawn up, questionnaires created, etc. But it is plausible that the operation was mentioned in the meeting to get final political buy off on it.

...

The National Treasury Employment Union (NTEU) website asks members to “oppose legislation H.R. 1780 to push federal employees out of the FEHBP and into the insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.”

A sizable conflict of interest arises when unionized employees on the government payroll (paid by the taxpayers) organize to influence the legislative process to benefit themselves in ways that the non government employed taxpayer himself is can not benefit.

The unionized Treasury employees are literally vested in supporting the political entities which deliver rewards to them. While each employee is a free agent in his political support, it is clear the NTEU under its President Collen Kelley is pro-Obama and opposed to many of the principles of the TEA Party.

According to The American Spectator the NTEU has 150,000 members and endorsed Obama in 2008 and 2012 gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2010 and 2012 election cycles to “anti-Tea Party candidates.” I have not checked those claims, but government unions in general are neither Republican leaning or pro-small government.

The basic question is pragmatic in nature: Can one assume with strong confidence that a unionized government worker automatically places non-partisan principle above personal benefit? Impartiality is the process of objectivity in which prejudice/bias for or against and interest is not involved.

The skeptic has a great deal of reason to doubt that the overwhelming focus on the Tea-Party by the IRS was not politically motivated.

[Jolie Rouge]

The Changing IRS Scandal Timeline….by The White House
Posted by Bruce Carroll - @GayPatriot at 7:15 pm - May 20, 2013.

From Politico: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/the-white-houses-shifting-irs-account-91638.html#ixzz2TsRkwMXk

The White House on Monday once again added to the list of people who knew about the IRS investigation into its targeting of conservative groups — saying White House chief of staff Denis McDonough had been informed about a month ago.

Press secretary Jay Carney said again that no one had told President Barack Obama ahead of the first news reports: not his top aide McDonough, nor his chief counsel Kathy Ruemmler, nor anyone from the Treasury Department.

Monday’s revelation amounts to the fifth iteration of the Obama administration’s account of events, after initially saying that the White House had first learned of the controversy from the press.

Various folks that I follow on Twitter have asked important questions over the past few days such as this one:



Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor

I want to know the names of the folks who get to decide what Obama doesn't need to know.
What are their credentials? Who elected them?

1:59 PM - 20 May 2013


Duane Lester @Bodhi1

If Obama Doesn’t Know What Going On,
Who’s Running This Administration?

http://bit.ly/19VEQFr

11:06 AM - 20 May 2013

And my observations regarding the multi-scandals now enveloping our supposed brilliant and awesome President?


GayPatriot @GayPatriot

Obama had time to get personally involved with @SandraFluke's birth control obsession,
but not #Benghazi or #IRSabuse. Got it. #tcot #p2

7:30 PM - 19 May 2013

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/05/20/the-changing-irs-scandal-timeline-by-the-white-house/

comments

MSDNC has Conspiracy Theory to explain IRS Scandal – It was a Republican False Flag

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/20/new-msnbc-theory-maybe-the-irs-commissioner-appointed-by-bush-targeted-tea-partiers-because-theyre-a-threat-to-the-gop/

..

Obama is one of the most ill-intentioned presidents ever. His administration is now drowning in scandals. Except that only his opponents know it. Breaking through the shield-wall of liberal ‘denial’ needs more time.

..



It takes actual evidence for there to be a long lived scandal

The letters and questionnaires sent by the IRS are what is called “actual evidence”. We have actual evidence that the IRS was asking the most detailed possible questions about things having nothing to do with political spending. Content of prayers? REALLY? And when people provided the answers the IRS wanted, they would come back with even more onerous questions. It is insane. It is very obvious what is going on.

Conservatives “just coincidentally” getting audited within 30 days of making a large donation to Mitt Romney? People getting audited within 30 days of being reported to the “flag” email address? People being harassed by other government agencies? They aren’t making this up, there is a paper trail here.

Have you ever lived in Chicago? That is exactly how things are done there. So where is the DNC now located and who staffs it now?

The entire federal government is now acting like the Chicago city government. But I suppose in a way it is all “irrelevant” because come the next election we can kick these bastards out of office. We can strip the federal government and state governments and local governments clean of these rotten, corrupt, thieves. Again, this is less about Barack Obama and more about an entire political party that has been taken over by the corrupt Chicago machine. This isn’t the Democratic Party of 10 years ago, this is an entirely different animal.

Go ask an “old school” Democrat if they are proud of what their party has become. It’s despicable. It’s corrupt. It’s rotten. No matter how well it manages to cover up its doings. We get to render the final verdict at the voting booth and “We haven’t been arrested yet” isn’t exactly a sustainable party platform.

[Jolie Rouge]

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[Jolie Rouge]

IRS gave Obama foundation fast, retroactive non-profit approval
while stalling conservative applications
By Doug Powers • May 18, 2013 04:51 PM

Before we start, just to set the mood, click “play” to start the theme song of the IRS’s relationship with liberal organizations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iWrIfEgFlQ&feature=player_embedded

Conservative groups have reported waiting for the IRS to review or approve their non-profit status applications for many months and even years (as well as receiving ridiculous demands from the IRS http://washingtonexaminer.com/congressman-irs-asked-pro-life-group-about-the-content-of-their-prayers/article/2529924 ).

Other groups didn’t have to wait nearly as long. I wonder why: :hmmmm: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-stalled-conservative-groups-but-gave-speedy-approval-to-obama-foundation/2013/05/16/90c53e8a-be57-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html


When the Barack H. Obama Foundation sought tax-exempt status to raise money for good works in Kenya, the Internal Revenue Service provided quick help.

The IRS approved charitable status for the foundation, which was run by President Obama’s brother and named after his father, in about a month’s time. The IRS also agreed to give the group this important financial status retroactively, back to 2009, when it had begun its fundraising.

Lois Lerner gave this application a fast green-light in June of 2011. http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/ The IRS was even nice enough to make the non-profit status retroactive so as to not make liars and lawbreakers out of the Foundation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-stalled-conservative-groups-but-gave-speedy-approval-to-obama-foundation/2013/05/16/90c53e8a-be57-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html


In 2009, the Barack H. Obama Foundation was accused by the National Legal and Policy Center of being a scofflaw. The group had been promoting itself as a charity and seeking donations that it said would be tax-deductible, but it lacked the required tax-exempt status.

**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/05/18/irs-obama-foundation/

Tax-exempt Obama Foundation doesn’t exist at listed addresses
1:44 PM 05/20/2013

The “charity” run by President Barack Obama’s half-brother that was fast-tracked for IRS tax-exempt status is based at a Virginia UPS store, according to its website.

The organization’s IRS filings list another Virginia address that is actually a drug rehab center where the foundation does not appear ever to have been based. The Barack H. Obama Foundation is run by Abon’go “Roy” Malik Obama, the half-brother of Barack Obama.

As first reported by The Daily Caller, the foundation was speedily approved for IRS exemption by Lois Lerner, the IRS senior official at the center of the targeting of conservative organizations that have waited over two years to receive tax exempt status.


A visit to the UPS store revealed that there is a mailbox numbered 401.

The address listed in the group’s IRS filings — 4201 Wilson Blvd. Ste 110-152, Arlington, Va. 22030 — is even more suspicious, as it is a marketing center for A Better Today Recovery Services — a drug-and-alcohol treatment organization.

A receptionist who answered the phone at A Better Today said neither she nor anybody in the office had heard of the Barack H. Obama Foundation. She said A Better Today had been located at the Arlington address for “a couple years.” The IRS filings that list the Arlington address as the foundation’s headquarters were dated May 2011. “I don’t know if it’s listed wrong or what’s going on, but we have never heard of that,” the receptionist said, adding that A Better Today had never received calls or correspondence related to the Barack H. Foundation.


Although the future president’s 1995 book “Dreams From My Father” depicted the foundation’s namesake, Barack H. Obama, Sr., as a heavy drinker who lost both legs in a car accident, the foundation does not appear to take any interest in addiction treatment.

The foundation’s mission statement is “to provide people everywhere with resources to uplift their welfare and living standards in memory of Barack H. Obama: in the region of his birth, Kenya, and beyond.”

Its guiding principle is “the inherent belief that no one can truly enjoy the riches he has reaped if his neighbor suffers. … We seek to elevate the human condition so that everyone can live in dignity and truly enjoy having one another as neighbors.”


Despite raising more than $250,000, the alleged charity doesn’t seem to have done much. Its website claims the organization has built a madrassa and was building an imam’s house as well as some “proposed latrines,” but there is no other evidence that the nonprofit was working to “mitigate social-shortcomings in areas of education and literacy, health and well-being, poverty, and lack of community infrastructure in such basic needs such as water, electricity, shelter and sustenance,” as the site says.

Alton Ray Baysden, a former Department of State employee and registered Republican who helped to start the foundation, declined to comment before seeing copies of this reporter’s passport and government ID, along with a description of the article’s “motivation” and “slant.”

Repeated phone calls to the Barack H. Foundation went to the organization’s voicemail and were not returned.


http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/20/tax-exempt-obama-foundation-doesnt-exist-at-listed-addresses/#ixzz2TzOiyQEx

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Lois Lerner tells Congress: 'I Have Done Nothing Wrong'
Wednesday May 22, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the storm over the agency's targeting of conservative groups told Congress on Wednesday that she had done nothing wrong in the episode, and then invoked her constitutional right to refuse to answer lawmakers' questions.

In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner defended herself during a brief appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee is investigating the agency's improper targeting of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, and Lerner oversees the IRS office that processes applications for that status.

"I have done nothing wrong," said a stern-looking Lerner, sitting next to three other witnesses and reading from a written statement. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee."

Lerner then said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right to avoid incriminating herself. Nine minutes after she began speaking, committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, excused her and Lerner left the hearing room through a rear door, escorted by her lawyer and several other men.

The men quickly whisked Lerner into an elevator, where several of the men physically pushed back television camera operators who were trying to film them.

Lerner's refusal to answer questions was not a surprise. Her attorney, William W. Taylor III, wrote a letter to the committee this week saying she would do so.

Lerner revealed the agency's targeting two weeks ago and apologized for the actions.

http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/Lois-Lerner-IRS-scandal-Congress/2013/05/22/id/505819?promo_code=F492-1&utm_source=Test_Newsmax_Feed&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1

Why did she apologize if she "did nothing wrong" ??

[Jolie Rouge]

Weekly Standard: IRS's Lois Lerner Has History of Harassing Religious Groups
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/21/Weekly-Standard-IRS-Lois-Lerner-Has-History-of-Harassing-Religious-Groups

[Jolie Rouge]

‘Arrogance is bliss’: What’s up with Lois Lerner’s Obama face?
Posted at 2:08 pm on May 23, 2013 by Twitchy Staff

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Zing!

As Twitchy reported, IRS official Lois Lerner refused to testify before the House Oversight Committee yesterday. She did not, however, refuse to show her arrogance: That was on full display. http://twitchy.com/2013/05/22/rep-jordan-irs-lois-lerner-enjoys-constitutional-rights-denies-citizens-answers-about-theirs/


The Hill PitBull @cas3kids Ms. Lerner annoyed pic.twitter.com/d2FFA13TvP

9:25 AM - 22 May 2013

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The fabulous Jammie Wearing Fool swiftly also noted that apt comparison:



It’s as if having to testify before Congress is just so beneath her.

Wonder where she gets that from?

Go check out the hilarious photos and see for yourself. http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/lois-lerner-strikes-the-obama-pose/

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/23/arrogance-is-bliss-whats-up-with-lois-lerners-obama-face/

[Jolie Rouge]

Wow! She might be wiping away a lot more tears real soon!

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IRS director Lois Lerner's Signature is on Letters to Many Groups Targeted by IRS
Showing that she was DIRECTLY INVOLVED.

"A series of letters suggests that senior IRS official Lois Lerner was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups as recently as April 2012, more than nine months after she first learned of the activity.

Lerner, the director of the IRS exempt organizations office in Washington, D.C., signed cover letters to 15 conservative organizations currently represented by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) between in March and April of 2012. The letters, such as this one sent to the Ohio Liberty Council on March 16, 2012, informed the groups applying for tax-exempt status that the IRS was “unable to make a final determination on your exempt status without additional information,” and included a list of detailed questions of the kind that a Treasury inspector general’s audit found to be inappropriate. Some of the groups to which Lerner sent letters are still awaiting approval.

Lerner has denied involvement in the targeting, which she has blamed on a few “front-line people” in the agency’s Cincinnati field office. “I have not done anything wrong,” she told members of the House oversight committee on Wednesday. "

It is absolutely AMAZING... the hubris of these folks that do this stuff, deny it, and then don't expect that the TRUTH will ever come out. She had better be negotiating her immunity and getting ready to SQUEAL like a stuck pig on whoever told her to do all this.

More: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/349212/%5Btitle-raw%5D

[Jolie Rouge]

The Egg Roll!? Ex-IRS Commish Infuriates GOP Lawmakers Questioning His 118 White House Visits
Republican lawmakers could not believe Douglas Shulman's answers on what was discussed in his many trips to the White House.

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Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman made 118 trips to the White House between 2010 and 2011, http://foxnewsinsider.com/tag/irs but he claimed in a House hearing yesterday that the IRS's targeting of conservative groups was never discussed on his trips.

Republican lawmakers were flabbergasted, with one going out of his way to make sure Shulman understood that he was under oath. When pressed on why he was at the White House so many times, Shulman gave an example that only fanned the outrage, bringing up the Easter Egg Roll he attended with his family.

Steve Doocy pointed out on Fox and Friends that this is a once-a-year event. Lawmakers were already irked after IRS official Lois Lerner, who oversaw tax-exempt groups, made an opening statement but then invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioning started. House lawmakers believe that she waived her Fifth Amendment right when she made the statement, and are looking into issuing another subpoena to Lerner.

Check out Shulman's answers in the clip above, in addition to some more highlights of yesterday's testimony!


Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/23/egg-roll-ex-irs-commish-infuriates-gop-lawmakers-questioning-his-118-white-house-visits#ixzz2UE5UklGO

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Dick Durbin: No regrets sending IRS after conservative groups
May 27, 2013 -- By: Joe Newby

On Sunday's edition of Fox News Sunday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., defended his decision to send the IRS after Crossroads GPS, a conservative group co-founded by Karl Rove, in 2010, The Hill reported. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/302005-durbin-no-regrets-on-calling-out-crossroads-to-irs

Durbin told Wallace the reason he singled out Crossroads while not mentioning any liberal group is because the organization was bragging about how much money they were raising.

"Let's get back to the basics," he said. "Citizens United really unleashed hundreds if not thousands of organizations seeking tax-exempt status to play in political campaigns. The law we wrote as Congress said that they had to exclusively be engaged in social welfare and not politics and campaigning. And, so, here is the IRS trying to decide whether or not these organizations really comply with the law. Crossroads was exhibit A. They were boastful about how much money they were going to raise and beat Democrats with."

Durbin said he didn't target liberal groups because he believed that an investigation of Crossroads would serve as a warning shot to all organizations.

“There is no basis for targeting within the IRS. What we basically need to say is all groups need to have the law applied to them equally,” he said.

But a 2010 Politico report said Durbin's request "comes in the midst of a push from the White House to cast doubt on the funding sources of groups like Crossroads GPS — founded by GOP strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie — or the traditionally Republican-friendly Chamber of Commerce."

As it turns out, the IRS targeted some 500 conservative groups, and despite claims by the White House, at least two dozen conservative groups say the harassment is continuing.

“Without question, the IRS misconduct of harassing and abusing our clients was still in high gear from May 2012 through May of this year. . . . To suggest this tactic ended a year ago is not only offensive, but it is simply inaccurate as well,” said Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice.

According to a report at the National Review Online, Cleta Mitchell, the attorney representing True the Vote, has evidence that many of the “dozens, if not hundreds” of conservative groups still waiting for approval received additional reams of invasive questions in the fall of 2012 and later.

Ian Tuttle said that Sekulow Sekulow “plans to file suit in federal court in the coming weeks on behalf of more than two dozen conservative groups that claim their harassment at the hands of the nation’s tax authority continued long past the White House’s purported end date.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/dick-durbin-no-regrets-sending-irs-after-conservative-group

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS targets Christian groups, demands content of prayers
Joe Newby | May 19, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHSp50EzJxU&feature=player_embedded

Over the last week, Americans learned that the Internal Revenue Service targeted some 500 conservative groups for extra scrutiny, some of which included the words "Tea Party" or "patriots" in their name. Several reports say that the agency has also targeted some Christian organizations, going so far as to demand the content of members' prayers.

On Tuesday, Politico reported that Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, said the IRS targeted both of his ministries as part of an Obama administration effort of “targeting and attempting to intimidate us.”

Graham said in a letter that an ad encouraging voters to support “candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel” during the 2012 election was the reason IRS agents visited the North Carolina offices of both Graham groups. According to Politico, the ads in question supported a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. That amendment, Politico reported, passed in May.

On Friday, The Blaze reported that James Dobson, a Christian radio talk show host and author, said he was targeted by the agency for criticizing President Obama.

"It all started when he decided to create a 501(c)(4) for his radio ministry, Family Talk," Billy Hallowell reported.

After six months of silence, the IRS reportedly "flooded" the ministry with questions they considered "odd."

“There were all kinds of questions — ones we’ve never seen before,” said Dobson's son Ryan.

According to the younger Dobson, the IRS asked about their political views and copies of past broadcasts and transcripts. In March of this year, Dobson learned that the agency was set to recommend they not receive their tax exempt status because of criticism of Obama.

“We inquired about our status and [the agent] said she was probably going to recommend that our application not be [granted],” Dobson told The Blaze. “She said we were political and we had criticized President Obama … and she said we did it when he was a candidate.”

Dobson said his father has been in radio for 36 years and has worked under IRS regulations regarding tax-exempt groups.

Nevertheless, the IRS stated that since Family Talk sounds like a conservative group that does not represent all points of view, it could not qualify as an educational group.

After Family Talk threatened to take the IRS to court, the application was approved.

Other Christian organizations have also found themselves in the agency's crosshairs.

On Friday, the Thomas More Society provided a 150-page analysis detailing what happened to three organizations that oppose abortion to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Two of the organizations reported that the IRS demanded, among other things, the content of prayers said by their members.

Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., grilled outgoing IRS commissioner Steven Miller about the inquiry during Friday's hearing on the issue.

"Their question, specifically asked from the IRS to the Coalition for Life of Iowa: ‘Please detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers,’" he said.

“Would that be an inappropriate question to a 501 (c)(3) applicant?” Schock asked Miller. “The content of one’s prayers?”

“It pains me to say I can’t speak to that one either,” Miller said in response.

Miller said he couldn't comment on the specific case, but said it would "surprise him" if the question was asked.

The Iowa group was also asked about its opposition to Planned Parenthood, and an IRS representative from Cincinnati "unlawfully insisted that all board members sign a sworn declaration promising not to picket/protest Planned Parenthood" in the future, the Thomas More Society added.

The society also said that the IRS demanded that Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas, "explain its content, message, and prayers as if they were engaging in highly offensive or criminal behavior."

Making matters worse, the IRS official who was in charge of the division handling tax-exempt organizations while conservative groups were targeted is now in charge of the division overseeing enforcement of the health care law, causing many to wonder if their political or religious views may be a deciding factor in health care decisions.

The American Enterprise Institute’s Scott Gottlieb said that “an unnamed healthcare provider in California is suing the IRS and 15 unnamed agents, alleging that they improperly seized some 60 million medical records of 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges on March 11, 2011.”

"Both the IRS scandal and Obamacare contain similar themes: government overreach, massive intrusions, and bureaucrats granted opportunities to abuse their power in arbitrary and harmful ways. The American people should not be subjected to either," wrote Chris Jacobs, Senior Policy Analyst in the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

http://spokanefavs.com/politics/government-and-politics/irs-targets-christian-groups-demands-content-of-prayers

[Jolie Rouge]

The Slow Death of Irony Continues in Colorado
Posted by Colorado Patriot at 7:32 pm - May 23, 2013.

Remember this? "Watching you Anti Drug PSA" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Elr5K2Vuo&feature=player_embedded

That old corny 80s PSA* came to mind today as I noticed that one of the two gentlemen Tim Gill my state sent to the Senate is suddenly in high dudgeon over the IRS criminal activity scandal that everybody seems to be recognizing as exactly what happens when too much authority is given to the Leviathan state find so fascinating these days. http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2013/05/21/sen-michael-bennet-to-irs-why-did-the-targeting-continue/96682/

Among Senator Bennet’s questions: “I don’t know how we get to the bottom of it, but I think somebody needs to be able to answer that. It doesn’t seem like it’s asking too much.” The “that” he’s referring to is who directed the illegal and unconstitutional decision to target Tea Party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

Here’s a hint: It was you, Senator.

Perhaps he doesn’t recall, but Senator Bennet was one of seven luminaries who signed a letter to then-commissioner of the IRS Douglas Shulman in February last year demanding higher scrutiny of 501(c)(4) organizations. http://www.scribd.com/doc/142073156/Schumer-Franken-Letter-to-IRS-re-501-c-4-s-2-16-12

Oh, but he didn’t stop there. While dislocating his arm patting himself on the back, Senator Bennet made perfectly clear just which sort of 501(c)(4) organizations had his hackles up. From the press release posted back then on his official Senate (yes, the one we as federal taxpayers fund) website: http://www.bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=e7370d0a-a580-4571-97d6-8d12171670f9


For instance, long-time partisan operative Karl Rove is a senior official behind a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” charity, yet it’s common knowledge that his organization exists to elect and defeat specific political candidates. Elections operations such as Mr. Rove’s should not be allowed to masquerade as charities to take advantage of their tax exempt status and hide their donors from the public. It’s the IRS’s job to enforce the tax code and make sure that “social welfare” organizations are what they say they are.

(Italics mine.)

Funny he couldn’t think of any leftist, statist 501(c)(4) organizations. Considering the circles in which he travels (he’s now the DSCC chairman), that seems pretty unlikely. That he chose Karl Rove to target isn’t surprising whatsoever. That he is now feigning offense that the IRS followed his lead and did his bidding is also not surprising (he’s a politician, after all).

What would be much more sad than surprising would be if he gets away with it. I suppose that’s up to my fellow Coloradans

*Perhaps someone who’s much more savvy with video/etc. than I am can reshoot this with the tagline changed from “Parents who use drugs have children who use drugs.” to something like “Senators who direct Federal employees to use their authority to target their political opponents have Federal employees who use their authority to target their political opponents."

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/05/23/the-slow-death-of-irony-continues-in-colorado/

[Jolie Rouge]

The IRS’s rank and file may not be understanding their problem. Yet.
By: Moe Lane | May 27th, 2013 at 11:30 AM

Maybe I am just being too idealistic, but I have a real problem with this Tim Carney theory about why IRS targeted conservative groups: http://washingtonexaminer.com/tim-carney-democrat-heavy-irs-will-always-distrust-tea-parties/article/2530513?custom_click=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


There’s a fairly innocent — and fairly probable — explanation for what the IRS did, and it boils down to the natural suspicion people have of those with opposing views.

The public servants figuring out which groups qualified for 501(c)4 “social welfare” non-profit status were mostly Democrats surrounded by mostly Democrats. Democrats received 75 percent of the campaign contributions I could trace to employees of the IRS Cincinnati office over the last three election cycles. In the 2012 election, every donation traceable to this office went to President Obama or liberal Sen. Sherrod Brown.

This is an environment where even those trying to be fair could develop a disproportionate distrust of the Tea Party.

…and my problem is not with Tim Carney. It’s with the whining IRS agents who emailed querulous apologies for their fellows’ actions.



■ Ooh, most government employees only vote Democrat because the Democratic party is big government! Doesn’t matter. Don’t bring politics into your job.

■ Ooh, the IRS union only gives money to Democrats for the same reason! Doesn’t matter. Don’t bring politics into your job.

■ Ooh, that mean old Grover Norquist [me: :rolleyes: ] and the rest of the Right are being horrid to us! Doesn’t matter. Don’t bring politics into your job.

■ Ooh, those awful Republican elected officials Boehner, Boustany, and Issa keep getting into our business! Doesn’t matter. Don’t bring politics into your job.

■ Ooh, the way that those Tea Party hussies were dressed groups were talking they were totally asking for it! Doesn’t matter. Don’t bring politics into your job.

But I guess that this advice of mine is coming too late. And may even put me at increased risk for an audit. And that last bit is the problem.

We have previously tolerated government bureaucrats largely being of one political party because they have largely been wise enough not to push the issue in any but an essentially incremental fashion.

But apparently this has changed, under Barack Obama… and here’s a little secret: no government bureaucracy can in fact survive except under at least the forbearance of both American political parties. And it is not currently in the Republican party’s best interests to extend that forbearance to the Internal Revenue Service.

Bottom line: the bureaucrats can police themselves, or they can have us police them for them. Either way will be fine.

http://www.redstate.com/2013/05/27/irs-tim-carney-bureaucracy/

[Jolie Rouge]

Under Obama, the IRS Chief Was a White House Regular
10:01 AM, May 28, 2013 • By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON

The Washington Examiner reports that the IRS chief visited the White House more than once a week under President Obama, after having visited less than once a year under President Bush. The IRS chief came to the White House a reported 118 times from 2010 to 2011 under Obama, compared to only once from 2003 to 2007 under Bush — a 236-fold increase per day. Under Bush, a White House appearance from the taxman came as frequently as the opening of the Olympic Games; under Obama it came more frequently than Sports Illustrated.

Aside from perhaps being there to discuss targeting efforts, the only plausible reason for the IRS chief to have visited the Obama White House so regularly was to discuss the IRS’s significant expansion in power and scope under Obamacare. In the wake of the revelations that the IRS has used its power during the Obama administration to target Obama’s political opponents, surely both parties can now agree that the IRS should be removed from any role in Obamacare implementation. Is this really the time to give the IRS a promotion?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/under-obama-irs-chief-was-white-house-regular_731738.html

[Jolie Rouge]

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[Jolie Rouge]

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LOIS LERNER HAS A LONG SORDID HISTORY OF TARGETING CONSERVATIVES

Lois Lerner, the controversial director of the tax-exempt organizations division at the Internal Revenue Service, has a long sordid history of targeting conservatives.

Under the direction of Lois Lerner, the Federal Election Commission sued the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. She harassed the Christian Coalition for three election cycles. Eventually, she lost her case. At one point Lerner even asked a conservative if Pat Robertson prayed over him. (Sound familiar?)

Then there’s this…

Lois Lerner made this offer to Republican Senate candidate Al Salvi in 1996, “Promise me you will never run for office again, and we’ll drop this case.”


USofArn reported:


In 1996 Lois Lerner, the IRS official at the center of the harassment of Tea Party groups seeking tax exempt status, was head of the enforcement division of the Federal Elections Commission(FEC). That year Al Salvi was the Republican nominee for the US Senate from Illinois, his Democrat opponent was then congressman Dick Durbin.

During the final weeks of the campaign Salvi loaned himself over a million dollars to buy ads in the Chicago media market. This in turn prompted the Democrat party’s campaign arms to file complaints with the FEC and in kind the FEC, specifically Lois Lerner, filed charges against Al Salvi.

That is when Mr. Salvi contends Lois Lerner made him the following offer, “Promise me you will never run for office again, and we’ll drop this case.”

Al Salvi refused that offer and would fight the FEC complaint against him for several more years before a Judge tossed out the complaint.

The Illinois Review has more on Lerner:


Soon after the IRS story broke, Al Salvi told Illinois Review that it was IRS official Lois Lerner who represented the FEC in a Democrat complaint against him. According to Salvi, Lerner was, without question, politically motivated, and went so far as to make him an offer: “Promise me you will never run for office again, and we’ll drop this case.”

Salvi declined her offer, and ran for Illinois Secretary of State in 1998.

But when he saw Lerner plead the Fifth Amendment before Congress last week, he recognized her. “That’s the woman,” Salvi said. “And I didn’t plead the Fifth like she did.”

These actions landed Lois Lerner at the IRS where she used the same tactics against conservatives and Christians – only on a much larger scale. 500 conservative and Christian groups were illegally targeted by the Obama IRS during her tenure. For twenty-seven months the Obama IRS refused to approve any Tea Party applications for tax-exempt status.

At the same time the Obama/Lerner IRS approved dozens of progressive applications.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/breaking-lois-lerner-told-republican-in-1996-promise-me-you-will-never-run-again-and-well-drop-this-fec-case/

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS’s Shulman had more public White House visits than any Cabinet member
By Vince Coglianese 10:31 PM 05/29/2013

http://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Obama-admin-visitors.jpg

Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet.

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90046&sitesection=dailycaller_nws_pol_sty_pp&VID=24835400

Shulman’s extensive access to the White House first came to light during his testimony last week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Shulman gave assorted answers when asked why he had visited the White House 118 times during the period that the IRS was targeting tea party and conservative nonprofits for extra scrutiny and delays on their tax-exempt applications.

By contrast, Shulman’s predecessor Mark Everson only visited the White House once during four years of service in the George W. Bush administration and compared the IRS’s remoteness from the president to “Siberia.” But the scope of Shulman’s White House visits — which strongly suggests coordination by White House officials in the campaign against the president’s political opponents — is even more striking in comparison to the publicly recorded access of Cabinet members.


An analysis by The Daily Caller of the White House’s public “visitor access records” showed that every current and former member of President Obama’s Cabinet would have had to rack up at least 60 more public visits to the president’s home to catch up with “Douglas Shulman.”

The visitor logs do not give a complete picture of White House access. Some high-level officials get cleared for access and do not have to sign in during visits. A Washington Post database of visitor log records cautions, “The log may include some scheduled visits that did not take place and exclude visits by members of Congress, top officials and others who are not required to sign in at security gates.”

The White House press office declined to comment on which visits by high-ranking officials do and do not get recorded in the visitor log, but it is probable that the vast majority of visits by major Cabinet members do not end up in the public record. (RELATED: How much have scandals hurt Obama’s approval ratings?)

Nevertheless, many visits by current and former Cabinet members are in the logs, and the record depicts an IRS chief uniquely at home in the White House.

Attorney General Eric Holder, President Obama’s friend and loyal lieutenant, logged 62 publicly known White House visits, not even half as many as Shulman’s 157.


Former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, to whom Shulman reported, clocked in at just 48 publicly known visits.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earned a cool 43 public visits, and current Secretary of State John Kerry logged 49 known White House visits in the same timeframe, when he was still a U.S. senator.

Shulman has more recorded visits to the White House than HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (48), DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano (34), Education Secretary Arne Duncan (31), former Energy Secretary Steven Chu (22) and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates (17) combined.

The Daily Caller’s analysis includes current, former and presently-nominated members of Obama’s Cabinet.

After Shulman, Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (86), Asst. Attorney General Thomas Perez (83) and Penny Pritzker (76) — Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary — have the most publicly known White House visits.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/29/irss-shulman-had-more-public-white-house-visits-than-any-cabinet-member/#ixzz2UocBUgPq

[Jolie Rouge]

Tweets by former IRS chief’s wife reveal radical leftist political views
Posted at 11:57 pm on June 2, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


Susan Anderson @slandersonwdc

En route to airport after working 3 days 4 OFA, MiL just asks me If I know abt the Chrysler ads :) #Obama2012

5:27 AM - 4 Nov 2012

We already knew that former IRS commissioner Doug Shulman’s wife, Susan L. Anderson, worked for a liberal activist group, Public Campaign. http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/31/former-irs-commissioner-shulmans-wife-works-for-liberal-group-fighting-open-campaign-spending

And we briefly mentioned that at one point she had some kind of connection to the Occupy Wall Street movement: http://twitchy.com/2013/05/31/shock-former-irs-chief-doug-shulmans-wife-works-with-liberal-group-fighting-for-change/


Susan Anderson @slandersonwdc

DC, good morning! Come down to the Mall and tell your 99% story! pic.twitter.com/82lo24w7

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Af_LpV1CIAAq-L1.jpg

8:16 AM - 6 Dec 2011

We didn’t know until now, however, that she also worked for Obama For America (see https://twitter.com/slandersonwdc/statuses/265052607234600960 ).

Nor did we know that she talked smack about Karl Rove’s group, American Crossroads.


Susan Anderson @slandersonwdc

bwaaahahaha! “@aterkel: American Crossroads insists donors standing by Rove, blames losses on "very weak candidates"
http://huff.to/TxjlS9 ”

1:56 PM - 9 Nov 2012


American Crossroads Blames GOP Losses On 'Very Very Weak Candidates'

Karl Rove's American Crossroads group has been on a charm offense in the wake of widespread Republican losses in Tuesday's election, attempting to reassure donors who gave the group more than $300...

HuffPost Politics @HuffPostPol


Yes, that’s the same American Crossroads whose confidential documents were leaked by the IRS to ProPublica. http://twitchy.com/2013/05/13/it-gets-worse-irs-leaked-conservative-groups-confidential-documents-to-propublica/ :hmmmm2:

Anderson’s tweets reveal antipathy toward the Tea Party, the Republican Party, the NRA, Grover Norquist, and “Angry Old Rich Guys” — in other words, most conservatives in America:


Susan Anderson @slandersonwdc

Bcause they were armed: in re violence @ MI union protest AFP Phillips says "we never in the tea party saw anything like a physical assault"

5:04 PM - 11 Dec 2012


Susan Anderson @slandersonwdc

yes @ch3yl - prob with GOP they cn put lipstick on pig but pig still old racist + resistant 2 embrace fellow Americans
http://tinyurl.com/blempee

9:32 AM - 30 Aug 2012


Susan Anderson @slandersonwdc

Ooops, #issa doesn't like it when he is not entitled to his own facts.
Postpones hearing to save GOP face.
http://bit.ly/rjHMdy

2:52 PM - 13 Jul 2011

Of course, she has the right to express her opinion. And there’s no evidence that Anderson improperly influenced her husband, Shulman, who was a George W. Bush appointee.

But suffice to say, as more and more information flows, we at Twitchy Team greet every new twist and turn in the IRS scandalabra with our #shockedfaces on.

Update: We changed the headline of this article. The original version’s headline was “Tweets by former IRS chief’s wife reveal liberal political views.” We decided that this underplayed the radicalism of Anderson’s views.

http://twitchy.com/2013/06/02/tweets-by-former-irs-chiefs-wife-reveal-liberal-political-views/

[Jolie Rouge]

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q71/s480x480/945247_570921922950768_199958836_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

"Gentlemen... the 'we're stupid' excuse really isn't as exculpatory as you think it is."
- Jim Geraghty, responding to the messaging strategy employed by both David Axelrod and David Plouffe on the Sunday shows to blame incompetence rather than malevolence for the IRS scandal. From "The Nooner"

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/971628_10151607094997159_1286339735_n.jpg

Bob Woodward doesn't believe the story the White House is spinning about the IRS Scandal - http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/bob-woodward-irs-92177.html neither should you.

Bob Woodward criticizes IRS ‘fiction’
TAL KOPAN | 6/4/13 6:39 AM EDT

http://bcove.me/5es2721n


The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward says the Obama administration has explaining to do on the IRS scandal and needs to answer questions about who knew what, when.

“This fiction that somehow [The IRS is] totally an independent agency is absurd,” the legendary journalist said Monday on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News, saying that in the Nixon era, the Treasury secretary refused to audit Democratic groups when the IRS commissioner was asked to do so by the White House.


“Clearly in the pipeline, lots of people knew some of this or should know it. And I agree, this should be investigated, but you know who should lead the investigation? President [Barack] Obama.”


Woodward said he would put in a request to the administration for more information about the nearly 150 times former IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman was cleared to go to the White House, saying, “They should get on top of this story.”

“Much hangs in the balance here, not just the reputation of the news media for aggressiveness and some form of neutrality, but the whole relationship that the White House and the government has with the public about trust. … I think Obama can get ahead of this and really answer some of these questions,” Woodward said.

“This is not Watergate at all, but the road to Watergate is concealment, is not coming clean. … ‘Let’s call executive privilege; let’s stonewall.’ And if they do that, they will dig themselves in a hole.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/bob-woodward-irs-92177.html#ixzz2VJL4RUnV

[Jolie Rouge]

18 hours ago by Dean Garrison
Evidence May Point Directly To Barack Obama In IRS Scandal

http://cdn.freedomoutpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Obama-IRS-300x192.jpg

On Sunday we reported that former IRS Boss Douglas Shulman’s wife, Susan Anderson, is a top ranking executive with a left-wing organization called Public Campaign which could potentially have a lot of interest in who may have been targeted by the IRS. Today the story took another turn toward supporting that hypothesis. It seems that Susan Anderson’s boss, Nick Nyhart, had several visits of his own to the White House. In all he visited seven times with two visits recorded as meetings with President Obama.

So let’s do a quick recap.

1.Shulman has 157 White House visits logged.

2.His wife works for an organization that is very interested in the workings of conservative political campaigns.

3.Her boss had his own series of visits to the White House.

4.There is already evidence that targeting was done. Now we just have to figure out where it started.


The Daily Caller reports: http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/04/liberal-campaign-finance-reform-activist-linked-to-irs-commissioner-had-meetings-with-obama


Nick Nyhart, the CEO of a liberal organization that criticizes corporate campaign spending and employs the wife of former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, visited the White House seven times and had two visits with President Obama around the time that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

Nyhart, the president and CEO of Public Campaign, appears on the White House visitor logs seven times between September 16, 2009 and September 22, 2010.

Public Campaign is a liberal Washington-based organization that “aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics” and operates on the same office floor as the liberal groups Center for Progressive Leadership and Common Cause, which also urged Shulman to scrutinize the tax-exempt status of conservative nonprofit groups.

Public Campaign is funded by the pro-Obamacare coalition Health Care for America NOW! and other progressive donors and foundations.

As The Daily Caller first reported, former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman’s wife Susan L. Anderson is the senior program advisor for Public Campaign.

Nyhart’s seven White House visits included two meetings with “POTUS,” or the President of the United States, on December 15, 2009 and on May 10, 2010 in the East Room.

The IRS began improperly targeting conservative groups in March 2010.

Nyhart was quoted in mainstream press coverage of the IRS scandal, belittling concerns about the government’s improper targeting of conservative groups.

It is important to note the timeline for these visits for both Nyhart and Shulman. I would suspect that these meetings had to do with a lot more than Easter Egg rolls for the children.

More and more every single day it looks like smart journalists are getting closer to proving Barack Obama’s direct involvement.

http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/06/evidence-may-point-directly-to-barack-obama-in-irs-scandal/


comments

How utterly ignorant is it to leave even the minutest evidence that governmental organizations are being used to target political affiliations?! These people must have thought 'hope and change' were already secured within America. They made no effort to conceal their efforts.

Benghazi is quite sufficient to impeach this administration. This IRS effort to further secure the Obama Presidency should tamp down the highest nails. And Obamacare is thoroughly dead now. The IRS is dead to the people.

Is there a liberal on Earth than can refute? Come on. Send me something?

..

Dave Camp, House ways etc, told Hannity, that the Comm. was going to get into that since Shul. only appeared once. He will be called back to explain all of those visits and see what significance they had vis a vis his wife, groups that she attended and Dem lobbying groups who seem to have escaped the tyranny of the IRS. The cry should be for every Pub running for office: ABOLISH THE IRS.

..

If obama didn't know about it, he's too stupid to be president.
If he did know about it, he's too corrupt to be president.
Either way, throw da bum out!

..

It is worse than that they leaked documents from the IRS to liberal websites. That is a criminal offense. A felony, On top of that there are now secret emails that claim to be under freedom of information act so lets see them. Every Administrative arm of the Federal Government may have used this culture of targeting Remember what they where fighting for lets just take Healthcare and Green Energy. So where any people targeted harassed based on their opposite views. If they continue to find more areas where these things have happened it will be impossible for Obama to say he didn't know. On top of that someone that did this can be giving immunity to testify against what they know, The reason they are claiming the 5th is that this is there only bargaining chip against criminal prosecution. Of course Obama could always execute another executive order under national security which would mean the citizens are the threat.

[Jolie Rouge]

Is there a liberal on Earth than can refute? Come on. Send me something?

One of my Liberal Friends sent me this link - in the interest of looking at both sides, I present her link : http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/the-fake-story-about-the-irs-commissioner-and-the-white-house/276399/

The Fake Story About the IRS Commissioner and the White House
Garance Franke-Ruta May 31 2013, 10:35 AM ET

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/assets_c/2013/05/oeob2-thumb-570x319-123190.jpg
This building is technically the White House, too. It's called the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (Whitehouse.gov)


The latest twist in the conservative effort to tie the IRS tax-exempt targeting scandal to the president is to focus on public visitor records released by the White House, in which former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman's name appears 157 times between 2009 and 2012. Unfortunately, few of those pushing this line have bothered to read more than the topline of that public information. Bill O'Reilly on Thursday called them the "smoking gun" and demanded of Shulman, "You must explain under oath what you were doing at the White House on 157 separate occasions." His statement built on a Daily Caller story, "IRS's Shulman had more public White House visits than any Cabinet member." An Investors Business Daily story and slew of blog items repeated the charges.


"The alibi the White House has wedded itself to is that it had to work closely with the IRS to implement ObamaCare," the Investor's Business Daily has written -- as if that were not true.

And yet the public meeting schedules available for review to any media outlet show that very thing: Shulman was cleared primarily to meet with administration staffers involved in implementation of the health-care reform bill. He was cleared 40 times to meet with Obama's director of the Office of Health Reform, and a further 80 times for the biweekly health reform deputies meetings and others set up by aides involved with the health-care law implementation efforts. That's 76 percent of his planned White House visits just there, before you even add in all the meetings with Office of Management and Budget personnel also involved in health reform.

Complicating the picture is the fact that just because a meeting was scheduled and Shulman was cleared to attend it does not mean that he actually went. Routine events like the biweekly health-care deputies meeting would have had a standing list of people cleared to attend, people whose White House appointments would have been logged and forwarded to the check-in gate. But there is no time of arrival information in the records to confirm that Shulman actually signed in and went to these standing meetings.

Indeed, of the 157 events Shulman was cleared to attend, White House records only provide time of arrival information -- confirming that he actually went to them -- for 11 events over the 2009-2012 period, and time of departure information for only six appointments. According to the White House records, Shulman signed in twice in 2009, five times in 2010, twice in 2011, and twice in 2012. That does not mean that he did not go to other meetings, only that the White House records do not show he went to the 157 meetings he was granted Secret Service clearance to attend.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/assets_c/2013/05/Screen%20Shot%202013-05-31%20at%208.26.49%20AM-thumb-570x365-123203.png

Also, at least one event Shulman says he attended is not part of the visitor's access records. From a Ways and Means Committee IRS hearing, as reported by the Daily Caller:


"What would be some of the reasons you might be at the White House?" Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly asked Shulman during a congressional hearing last week.

"Um, the Easter Egg Roll with my kids," Shulman replied. "Questions about the administrability of tax policy they were thinking of; our budget; us helping the Department of Education streamline application processes for financial aid."

But there is no record that Shulman attended a White House Easter Egg Roll under Obama, most likely because large events organized by the East Wing, like that one, don't always show up in the visitor's access records. Neither do visits by staffers, journalists covering large events, or people who enter the White House grounds in their pre-cleared cars, like Cabinet members, who do not wait for badge swipes at the gate with the policymaking hoi polloi.

The Daily Caller breathlessly reported: "An analysis by The Daily Caller of the White House's public 'visitor access records' showed that every current and former member of President Obama's Cabinet would have had to rack up at least 60 more public visits to the president's home to catch up with 'Douglas Shulman'" before conceding by the end of the article, "it is probable that the vast majority of visits by major Cabinet members do not end up in the public record." Indeed.

The real problem with combing through the White House visitor logs is that they were a system designed for Secret Service clearance and White House security, not as comprehensive means of documenting every visitor to the White House, high to low. They miss the top end and some of the social end of people visiting the White House -- people who are cleared through separate processes designed to protect presidential security other than getting swiped in at the front gate for an appointment.

When Obama took office, as part of his transparency initiative, these Secret Service swipe and appointment records were made public. In retrospect, that was both a bold move and a confusing one, as the records have created an impression of total transparency the quality of the data is not able to support.

The White House visitor records have created an impression of total transparency the quality of the data is not able to support. The system being used is clearly an old one; it still records visits to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, renamed in that president's honor in 2002, as visits to the Old Executive Office Building, for example. (The Center for Public Integrity has examined the holes in the visitor logs in some detail, if you want to read about how patchy they really are. Their key finding for the purposes of this discussion: "The logs include names of people cleared by the Secret Service for White House entry who never showed up. The Center analysis found more than 200,000 visits with no time of arrival, an indication the person didn't enter the White House though there is no way to know for certain.")

On Thursday, Andrew Sullivan wrote: "I'd be grateful for reader scrutiny of this data -- simply because I do not trust the source, and there may be context I'm missing. But if the Caller is right that in the Bush years, 'Shulman's predecessor Mark Everson only visited the White House once during four years of service in the George W. Bush administration,' we need an explanation -- and fast."

So here is some more context (in addition to what Sullivan's readers later provided him): There is no Bush Administration public-records data about who went to the White House. As incomplete as it is, the Obama White House data is more public information than we have about any other administration, or the visits of any other IRS commissioner.

There is also the question about what people mean when they say the White House.

The lay reader understands the White House to be the big white mansion with the columns and the Oval Office and the West Wing and the presidential family living in residence. The Daily Caller talked about visits to "the president's home." But the White House visitors' records cover the entire White House complex -- the big famous white building, along with the freestanding Eisenhower Executive Office Building inside the gated compound and the New Executive Office Building, which is up 17th Street and outside the White House gates.

The vast majority of Shulman's scheduled meetings were to take place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building -- 115 of them. Another three were slated for the NEOB. That leaves just 25 percent of the meetings in the White House itself, or on its South Lawn.

Investor's Business Daily accused Shulman of having scurried "to the West Wing more than 100 times" in the piece "IRS Chief's 118 White House Visits Must Be Explained." But the publicly available data shows that the assertion of more than 100 West Wing visits is plainly wrong.

"Sooner or later this [question] will have to be answered," Fox News's Brit Hume tweeted, "What was the ex-IRS chief doing at the White House all those times?"

Fortunately, as it turns out, the public information he was referring to is really public. Here's who the IRS chief was scheduled to meet with, by building and by year, according to the visitor's logs. Again: This doesn't mean he actually went to meetings with all these folks, only that he was formally cleared for entry to meetings in which they were the point person organizing the gathering.

[Jolie Rouge]

Jay Leno Gets Thunderous Applause...
for Suggesting IRS Should be Shipped to Gitmo

Watch at link : http://www.ijreview.com/2013/06/56997-jay-leno-gets-thunderous-applause-for-suggesting-irs-should-be-shipped-to-gitmo/


Jay Leno is really having a blast nowadays since he is on the outs at NBC’s “The Late Show.” The veteran comic will be replaced by Jimmy Fallon next year, and Leno is not holding back.

And Jay is taking his shots at the IRS while he can. It must be decades since a perfect storm of tax scandals provided the all-clear to go after the IRS without being too fearful of an audit. After all, Jay just got $15 million to leave the network, which should make Mazerati dealers extremely excited.

[Jolie Rouge]

..IRS officials try to tame conference spending scandal
By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Internal Revenue Service officials on Thursday tried to tame another scandal plaguing the agency, apologizing to lawmakers for a lavish 2010 conference in California that included an elaborate Star Trek spoof training video.

"After I saw the production, I fully regretted it," said Faris Fink, the IRS small business commissioner who played the character Spock in the Star Trek parody that included a tax-themed skit. "It's embarrassing."

The IRS, already under a cloud of scandal related to the targeting of conservative groups, this week faced fresh criticism over a Treasury watchdog report on wasteful spending.

Lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee accused the agency of grossly misusing taxpayer money when it spent at least $4.1 million at the conference on luxury hotel rooms, expensive training videos and outside speakers on topics such as leadership through painting.

A Treasury report released this week condemned the conference and said $3.2 million of the cost was funded by money set aside to hire enforcement employees.

Fink on Thursday said the IRS did not keep full records of the Anaheim, California, conference and warned the overall cost could have been as high as $5 million.

The conference scandal has further eroded the public image of the IRS, which is under fire after it was revealed last month that workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio, field office targeted conservative groups for intense scrutiny when considering applications for tax-exempt status.

Republicans, including House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, have accused the IRS of following direction from Washington in the targeting, but current and former top IRS officials have denied that there was political motivation.

On Thursday, Issa blasted the IRS for the conference spending, calling it "at best, maliciously self-indulgent."

Lawmakers particularly seized on the $50,000 the IRS spent during the conference on training videos, which also included a line-dancing routine video "designed to engage managers and help facilitate a connection between executives and managers."

Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, said he was up at 3 a.m. watching the Star Trek video trying to find a way the cost could be justified.

"I swear I do not see the redeeming value," Cummings said.

Acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel, who started in the position on May 22 after President Barack Obama fired Werfel's predecessor, told lawmakers that the IRS is "an agency in crisis" and pledged to clean up its reputation.

The tax agency has been under fire since early May, when IRS official Lois Lerner publicly acknowledged that IRS workers had inappropriately targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status and apologized for the behavior.

Multiple congressional committees and the Justice Department have since opened probes into the matter, but it is still unclear exactly who initiated the targeting and what the motivation was behind it.

Current and former IRS officials have said the Cincinnati office made a poor choice in using criteria such as "Tea Party" and "patriots" to sift through a flood of applications for tax-exempt status.

Obama denied knowing about the targeting before Lerner's apology on May 10 and fired Steven Miller, who was the acting head of the IRS. Lerner has been put on administrative leave.

On Wednesday, two IRS staffers were suspended because of the conference spending scandal.

Werfel said in a statement that the incident related to food that was inappropriately provided free of charge at a party inside a private suite at the conference. He said that represented a violation of government ethics standards.

J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, on Thursday compared IRS mismanagement at the center of the Tea Party scandal to the conference spending, saying there was a similar lack of oversight and sound judgment.

"Managers seemed to have a lack of concern about how the expenditures would be perceived," George said at the hearing.

http://news.yahoo.com/irs-official-star-trek-spoof-apologizes-lavish-conference-145256282.html?.tsrc=emul

[Jolie Rouge]

Top House Dem on IRS scandal: Case is solved, time to wrap it up and move on
By Doug Powers • June 9, 2013 12:55 PM

http://michellemalkinblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/drebin.jpg


Wow, that was fast and easy: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/350573/cummings-irs-scandal-solved-eliana-johnson


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWCJD4lB6_E&feature=player_embedded

“Based upon everything I’ve seen, the case is solved,” Cummings told CNN’s Candy Crowley. “If it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on, to be frank with you. The IG made some recommendations, those recommendations are being adopted by the IRS, we’ve got a new commissioner in, acting commissioner in, Danny Werfel is doing a great job, I think we’re in great shape.”

Satisfied?

Lois Lerner would weigh in on that question, but on the advice of counsel she declines to answer. http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-22/politics/39433240_1_issa-fifth-amendment-opening-statement


**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/06/09/top-house-dem-irs/

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Caught on Tape Telling Nonprofit: “Keep Your Faith to Yourself”
by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 6/10/13 3:37 PM

The IRS scandal is deepening as a new tape has been released today showing a disturbing phone call the Internal Revenue Service placed to a non-profit organization.
Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal group, made the audio available today of IRS officials telling a group that provides support to women in abusive pregnancy situations to keep its faith to itself. In the recorded phone conversation, an IRS agent lectures the president of the organization about forcing its religion and beliefs on others and inaccurately explains that the group must remain neutral on issues such as abortion.

ADF is providing legal representation for the group — which did not receive its tax-exempt status until last week after waiting nearly two and a half years after applying for it.

“The IRS is a tax collector; it shouldn’t be allowed to be the speech and belief police,” said Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “The current scandal isn’t new but has merely exposed the abuse of power that characterizes this agency and threatens our fundamental freedoms.”

ADF tells LifeNews that, in January 2011, Pro-Life Revolution, which operates from Texas under all three purposes for whcih religious groups can obtain nonprofit status, filed an application for tax-exempt status with the IRS. Four months later, the IRS sent a letter requesting “more information” and an explanation of how the organization’s activities are educational or charitable even though IRS rules specify that an organization need only operate for “one or more” of the three exempt purposes. President of Pro-Life Revolution Ania Joseph nonetheless replied and answered the IRS’s questions.

ADF indicates Joseph received a call from IRS Exempt Organization Specialist Sherry Wan in March 2012.

Wan told her that, in order to obtain a tax exemption, “You cannot force your religion or force your beliefs on somebody else…. You have to know your boundaries. You have to know your limits. You have to respect other people’s beliefs.”

In February of this year, the IRS requested additional information in another letter and attempted to apply a standard for tax exemption to Pro-Life Revolution that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held to be unconstitutional in 1980. Alliance Defending Freedom pointed this out in a letter responding to the IRS, which finally granted tax-exempt status to the organization in a letter received Thursday.

“The power to tax is the power to destroy,” added Stanley. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We cannot allow the IRS to ruthlessly dictate against legitimate non-profits simply because it does not approve of the organization’s mission. It must be held accountable.”

“The IRS has approved applications for tax exemption for pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood and Life and Liberty for Women,” ADF said.

Phone call between Ania Joseph and IRS agent Sherry Wan:

Full audio (10:13) at link http://www.adfmedia.org/files/ProLifeRevolutionIRScall.wav

Full transcript http://www.adfmedia.org/files/ProLifeRevolutionCallTranscriptIRS.pdf

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/06/10/irs-caught-on-tape-telling-nonprofit-keep-your-faith-to-yourself/

[Jolie Rouge]

FBI Director Testifies He Doesn't Know Who's Leading Investigation in IRS Case
June 13, 2013 - 1:24 PM By Joe Schoffstall

While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today, FBI Director Robert Mueller could not name the lead investigator in the IRS case involving the targeting of conservative groups. It is now one month into the investigation.

Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH): "Can you tell me who the lead investigator is?"

Mueller: "Off the top of my head, no."

Jordan: "It's the most important issue in front of the country in the last six weeks, and you don't know who's heading up the case? Who the lead investigator is?"

Mueller: "At this juncture, no, I do not know."

Mueller also claimed ignorance when Rep. Jordan asked him if anyone had contacted the victims of the IRS scandal.

http://cnsnews.com/blog/joe-schoffstall/fbi-director-testifies-he-doesnt-know-whos-leading-investigation-irs-case

[Jolie Rouge]

Rep. Louie Gohmert from the Great State of Texas is a Tea Party fav! Watch as he blasts the FBI Director during today's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. This heated exchange will have you chanting "Louie! Loiue! Louie!"

http://bit.ly/151CvWI

[Jolie Rouge]

The IRS is up to its eyes in scandals.
Are they getting ready to spy on us?...Possibly.

Please read the article below and decide for yourselves. This is shocking stuff!


IRS abruptly cancels order for spying equipment
The Internal Revenue Service cancelled a rush order for spy equipment it had placed on the Internet, prompting observers to ask not only was the order placed, but why was it so abruptly cancelled..

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/06/13/irs-abruptly-cancels-order-for-spying-equipment-76754

[Jolie Rouge]

FBI hasn’t contacted a single tea party group in IRS probe, groups say ??
10:32 PM 06/13/2013

There is no evidence that the FBI has contacted a single tea party group in its criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service, according to the groups the IRS abused. “We have not been contacted by any federal investigative agency and, to date, none of our clients have been contacted or interviewed by the FBI,” Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice told The Daily Caller on Thursday. The ACLJ has filed suit against the IRS on behalf of 25 conservative groups, with additional groups being added in the next couple weeks, according to a spokesman.

“I have been very surprised that I have not heard from anybody and frankly, none of my clients have. I talk to other tea party leaders on a regular basis,” said Cleta Mitchell, the lawyer largely credited with pushing the IRS abuses to the forefront.

“It’s been a month and I can’t see any evidence of an investigation of the IRS,” Mitchell told TheDC Thursday. She represents nine tea party groups targeted by the IRS.

Tea Party Patriots — a group with thousands of local chapters — “has not been contacted by the FBI” either, according to Jameson Cunningham, the group’s spokesman.

The revelation suggests that the FBI is in no hurry to get to the bottom of the scandal, despite the Obama administration’s promise to investigate the IRS’s multi-year abuse of conservative groups.


“Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it,” Obama said in a White House statement on May 15. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives.” (RELATED: Independents blame White House for IRS scandal http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/07/independents-blame-white-house-for-irs-scandal/)

Attorney General Eric Holder promised in mid-May that the FBI would get to the bottom of the IRS’s behavior by opening a criminal investigation.
“I can assure you and the American people that we will take a dispassionate view of this,” Holder told congressional investigators on May 15. “This will not be about parties, this will not be about ideological persuasions. Anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable.”

But in separate testimony before congressional investigators Thursday, FBI Director Robert Mueller seemed completely unaware of the progress of any such investigation.


Republican Rep. Jim Jordan lit into Mueller for his lack of knowledge during a House judiciary committee hearing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br_sGQICz8Y&feature=player_embedded


“This is the most important issue in front of the country in the last six weeks, and you don’t know who the lead investigator is?” Jordan asked, sounding shocked.

“At this juncture, no I do not,” Mueller responded.

“Do you know if you’ve talked to any of the victims?” Jordan went on. “Have you talked to any of the groups that were targeted by their government? Have you met with any of the tea party groups since May 14, 2013?”

“I don’t know what the status of the interviews are by the team that’s on it,” Mueller said.

Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, the FBI’s Washington, D.C. press office transferred TheDC to a long-ringing phone line and eventually hung up.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/13/fbi-hasnt-contacted-a-single-tea-party-group-in-irs-probe-groups-say/#ixzz2WJB4D2Gs

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FBI Director Testifies He Doesn't Know Who's Leading Investigation in IRS Case
June 13, 2013 - 1:24 PM By Joe Schoffstall

While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today, FBI Director Robert Mueller could not name the lead investigator in the IRS case involving the targeting of conservative groups. It is now one month into the investigation.

Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH): "Can you tell me who the lead investigator is?"

Mueller: "Off the top of my head, no."

Jordan: "It's the most important issue in front of the country in the last six weeks, and you don't know who's heading up the case? Who the lead investigator is?"

Mueller: "At this juncture, no, I do not know."

Mueller also claimed ignorance when Rep. Jordan asked him if anyone had contacted the victims of the IRS scandal.

http://cnsnews.com/blog/joe-schoffstall/fbi-director-testifies-he-doesnt-know-whos-leading-investigation-irs-case

Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br_sGQICz8Y&feature=player_embedded

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Obama’s Tax Evaders of the Year; Update: Add Al Gore to the list
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/01/obamas-tax-evaders-of-the-year/

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Not ‘The Onion’: IRS official claims agency used term ‘Tea Party’
to describe many groups, even liberal ones
June 17, 2013 10:43 PM by Doug Powers

Have you ever been talking about an activist liberal and referred to him or her as “a Reagan” just because it was shorthand to describe a political person? Me neither, but one IRS official is trying to say such a slapstick labeling culture exists at the IRS: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130616/NEWS/306160088


When front-line tax agents in Cincinnati used the term “tea party,” they didn’t just mean conservative groups. Instead, a “tea party” case could refer to an application for tax-exemption from any group – including liberal ones – believed to be engaging in political activity, one IRS official told congressional investigators.

“Since the first case that came up to Washington happened to have that name, it appeared to me that that’s what they were calling it that as a shorthand, because the first case had been that,” said Holly Paz, the Internal Revenue Service’s director of rulings and agreements. She said “tea party” could mean any political group, just like “Coke” is often used as a generic term for soda, or people refer to tissues as “Kleenex.”
[...]
Paz, the highest-ranking IRS official with knowledge of the targeting to cooperate thus far with the congressional investigation, spoke to Rep. Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and to bipartisan committee staffers on May 21. USA Today reviewed all 222 pages of her interview’s transcript.

So Paz expects us to believe that when the IRS received a 501(c)(4) request form from, say, Organizing for Action, that they handed it to a fellow employee and said “here’s another tea party application”? I’ll believe that if she can produce evidence that the agency referred to the Koch brothers as “Occupy Wall Street.”

It seems like only yesterday the Tea Party was dismissed as a few fringe wacko right wing extremists http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/obama-tea-party-nbc/2010/03/30/id/354244 and now the movement is a proprietary eponym? Amazing what one scandal CYA can do to elevate a brand.





**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/06/17/not-the-onion-irs-official-claims-agency-used-term-tea-party-to-describe-many-groups-even-liberal-ones/

[Jolie Rouge]

OBAMA SNOOPS: INFILTRATES, TARGETS & HARASS' CHURCHES
*Remember when he said "America was no longer a Christian Nation

Analyst's note: Here is what Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam had to say about the subject article:


'It appears that the Obama administration is spying on churches and using the IRS to punish churches about their 501c3 tax exempt status (H/T AtlasShrugs). According to the article, the Obama administration has a program of snooping on the activity in and by churches. The collected church intelligence deals with members who are with Tea Party or who speak publically about guns. (Remember: "cling to their guns and Bibles".) Some ministers believe that agents may have joined churches to spy.

As bizarre as this may seem, it dovetails with other known Obama administration views. Homeland Security has a profile (yes, all law enforcement uses profiling) of the pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Constitution and pro-Bible white Christian as being a potential terrorist.

We do know that the IRS has targeted conservatives, pro-Israel, pro-life, Tea Party and even Billy Graham. When the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association backed the North Carolina ballot initiative about gay marriage, it was notified by the IRS that its tax exempt status was going to be revoked. In the end it was not revoked, but the threat cost money, time and hassle.

All of this has the desired effect of chilling free speech in the churches.

Here is the point: there is no outcry from the churches! This lack of outrage is a measure of the health of Christianity in America-so weak that it cannot even protest the abuse. But, we already knew how morally weak the church is in its response to rape, theft, enslavement and murder of Christians throughout the Islamic world. Christians are the most persecuted demographic group in the world. Over 100,000 thousand Christians died last year, and the response of the churches is to smile and hold a dialog with Muslims who are brothers with the jihadist persecutors. Dhimmi ministers speak of loving their Muslim neighbors, but show no concern for dead Christians. The day of a minister having a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other is over. The new gospel is: What, me worry?

Why does the moral and spiritual decay of the church matter to a counter-jihadist? This is a civilizational war and our spiritual flank is unprotected. Instead of the church being a guard dog, it is a poodle. Ministers cannot even protect their own flocks, much less the nation. Back in the past the church was the foundation of the nation and a guardian of our society. But now the church won't even bark at an enemy-foreign or domestic. All the church wants is a scratch behind the ears by the intruder. (In fairness, only 95% of the churches are being condemned here.) To be complete, the synagogues are a swamp of ignorance and cowardliness, as well.

So, to the counter-jihadist the church is at best a dead weight of massive ignorance and is frequently found in bridge-building dialogues with the enemy-Islam."

Read More: http://www.csiafoundation.com/11328-obama-snoops-infiltrates-targets-harass-churches

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IRS Sent $46 Million in Tax Refunds to 23,994 ‘Unauthorized’ Aliens
— All at the SAME Address in Atlanta
Jun. 21, 2013 9:16pm Jason Howerton

The IRS sent more than $46 million in tax refunds to 23,994 “unauthorized” alien workers who all listed the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011, according to an audit report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

However, the Atlanta address that received millions of dollars in refunds was not the only address apparently housing thousands of “unauthorized” aliens. In fact, it wasn’t even the only address in Atlanta that was claiming such a situation.

The TIGTA audit report, published last year at the request of members of Congress, revealed 10 addresses in the U.S. that were issued anywhere from 1,846 to 23,994 tax refunds each. Four of those 10 addresses were located in Atlanta.

CNSNews.com breaks down the report: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/irs-sent-46378040-refunds-23994-unauthorized-aliens-1-atlanta-address


The IRS sent 11,284 refunds worth a combined $2,164,976 to unauthorized alien workers at a second Atlanta address; 3,608 worth $2,691,448 to a third; and 2,386 worth $1,232,943 to a fourth.

Other locations on the IG’s Top Ten list for singular addresses that were theoretically used simultaneously by thousands of unauthorized alien workers, included an address in Oxnard, Calif, where the IRS sent 2,507 refunds worth $10,395,874; an address in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the IRS sent 2,408 refunds worth $7,284,212; an address in Phoenix, Ariz., where the IRS sent 2,047 refunds worth $5,558,608; an address in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where the IRS sent 1,972 refunds worth $2,256,302; an address in San Jose, Calif., where the IRS sent 1,942 refunds worth $5,091,027; and an address in Arvin, Calif., where the IRS sent 1,846 refunds worth $3,298,877.

TheBlaze has reviewed the audit report, posted on the Treasury Department’s website, to confirm the information in CNSNews.com’s report.
http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2012reports/201242081fr.pdf

The TIGTA report explains that the IRS since 1996 has been issuing what it calls Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to both non-resident aliens who have tax liability in the U.S. and illegal aliens living in the U.S. but who are “not authorized to work in the country.

Washington has apparently been aware of the problem for the better part of a decade.

“The IRS has long known it was giving these numbers to illegal aliens, and thus facilitating their ability to work illegally in the United States. For example, the Treasury Inspector General’s Semiannual Report to Congress published on Oct. 29, 1999—nearly fourteen years ago—specifically drew attention to this problem,” CNSNews.com explains.

Here’s what that nearly 14-year-old report warned: “The IRS issues Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to undocumented aliens to improve nonresident alien compliance with tax laws. This IRS practice seems counter-productive to the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (INS) mission to identify undocumented aliens and prevent unlawful alien entry.”

Yet, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the IRS assigned 15,028 unauthorized aliens ITINs at the same address in Dallas, Texas, and 10,356 ITINs at the same address in Atlantic City, N.J.

However, CNSNews.com’s Terence P. Jeffrey says this is the “most remarkable” act by the IRS: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/irs-sent-46378040-refunds-23994-unauthorized-aliens-1-atlanta-address


It assigned 6,411 ITINs to unauthorized aliens presumably using a single address in Morganton, North Carolina. According to the 2010 Census, there were only 16,681 people in Morganton. So, for the IRS to have been correct in issuing 6,411 ITINS to unauthorized aliens at a single address Morganton it would have meant that 38 percent of the town’s total population were unauthorized alien workers using a single address.

There were a total of 154 addresses across the U.S. that appeared on 1,000 or more ITIN applications submitted to the IRS, according to the TIGTA.

Read the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s 2012 audit report entitled, “Substantial Changes Are Needed to the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number Program to Detect Fraudulent Applications,” here. http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2012reports/201242081fr.pdf

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/21/irs-sent-46-million-in-tax-refunds-to-23994-unauthorized-aliens-all-at-the-same-address-in-atlanta/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=Share%20Buttons

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Our new tax code: Pick one!
Herman Cain on Sunday June 9th, 2013

It is way past time to stop talking about replacing the tax code, and to start talking about what to replace it with. The political class has not gotten past the word "reform" yet, but we the working class can't wait for them to see the light. We must make them feel the heat and they will see the light.

The good news is that there are three great options for replacing our complex, unfair and outdated century-old tax code. The bad news is that the political class uses this as an excuse to not do anything, so they can continue to use the current system to award favors to their political friends at the expense of us, the workers and the taxpayers.

This is why we must unite behind one solution. That way, instead of Big Brother shoving something else down our throats, we the people the working class will shove a solution up their . . . well, you know what I mean.

Replacing the tax code is one of the most critical changes this nation can make in order to super-charge our economy, put power back in the hands of the people, eliminate a $400 billion-a-year compliance cost on us, and eliminate the corruption and intimidation of the IRS.

Only a fool or a power hungry bureaucrat would want to keep the complex, unfair 74,000-page tax code we have today. It is modern day slavery, and we must free ourselves, because the political class has shown for decades that it will not do it for us.

The escape plan for tax code freedom is to first unite behind one of the great plans which have already been developed. Then, create a massive national movement to make this plan the law of the land. And then, voters must demand that candidates running for the White House or Congress commit to the plan before they get our votes, and before they get elected.

Here is a brief description of each great plan: The Fair Tax, the Flat Tax, and the 9-9-9 Plan.

FAIR TAX

The FairTax is a revenue-neutral, single-rate, federal retail sales tax collected only once, at the final point of purchase of new goods and services for personal consumption. Used items are not taxed. It includes:

- A 23 percent (of the tax-inclusive sales price) sales tax imposed on all retail sales for personal consumption of new goods and services.

- While permitting no exemptions, the FairTax provides a monthly universal prebate to ensure that each family unit can consume tax-free at or beyond the poverty level, with the overall effect of making the FairTax progressive in application. As a result, a person spending at the poverty level has a 0 percent effective tax rate, whereas someone spending at twice the poverty level has an effective tax rate of 11.5 percent, and so on.


NEW FLAT TAX

The Heritage Foundation's New Flat Tax (NFT), part of Saving the American Dream, replaces today's complex tax system with one that is simple and fair. The New Flat Tax is simple, revenue-neutral, and will allow America to achieve its full economic potential. Among the details:

- Currently, in addition to the income tax, the federal government imposes a payroll tax, death tax, and a slew of excises. The New Flat Tax replaces them all for individuals, families, and businesses with one tax system with one tax rate of roughly 28 percent.
- Two Tax Credits: The New Flat Tax retains the Earned Income Credit to preserve the level of income support for low-wage workers. And low- and middle-income families also receive a tax credit of $3,000 ($2,500 for singles) toward the purchase of health insurance.
- Three Deductions: The only remaining deductions are for higher education, gifts and charitable contributions, and an optional home mortgage interest deduction.

In 1996 Steve Forbes supported a flat tax of 17 percent on all personal and corporate earned income (unearned income such as capital gains, pensions, inheritance, and savings would be exempt.) He supported keeping the first $33,000 of income exempt.

9-9-9

The revenue neutral 9-9-9 plan would replace all current taxes, including the payroll tax, capital gains tax, and the estate tax and taxes on repatriated profits. The plan would establish the following:



- A 9% corporate flat tax. Businesses would deduct purchases from other businesses and all capital investment. The resulting gross income is taxed at 9 percent.

- A 9% personal flat tax. Individuals would deduct charitable contributions, then pay 9 percent on the rest of their income. Capital gains are excluded.

- A 9% national sales tax. This levy would be placed on the consumption of all new goods. Used goods purchased would be excluded.

Details of each can be found in various sources on the Internet, books and articles. These descriptions give you the key features of each. I will be asking you and your friends to vote for ONE in the coming weeks. Based on the results we will create a compelling movement.

The political class has divided and abused us for decades with the current tax system. United, we can take our government back.

http://www.caintv.com/our-new-tax-code-pick-one


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Conservative Intelligence Briefing:
No, there are no indications IRS targeted ‘progressives’ the way it did ‘Tea Party’ groups
https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1372177407-e201afeb066ae48be4673bd87fb598b6-84ec0f6?pa=16029896975

The Daily Caller:
Twelve different IRS units nationwide targeted conservatives
https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1372177407-1bdb8dd9b34c11bdc771004cf8a48150-84ec0f6?pa=16029896975

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ANOTHER IRS OFFICIAL REFUSES TO TESTIFY: During today's Oversight hearing digging into an IRS official who steered nearly $500 million contracts to a special friend, the IRS official in question - Greg Roseman - pleaded the fifth and denied the Oversight Committee and the American people the answers they deserve.

WATCH the video: http://bit.ly/12pRAzj

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IRS credit cards used for wine, pornography
AP News | June 25, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — Poor oversight by the Internal Revenue Service allowed workers to use agency credit cards to buy wine for an expensive luncheon, dorky swag for managers' meetings and, for one employee, romance novels and diet pills, an agency watchdog said Tuesday.

Two IRS credit cards were used to buy online pornography, though the employees said the cards were stolen. One of the workers reported five agency credit cards lost or stolen.

IRS employees used agency credit cards to make more than 273,000 purchases totaling nearly $108 million in 2010 and 2011, according to the report by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The vast majority of those purchases were legitimate, the report said. However, the report said the IRS has inadequate controls to prevent inappropriate purchases.

For example, investigators found that one IRS employee spent $2,655 on diet pills, romance novels, steaks, a smartphone and baby-related items, including bottles, games and clothes. The case was referred to the IG's office that investigates employee misconduct, the report said.

Among other "improper" purchases identified by the inspector general:

— $3,152 to rent a popcorn machine and to buy prizes for an employee event, including bandanas, stuffed animals, sunglasses and stovepipe hats.

— $418 for novelty decorations and swag at managers' meetings, including kazoos, bathtub toys and "Thomas the Tank Engine" wristbands.

— $119 for Nerf footballs that were never used and were found stored in a filing cabinet.

"Inadequate procedures to identify, report and address inappropriate use leaves the IRS purchase card program vulnerable to repeated violations of applicable laws and regulations," said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The report comes as the IRS faces intense scrutiny over agents targeting conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. Documents released Monday show that liberal and progressive groups were singled out, too.

Also, the inspector general released a report earlier this month that detailed lavish spending at employee conferences. In all, the agency spent nearly $50 million on employee conferences from 2010 through 2012.

"Clearly, any inappropriate card use impacts our bottom line and is cause for concern," said acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who took over the agency last month. "Wasteful spending cannot be tolerated, and any employees found to be abusing the system will be held accountable. In fact, we are following up on several inappropriate incidents mentioned in the report, ranging from internal actions to criminal charges."

"That said, more than 99.75 percent of IRS purchases adhered to the rules," Werfel added. "The IRS has made important progress over the past two years in strengthening the controls in our purchase card program. We are committed to protecting taxpayer resources, and we will take quick action to implement all of TIGTA's recommendations."

The new report highlighted a 2010 conference in Washington for tax officials from other countries. At a luncheon, the IRS bought 28 bottles of wine — for 41 guests, the report said. A dinner at the conference cost the agency $140 a person, four times the allowable government rate at the time.

In all, the agency spent more than $50,000 on meals, receptions and meetings at the five-day conference, the report said. Agency credit cards were used for about $12,500 of the purchases.

"It is important to note that the luncheon described in the report took place in 2010 for an international business meeting of tax officials from several of the world's largest countries. This meeting is an important forum for international leaders on major tax issues," Werfel said. "However, given the excessive purchases for the luncheon, I am directing the IRS business units to more closely review spending in advance for any similar events to ensure all spending is appropriate."

The IRS participates in the General Services Administration's SmartPay purchase card program. Under the program, agency employees can use purchase cards, which act like credit cards, to buy work-related items. The maximum amount for an individual purchase is $3,000.

More expensive items are subject to competitive pricing policies.

In 2010 and 2011, internal controls at the IRS found 327 cases in which employees divided their purchases to skirt the $3,000 limit. The inspector general's office found an additional 34 cases. In all, the purchases totaled $493,000, the report said.

The report said 94 employees were responsible for the purchases, including 22 workers who had done it more than once in a six-month period. However, the report said, none of the employees were disciplined.

As for the two IRS employees whose cards were used to buy pornography, the inspector general's report didn't determine who bought the material or whether their cards were actually stolen. One of the employees is no longer at the agency. The IG is continuing to investigate the other employee, the report said.

http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2013/06/25/ig-irs-credit-cards-used-for-wine-pornography-n1627503

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Lois ‘I have done nothing wrong’ Lerner demands immunity from prosecution in return for testimony
By Doug Powers • July 3, 2013 12:56 PM

Put another way, Lois Lerner is demanding guaranteed legal protection from the people whose taxes fund paychecks she continues to receive:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/lois-lerner-irs-testimony-immunity-93684.html?hp=f1


Embattled IRS official Lois Lerner will not testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unless she’s given immunity from prosecution, her lawyer told POLITICO Tuesday.

“They can obtain her testimony tomorrow by doing it the easy way … immunity,” William W. Taylor III said in a phone interview. “That’s the way to resolve all of this.”

The comments reflect the hard-line approach Lerner, the former head of the IRS division that scrutinized conservative groups, and her legal team are taking in defending her role in the agency’s scandal.

Ed Morrissey adds this: http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/03/lerners-attorney-demands-immunity-for-testimony/


That makes it sound as though Lerner’s giving a strong hint to the committee that they should be negotiating with her for this testimony. No prosecutor would make an immunity offer without first getting a proffer on what the witness has to disclose. Few witnesses or their attorneys would demand immunity without having something to tell, either, and without that “something” pointing at bigger fish to fry than themselves.

That’s is an awful lot of wrangling for a public official who claimed to have broken no laws: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a-gVzIj_C1E


**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/07/03/lois-i-have-done-nothing-wrong-lerner-demands-immunity-from-prosecution-in-return-for-testimony/

comments

Am I the only one wondering why she needs immunity if she's done nothing wrong?

..

If in her words, "she has done nothing wrong," am I wrong wondering why we, the taxpayers, are continuing to pay her for really doing nothing? Maybe they should agree to grant her immunity IF, in return, she agrees to resign and give up her taxpayer funded pension. We would probably save millions on lawyers' fees trying to get her fired.

..

She's been ensnared by her own corruption. Give her nothing. She should redeem herself by admitting what she did and take the consequences. But she won't. She was so happy using her power to stick it to the little guy without a second thought. How dare she take advantage of the public that way. No, she deserve to fess up and be an adult for once in her life.

..

Lois Lerner has a decades long persecution of Republicans. Remember this?...

Lois Lerner To Republican Candidate Al Salvi In 1996 vs Democrat Dick Durbin: “Promise me you will never run for office again, and we’ll drop this (FEC) case”


..





She already stated that she did nothing wrong so what does she need to be granted immunity from? Were her previous statements to Congress lies??? Gee willikers Ollie!

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS accidentally publishes thousands of Social Security numbers online
1 day ago

When the Internal Revenue Service screws up, it screws up BIG. Someone at everyone's favorite agency forgot to remove tens of thousands of Social Security numbers from a data-set while uploading it to a new online hub.

The result?

Thousands of hackable targets left floating around the Internet, perfect prey for any Tom, Dick or Dimitri with unscrupulous plans in mind. Thankfully, a nonprofit that specializes in publishing government information spotted it, forcing the IRS to look up from their abacuses long enough to shut the thing down.

C'mon, guys. You're supposed to be on our side in the hacking wars, not helping the other team.

http://now.msn.com/irs-publishes-social-security-numbers-by-accident-when-uploading-data

[Source http://gizmodo.com/the-irs-just-accidentally-published-thousands-of-ssns-704798055 ]

...and the White House has put these Federal 'bottom feeders' in charge of enforcing the 'ObamaCare' debacle???....this has to to be on the scale of the greatest of 'Greek Tragedies'....they created a multibillion dollar bureaucracy to destroy the best healthcare system in the world and has it enforced by these federal goons and we will still have 30 million people uninsured....just less doctors to care for them and a choke hold on small business.....and the people who signed this bill?...They will never suffer under it....just the average taxpayer will.

[Jolie Rouge]

Obama gave his marching orders
Embattled IRS chief counsel met with Obama 2 days before agency changed targeting criteria
10:26 AM 07/22/2013

The Obama appointee implicated in congressional testimony in the IRS targeting scandal met with President Obama in the White House two days before offering his colleagues a new set of advice on how to scrutinize tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.

IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, who was named in House Oversight testimony by retiring IRS agent Carter Hull as one of his supervisors in the improper targeting of conservative groups, met with Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on April 23, 2012. Wilkins’ boss, then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, visited the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 24, 2012, according to White House visitor logs.

On April 25, 2012, Wilkins’ office sent the exempt organizations determinations unit “additional comments on the draft guidance” for approving or denying tea party tax-exempt applications, according to the IRS inspector general’s report.


Between 2010 and 2012, the IRS sent letters demanding groups’ training materials, personal information on groups’ donors and college interns, and even the content of a religious group’s prayers.

Wilkins’ meeting with Obama on April 23 was attended by 13 people.


Wilkins, who is one of only two Obama appointees at the IRS, is a former lobbyist with the firm WilmerHale, where he spent his time “counseling nonprofit organizations, business entities, and investment funds on tax compliance, business transactions, and government investigations.” At the firm, Wilkins defended Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Chicago-based United Church of Christ from a 2008 investigation into whether Wright violated his church’s nonprofit status by speaking in favor of Obama. Wilkins successfully defended Wright’s church pro bono.

The White House did not return a request for comment.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/22/embattled-irs-chief-counsel-met-with-obama-2-days-before-writing-new-targeting-criteria/#ixzz2ZobSCPhaRead

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Scandal Now Points Directly to White House
Posted on July 24 2013 by Conservative Daily

Except the liberal media, there is no one left to insulate or protect the White House from the evolving IRS Scandal!

Thanks to IRS employees’ testimonies and now White House visitor log documents, the IRS Scandal now directly pointing to President Barack Obama’s White House. Many Americans are not even aware of the latest IRS Scandal developments due to the major television networks not reporting on the story! Oh yes, CNN’s Dana Bash inaccurately reported: “After some half dozen IRS hearings and 16 transcribed interviews, Republicans have no proof of White House involvement in IRS targeting (of Conservative groups).” THE FACTS speak for themselves.

Here is the stair-step process of following the timeline of the IRS Scandal:

1. The Inspector General’s report says that IRS Chief Counsel William Wilkins, appointed by President Obama in 2009, KNEW about the abuse of conservative groups at least as early as August 4, 2011.

2. On May 15, 2013, White House Spokesperson Jay Carney revealed that President Obama first learned of the scandal through media reports on May 10, 2013.

3. Former IRS leader LOIS LERNER pleaded the Fifth in Congressional Committee testimony.

4. Riveting Congressional testimony within the last few days was given to Congressional investigators dispelling the notion that no one at the top knew what was going on. ELIZABETH HOFACRE (who processed the Cincinnati’s Tea Party applications—who Obama initially blamed!) testified under oath: “My frustration was primarily that I had to sit on them (tax-exempt applications) and wait for guidance from D.C. My supervisors told me to contact Carter Hull.

5. CARTER HULL, IRS lawyer in D.C., then testified (moving up the “food chain”): It was my understanding that the applications assigned to me would be ‘test cases’ to provide guidance for those other applications. I was told by my supervisor that I was to coordinate the review of tea party applications that were assigned to Elizabeth Hofacre in Cincinnati.” He, too, was given orders form higher ups. He was told to send them to the Office of Chief Counsel for review.

6. WILLIAM WILKINS, Chief Counsel of the IRS has yet to testify before Congress. However, THIS WEEK it was revealed that met with President Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on APRIL 23, 2012!

7. JEFFEY ZIENTS, former Office of Management and Budget, met with then-IRS Commissioner DOUGLAS SHULMAN and two other aides at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House complex on APRIL 24, 2012. The meeting lasted 8 hours. Zients has mysteriously been “out of the country” since TWO Weeks before the IRS scandal broke “on vacation” in April. He abruptly left the Obama Administration at that time.

8. On APRIL 25, 2012, William Wilkins sent Washington-based IRS officials “additional comments on the draft guidance.” These guidelines covered approving or denying tea party tax-exempt applications, according to Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George.

Are you now beginning to “connect the dots?” Now Congress needs to "connect the dots" to get to the very bottom of this shameful IRS scandal.

This scandalous timeline is still just the tip of the iceberg. It all points to the man “in charge” at the White House, President Barack Obama. The scandalous fingers also point to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The White House Visitor’s Log is the most damaging of evidence against President Obama. Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shuman has visited the White House MORE than ANY other Cabinet member! In fact, he visited the White House more times than the combined visits of Hillary Clinton, Janet Napolitano, and Kathleen Sebelius! How in the world is that possible?

And yet President Obama did not “have a clue” about the IRS until he heard about it from the media???!! Who is fooling who? The President spent MORE time with the leadership of the Internal Revenue Service than anyone else in the Cabinet!

Before being appointed as IRS Chief Counsel by President Obama, William Wilkins worked for the Washington law firm of Wilmer Hale. While there, Wilkins represented the controversial Reverend Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ in 2007 when the IRS began asking questions about whether the tax-exempt church was too involved in political work for its most prominent member, Senator Obama. He won a dismissal in 2008!

The Internal Revenue Service has already been put “ON NOTICE” by Americans due to the numerous revelations that they went after conservative political groups and Christian causes, making many wait for over 600 days to receive their tax-exempt status. However, this week’s revelations about the IRS are despicable! And to think the “Commander-in-Chief” really did know about it; yet lied to the American people!

http://www.conservative-daily.com/2013/07/24/irs-scandal-now-points-directly-to-white-house/

[Jolie Rouge]

Treasury admits targeting political candidates and donors; Justice Department won’t prosecute

Attorney General Eric Holder is too busy running around trying to find a Federal Crime to charge George Zimmerman with that he’s ignoring the actual crimes within the Federal Government itself.

from Washington Times:

The Treasury Department has admitted for the first time that confidential tax records of several political candidates and campaign donors were improperly scrutinized by government officials, but the Justice Department has declined to prosecute any of the cases.

Its investigators also are probing two allegations that the Internal Revenue Service “targeted for audit candidates for public office,” the Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, has privately told Sen. Chuck Grassley.

In a written response to a request by Mr. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Mr. George said a review turned up four cases since 2006 in which unidentified government officials took part in “unauthorized access or disclosure of tax records of political donors or candidates,” including one case he described as “willful.” In four additional cases, Mr. George said, allegations of improper access of IRS records were not substantiated by the evidence.

Mr. Grassley has asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to explain why the Justice Department chose not to prosecute any of the cases. The Iowa Republican told The Washington Times that the IRS “is required to act with neutrality and professionalism, not political bias.”

The investigation did not name the government officials who obtained the IRS records improperly, nor did it reveal the identities or political parties of the people whose tax records were compromised. By law, taxpayer records at the IRS are supposed to be confidential.

read the rest .... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/15/feds-admit-improper-scrutiny-candidate-donor-tax-r/

I can already hear the liberals… "Since 2006? That’s when George BUUUSH was President!" Great. So we’re all in agreement. Let’s all investigate the Treasury and the IRS together. Better yet, let’s abolish it altogether.


http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/55606135053/treasury-admits-targeting-political-candidates-and

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Hinders Congressional Investigation
Posted on August 3 2013

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, accused the Obama administration and its new IRS chief this week of OBSTRUCTING his panel’s investigation into the agency’s targeting of tea party, conservative and religious groups.

In a terse letter to Internal Revenue Service Acting Commissioner Daniel Werfel, Congressman Issa stated: “If the IRS continues to hinder the committee’s investigation in any manner, the committee will be forced to consider the use of compulsory process.”

The letter was also signed by Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who also sits on the committee.

Congressional investigations continue. Republicans continue to argue that the administration created a political climate that encouraged IRS personnel to think excessive screening of conservative groups was justified.

An immediate investigation by the Inspector General is absolutely in order.

Except the liberal media, there is no one left to insulate or protect the White House from the evolving IRS Scandal!

Congressman Issa and Jordan expressed in a stern letter to Werfel: “Obstructing a congressional investigation is a crime! Despite your promise to cooperate fully with congressional investigations, the actions of the IRS under your leadership has made clear to the committee that your agency has no intention of complying completely or promptly with the committee’s oversight efforts.”

“The systematic manner in which the IRS has attempted to delay, frustrate, impede, and obstruct the committee’s investigation raises serious concerns about your commitment to full and unfettered congressional oversight.”

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said that the conservative groups faced more probing questions than did liberal groups seeking the same tax-exempt status. Congressman Camp reported that conservative groups were asked three times as many questions, and were less than half as likely to get approval from the IRS.

Much like Issa’s Oversight Committee, Dave Camp said his investigators were also waiting on the IRS to turn over more information. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have received less than three percent of the documents responsive to the investigation!”

What is far most outrageous than the stonewalling of IRS information requested by congressional committees, is the fact that the national news media has not truly reported on this IRS scandal. THE MEDIA IS NOT INVESTIGATING THE IRS SCANDAL!!

The major television networks have spent more time covering the royal birth earlier this month than the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS!

Brent Bozell, founder and president of Media Research Center, stresses: “It’s a startling reflection on the decision by the national press that they are simply NOT going to report this! Never mind investigate it. We’re not talking about investigating. We’re talking about reporting other people’s investigations.”

“In our world as conservatives, we think the rest of the world understands what it is we’re seeing because it’s so flagrant – the abuse of power – and yet we have to understand that the average Joe out there that still relies on CBS or NBC or ABC or CNN for his news is not getting the story. It is being censored!”

Dan Pfeiffer, a White House official who represents President Barack Obama, said that the committee’s accusations were “completely false!”

He retorted: “The allegation was, by many Republicans, that the White House was directing the IRS to target Tea Party groups. That was the allegation. And that has turned out to be completely false. There is no evidence to suggest that. And now it has turned out that the IRS was not just targeting conservative groups but also looking at a large number of progressive groups as well. So that changes the dynamic of what it was."

“I'd say that on all of the issues [IRS, Benghazi, NSA surveillance], there are legitimate questions to be looked at to be sure if things happened the wrong way, that they should be addressed. That is different than trying to turn them, to try to use them to score political points, which Congressman Issa and the Republican Senate have been very clear that that's what they are trying to do. All of these allegations about White House involvement, that the White House was involved, that Washington was involved, all of these things, as the facts have come out, have not been as such."

Yet another smoke-screen. Another stone-wall.

Congressman Darrell Issa’s spokesman Frederick Hill said: “This administration will say anything as it attempts to distract Americans from the facts. While Obama Administration officials and their surrogates viciously attacked the Tea Party for years, what has been most troubling is the year-long cover-up of an internal IRS investigation; the White House’s evolving explanations of what occurred, and the IRS no longer fully honoring President Obama’s pledge to fully cooperate with Congressional investigators. We still don’t know the motivations of senior IRS officials involved in the systematic targeting and disparate treatment of Tea Party applicants."

Thanks to IRS employees’ testimonies and now White House visitor log documents, the IRS Scandal now directly pointing to President Barack Obama’s White House. Many Americans are not even aware of the latest IRS Scandal developments due to the major television networks not reporting on the story!

THE FACTS speak for themselves. Tell Congress to appoint a Special Prosecutor for the IRS debacle. Are you now beginning to “connect the dots?” Now let’s make sure Congress connects the dots to get to the very bottom of this shameful IRS scandal.

This scandalous timeline is still just the tip of the iceberg. It all points to the man “in charge” at the White House, President Barack Obama. The scandalous fingers also point to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. So don’t hold your breath! But we must mandate action by our Congress. Demand transparency!

Don’t wait for someone else to speak up…today’s the day we all say NO MORE!

But there is much more! After reading these next few sentences, your blood may be boiling. It is proof that the oversight goes all the way to the White House. Look at this:

The White House Visitor’s Log is the most damaging of evidence against President Obama. Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shuman has visited the White House MORE than ANY other Cabinet member! In fact, he visited the White House more times than the combined visits of Hillary Clinton, Janet Napolitano, and Kathleen Sebelius! How in the world is that possible?

And yet President Obama did not “have a clue” about the IRS until he heard about it from the media???!! Who is fooling who? The President spent MORE time with the leadership of the Internal Revenue Service than anyone else in the Cabinet!

http://www.conservative-daily.com/2013/08/03/irs-hinders-congressional-investigation/

[Jolie Rouge]

Issa Blasts Obama IRS Chief Werfel: ‘You are Slow-Rolling Us’
[BiPosted 08.02.13 by Greg Campbell[/i]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5SrIbZQMgOE&list=UU-Qf4gwKxpxUfWXDcyn1r3Q

In a tense House Oversight Committee hearing on Friday, Rep. Darrell Issa, apparently having reached his wits-end in trying to receive straightforward answers from witnesses regarding the Obama IRS’ targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups, questioned acting IRS chief Danny Werfel about the IRS’ harassment.

Holding up a paper completely filled with black ink with the information heavily-redacted, Issa questioned if the committee was receiving the full cooperation of officials. Holding the redacted paper, useless to the committee, Issa pointedly asked, “Are you going to tell me that this is, in fact, minimal redaction as required by law?”

When Werfel claimed he wished to make a statement, Issa told him to answer the question. As Werfel tried to explain away the redactions as the result of lawyers seeking to provide privacy for those listed on the documents, Issa stood to address Werfel, who he claimed was purposefully obstructing the investigation by narrowing the range of terms used to find documents the committee had requested.


“When you eliminate search terms unilaterally you are obstructing us by limiting the scope of discovery. Do you understand that, Mr. Werfel?”

The committee has requested information for the IRS, including correspondence and memos relating to the IRS’ policy of targeting Tea Party groups for stricter scrutiny and years of invasive questioning. Confronted with the accusation that his agency was not cooperating by not searching for documents with the requested terms, Werfel attempted to explain away the IRS’ actions as a function of productivity.

Issa vented his frustration at having received documents made worthless by heavy redaction and stated,

“We asked you for information. We set the priority if you’re going to slow-roll us- and you are slow-rolling us. Mr. Werfel, you have frustrated this committee. You promised to do things and you’re not.”

After Werfel protested that he wished to speak as he had “important facts to get out,” Issa shot back, “Yes; they’re important facts to get out and you’re obstructing them!”

Finally, after receiving additional minutes from the chair to continue, Issa tore into the IRS official, telling him that his lack of cooperation was unacceptable. Issa finished by saying,


“Our job is to find out everyone that should be held accountable and make sure the American people can trust this will not happen again. Because I believe if we are thwarted in this investigation this will become a pattern of behavior, whether by the chief executive of the United States, or simply by individuals who have power within bureaucracies such as the IRS, EPA, OSHA, and the like.”

http://www.tpnn.com/frustrated-rep-issa-unloads-on-irs-official/

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Director Danny Werfel says there are important facts to get out about the IRS targeting of conservatives
....then turns over black pages....

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1002598_414091372040738_354816073_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

FEC MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN IRS TARGETING: New documents have surfaced suggesting that the Federal Exchange Commission (FEC) and the IRS may have inappropriately coordinated efforts to target conservative groups seeking tax exempt status. After the Oversight Committee was made aware of an email between Lois Lerner and an FEC official discussing the status of a conservative political advocacy group, Darrell joined fellow watchdog Jim Jordan in sending a letter to the FEC requesting all documents relating to communications between the FEC and IRS.

READ THE LETTER: http://1.usa.gov/11MY1kn

MORE: http://bit.ly/19O9ipw

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Documents Reveal Agency Flagged Groups for ‘Anti-Obama Rhetoric,’ ABC, NBC and CBS are not reporting it.

USA TODAY obtained the internal 2011 documents and it lists 162 groups by name, with comments by IRS lawyers in Washington raising issues about their political, lobbying and advocacy activities.

Within those cases, 21 cases noted those activities were characterized as ‘propaganda.’ The list provides the most specific public accounting of which groups were targeted for unfair scrutiny and why. Could it have been because of the election??

The article by Gregory Korte went on to read: “The American Center for Law and Justice, a nonprofit legal institute that represents 33 of the groups appearing on the IRS list, said it appears to be ‘the most powerful evidence yet of a coordinated effort’ by the IRS to target Tea Party groups. ‘The political motivations of this are so patently obvious, but then to have a document that spells it out like this is very damaging to the IRS,’ said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the ACLJ. ‘I hope the FBI has seen these documents.’”

Lerner’s Official IRS Scandal narrative were undercut by the newly released EMails

WSJ: “Lois Lerner’s Own Words,” reported the following: “In a February 2011 email, Ms. Lerner advised her staff—including then Exempt Organizations Technical Manager Michael Seto and then Rulings and Agreements director Holly Paz—that a Tea Party matter is ‘very dangerous,’ and is something ‘Counsel and [Lerner adviser] Judy Kindell need to be in on.’ Ms. Lerner adds, ‘Cincy should probably NOT have these cases.’

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Rewards Agents with Millions in Bonuses After Years of Tea Party Harassment
February 4, 2014 By Greg Campbell

After years of harassing Tea Party and other conservative groups with invasive questioning and drawn-out reviews, the IRS’ new commissioner has announced that the scandal-embroiled agency will be shelling out millions in taxpayer dollars to award bonuses to agency employees as a means of boosting morale. Commissioner John Koskinen announced that the agency would be rewarding employees as a means of keeping and attracting talent to the agency at a time when the Internal Revenue Service remains under fire for their unabashed targeting of political groups for harassment. The overall payout for bonuses will be $62.5 million. Koskinen stated, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/3/embattled-irs-plans-employees-bonuses-2013-work/#.UvC8_XH9Ul4.twitter


“This is money best spent on our existing employees. The performance award payouts are in recognition of that great work done in very trying circumstances. I firmly believe that this investment in our employees will directly benefit taxpayers and the tax system.”

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee was unimpressed with the decision saying, “It’s hard to think of a group of people less deserving of bonuses than IRS employees. Frankly, this is outrageous.”

Koskinen’s announcement follows President Obama’s Sunday interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly where the president blamed Fox News for continuing to foment outrage over the scandal and claimed that there was not “even a smidgen of corruption” in the decision to target Tea Party groups.

The move sends a clear message to conservatives and congressional critics who have guffawed at the brazenness with which the Obama Administration continues to deny wrongdoing while the facts surrounding the IRS scandal clearly show otherwise.

Though the Obama Administration has maintained that the move to target Tea Party groups was not a politically-motivated move, the IRS did not target left-leaning nonprofits for years of harassment, but focused their attention on Tea Party groups and other conservative groups.

The IRS’ disgraced former head of the tax-exempt division, Lois Lerner, later claimed that the targetings were as a result of focusing attention on groups as a means of expediency due to a large influx of nonprofit applications. However, in 2010, the number of nonprofit applications increased minutely from 1,745 in 2009 to 1,865 in 2010. Lerner’s assertion that an overwhelming amount of applications earned the Washington Post’s infamous awarding of four Pinocchios. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/a-bushel-of-pinocchios-for-irss-lois-lerner/2013/05/19/771687d2-bfdd-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_blog.html

With Koskinen’s bold announcement coupled with President Obama’s surly defiance, it appears the message has been made clear to IRS employees and other agencies within the federal government: not only is it acceptable for agencies to target political dissenters for harassment, but doing so may very well yield monetary rewards.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/02/04/its-official-irs-to-reward-irs-agents-with-millions-in-bonuses-after-years-of-tea-party-harassment/#sthash.vngiKZbx.dpuf

[Jolie Rouge]

100 Percent of 501(c)(4) Groups Audited by the Obama IRS Were Conservative
February 12, 2014 By Matthew Burke


More new evidence that the Obama Regime has weaponized the IRS, tyrannically using it to silence and punish his political opponents, has been revealed by House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp. Congressman Camp says that not only were new Tea Party and other conservative groups targeted, which is a well-known fact that the Obama IRS already apologized for, but 100% of the audits on existing 501(c)(4) groups were conducted against conservative groups. According to the Wall Street Journal, Camp said: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/02/11/camp-irs-targeted-conservative-groups-for-audits/


“We now know that the IRS targeted not only right-leaning applicants, but also right-leaning groups that were already operating as 501(c)(4)s,” Mr. Camp said in a statement. “At Washington, DC’s direction, dozens of groups operating as 501(c)(4)s were flagged for IRS surveillance, including monitoring of the groups’ activities, websites and any other publicly available information. Of these groups, 83% were right-leaning. And of the groups the IRS selected for audit, 100% were right-leaning.”


A phony scandal, Mr. Obama?

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/02/12/100-percent-of-501c4-groups-audited-by-the-obama-irs-were-conservative/#sthash.wJ7NbUTs.dpuf

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1/1660968_489586457814809_1023597936_n.jpg

VIDEO SHOWS US PRESIDENT'S FAMILY TIES TO TERRORISM
IRS Scandal is the greatest scandal in US HISTORY.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuUQM84wJNo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuUQM84wJNo

Published on Feb 13, 2014

Much has happened since we first broke the story about President Obama's familial connections to terrorism through his brother Malik Obama, last year. This video gives newcomers a brief overview to the scandal that "would" be the biggest in U.S. history if media and politicians confronted it.

For more information, click here: http://shoebat.com/malik-obama-articles/

To listen to the entire call with Rep. Kelly, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH_c9WMBH5U

[Jolie Rouge]

“Republicans should move to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress”
Allen West March 5th, 2014


House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa should not have adjourned Wednesday’s hearing after former IRS official Lois Lerner repeatedly refused to answer questions, says Republican former U.S. Rep. Allen West.

“Well, that is going to play bad as far as the optics. What I would have done is keep the pressure on Lois Lerner, because now no one is going to be talking about Lois Lerner. As a matter of fact, if Lois Lerner does not want to answer the questions of the American people, then she should not be getting that six-figure, taxpayer-funded pension that she is receiving.

“Now everyone is going to be talking about Darrell Issa and how he reacted,” West told Newsmax TV’s J.D. Hayworth on “America’s Forum” Tuesday.

As for what should happen next to put the spotlight back on Lerner, West said Republicans should move to hold her in contempt of Congress.

“That’s the only way you get it back on her. And really, she is thumbing her nose. When you think about what President Obama recently said in his interview with Bill O’Reilly, that there’s not a smidgen of corruption in the IRS. Well, then, why is Lois Lerner pleading the Fifth? And so, somehow you got to retake that high ground and you got to do it quickly,” he said.


http://allenwestrepublic.com/2014/03/05/allen-west-republicans-should-move-to-hold-lois-lerner-in-contempt-of-congress/#0zAT62RjIyI54o7w.99

[Jolie Rouge]

Former IRS official refuses to testify at hearing
The former Internal Revenue Service official at the heart of the controversy over the agency's targeting of conservative groups once again refused to answer questions at a House hearing Wednesday amid signs that a congressional investigation into the affair may be stalling.15 hr ago | By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER of Associated Press

Lois Lerner headed the IRS division that improperly singled out tea party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections. On Wednesday she was recalled to testify before the House Oversight Committee for the second time in a year.

But just like the first time, she declined to answer questions about her involvement. Appearing with her lawyer, Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment rights at least nine times in response to questions by committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif.

Later, Lerner's lawyer told reporters she didn't testify because "we completely lost confidence in the fairness and impartiality of the forum."

"This matter has become polarized," said the lawyer, William W. Taylor III. "It is completely partisan. There was no possibility, in my view, that Ms. Lerner would be given a fair opportunity to speak, to answer questions or to tell the truth."

Taylor said the whole ordeal, which began last May when Lerner first disclosed the targeting at a Washington law conference, has been unsettling for his client. Lerner has received a total six death threats, by email and regular mail, Taylor said. They have been turned over to the FBI, he said.

After Wednesday's hearing, Issa suggested his committee's investigation may become stalled without Lerner's testimony.

"At this point, roads lead to Ms. Lerner," Issa said. Without her testimony, he said, "it may dead-end at Ms. Lerner."

Two other congressional committees, the Justice Department and the IRS's inspector general are also investigating. But to date, none has publicly released evidence that anyone outside the IRS directed the targeting or knew about it while it was happening.

"There still has not been any evidence of political motivation nor any evidence of the White House having anything to do with it," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee.

Taylor said Lerner was recently interviewed at length by officials from the Justice Department and the inspector general's office. He said Lerner agreed to be questioned by investigators "without conditions."

Last year, the IRS' inspector general released a yearlong audit that found agents had improperly targeted conservative political groups for additional and sometimes onerous scrutiny when those groups applied for tax-exempt status.

The IRS watchdog blamed ineffective management by senior IRS officials for allowing it to continue for nearly two years during the 2010 and 2012 elections.

IRS agents were reviewing tea party groups' applications to determine the amount of political activity the groups were engaged in. Under IRS rules, groups applying for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)4 of the tax code can engage in politics but it cannot be their primary mission.

Since the revelations became public, much of the agency's leadership has been replaced and the IRS has proposed new rules for handling applications from so-called social welfare organizations.

Conservatives and some liberal groups complain that the proposed rules would further limit political activity by tax-exempt groups. The IRS has received more than 140,000 comments on the proposed rules, by far a record for any proposed regulation, the agency said.

After Lerner declined to answer questions at Wednesday's hearing, the proceedings quickly devolved into political bickering between Issa and Cummings.

Issa quickly adjourned the hearing despite attempts by Cummings to make a statement. At one point, Issa said, "Shut it down," and Cummings' microphone was turned off.

Taylor said the chaotic end to the hearing showed why Lerner didn't want to testify before the committee.

"I think she felt that what happened at the end of the hearing today was complete and utter justification for the decision that she made," Taylor said.

Lerner was placed on administrative leave last spring, a few days after she first refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing. She retired in September, ending a 34-year career in federal government.

"I don't think she feels that she did anything wrong at any step along the way but nobody in my position or hers has ever not looked back and wondered whether there wasn't something they could have done differently," Taylor said.

Issa and other Republicans on the committee say that Lerner had effectively waived her constitutional right not to testify at last year's hearing because she made an opening statement in which she said she had done nothing wrong. Technically, Wednesday's hearing was a continuation of that hearing.

Issa said the committee will consider whether to vote to hold her in contempt. Cummings said he does not believe Lerner waived her constitutional rights.

http://news.msn.com/us/former-irs-official-refuses-to-testify-at-hearing

[Jolie Rouge]

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/1017464_3974899666888_195873978_n.jpg

NOTICE: Even though Progressives want so much to eliminate our CONSTITUTION, they will easily PLEAD THE FIFTH of our Constitution. Lois Lerner is PLEADING THE 5TH IN ORDER TO STOP THE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF CONSERVATIVES!!!

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/1236639_497985616974893_508516118_n.jpg

Yeah, Hilliary Clinton made that leap last week with Putin of Russia, saying he was doing the things Hitler did. Guess what? Our "Leader" has been doing it to us too! Making his attack dogs (private enforcement bureaucracy) go after conservative groups in order to silence, harass, discredit, confound and otherwise discredit with their sinister behavior.

[Jolie Rouge]

BREAKING: Emails Show Lois Lerner Fed 'True the Vote' Tax Information to Democrat Elijah Cummings
Katie Pavlich | Apr 09, 2014

New IRS emails released by the House Oversight Committee http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/FN-Combined.pdf show staff working for Democratic Ranking Member Elijah Cummings communicated with the IRS multiple times between 2012 and 2013 about voter fraud prevention group True the Vote. True the Vote was targeted by the IRS after applying for tax exempt status more than two years ago. Further, information shows the IRS and Cummings' staff asked for nearly identical information from True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht about her organization, indicating coordination and improper sharing of confidential taxpayer information.

Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa, along with five Subcommittee Chairmen are demanding Cummings provide an explanation for the staff inquiries to the IRS about True the Vote and for his denial that his staff ever contacted the IRS about the group.

“Although you have previously denied that your staff made inquiries to the IRS about conservative organization True the Vote that may have led to additional agency scrutiny, communication records between your staff and IRS officials – which you did not disclose to Majority Members or staff – indicates otherwise,” the letter to Cummings states. “As the Committee is scheduled to consider a resolution holding Ms. Lerner, a participant in responding to your communications that you failed to disclose, in contempt of Congress, you have an obligation to fully explain your staff’s undisclosed contacts with the IRS.”

The first contact between the IRS and Cummings' staffers about True the Vote happened in August 2012. In January 2013, staff asked for more information from the IRS about the group. Former head of tax exempt groups at the IRS Lois Lerner went out of her way to try and get information to Cummings' office.The information Cummings received was not shared with Majority Members on the Committee.

On January 28, three days after staffers requested more information, Lerner wrote an email to her deputy Holly Paz, who has since been put on administrative leave, asking, “Did we find anything?” Paz responded immediately by saying information had not been found yet, to which Lerner replied, “Thanks, check tomorrow please.”

http://media.townhall.com/_townhall/uploads/2014/4/9/5.png

On January 31, Paz sent True the Vote's 990 forms to Cumming's staff.

Up until this point, Rep. Cummings has denied his staff ever contacted the IRS about True the Vote and their activities during Oversight hearings. In fact, on February 6, 2014 during a Subcommittee hearing where Engelbrecht testified, Cummings vehemently denied having any contact or coordination in targeting True the Vote when attorney Cleta Mitchell, who is representing the group, indicated staff on the Committee had been involved in communication with the IRS. http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/irs-targeting-investigation-administration/

This was the exchange:


Ms. Mitchell: We want to get to the bottom of how these coincidences happened, and we’re going to try to figure out whether any – if there was any staff of this committee that might have been involved in putting True the Vote on the radar screen of some of these Federal agencies. We don’t know that, but we – we’re going to do everything we can do to try to get to the bottom of how did this all happen.

Mr. Cummings. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Meadows. Yes.

Mr. Cummings. I want to thank the gentleman for his courtesy. What she just said is absolutely incorrect and not true.

After the hearing, Engelbrecht filed an ethics complaint against Cummings for his targeting and intimidation of her organization.



Rep. Cummings has described the investigation into IRS targeting of conservative groups as a "witch hunt," and has tried multiple times to put the investigation on hold.

"These documents, indicating involvement of IRS officials at the center of the targeting scandal responding to your requests, raise serious questions about your actions and motivations for trying to bring this investigation to a premature end. If the Committee, as you publicly suggested in June 2013,'wrap[ped] this case up and moved on' at that time, the Committee may have never seen documents raising questions about your possible coordination with the IRS in communications that excluded the Committee Majority," the letter sent by Issa and the Chairmen further states. "As the Committee continues to investigate the IRS's wrongdoing and to gather all relevant testimonial and documentary evidence, the American people deserve to know the full truth. They deserve to know why the Ranking Member and Minority staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform surreptitiously contacted the IRS about an individual organization without informing the Majority Staff and even failed to disclose the contact after it became an issue during a subcommittee proceeding...We ask that you explain the full extent of you and your staff's communications with the IRS and why you chose to keep communications with the IRS from Majority Members and staff even after it became a subject of controversy."

The House Oversight Committee will vote tomorrow about whether to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/04/09/new-emaisl-show-lois-lerner-fed-information-about-true-the-vote-to-democrat-elijah-cummings-n1822247

[Jolie Rouge]

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/04/09/new-emaisl-show-lois-lerner-fed-information-about-true-the-vote-to-democrat-elijah-cummings-n1822247

comments

Cummings accuses Issa of “McCarthyism” just before Issa accuses Cummings of possible collusion with the IRS

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/04/09/cummings-accuses-issa-of-mccarthyism-just-before-issa-accuses-cummings-of-possible-collusion-with-the-irs/

LOLOLOLOLOLOL, it's all in the timing

...

Suddenly the theatrics from Cummings take on a whole new light and Issa cutting his mic doesn't seem all that much out of line.

..

Congressman Elijah Cummings Sums Up Benghazi:
"Death is a Part of Life. May, 2013.
http://grendelreport.blogspot.com/2013/05/dumb-dem-congressman-elijah-cummings.html

..


“If ever a time should come,
when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government,
our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”

~~ Sam Adams, 1776

White House Scandals or "What Did They Know and When Did They Deny It"

http://www.icaucus.org/wh_scandals

..

She did? Surprise, surprise , surprise! :rolleyes: I remember Elijah Cummings quite well from senior high school (Baltimore--1969). He was always the consummate self-promoter; little seems to have changed. He staged that ridiculous scene with Issa because he sensed the walls are closing in on Obama's thugs at the IRS --- hardly a "phony scandal" or "smidgen". If the media were even quasi-balanced, heads would be rolling all over D.C. by now.

..

Not only did partisan allies of the President use the IRS to intimidate and persecute citizens, as we all suspected, but one of the key perps was sitting his big butt right there on the congressional committee asking friendly questions! Hilarious!

"Um, can we wrap up with this IRS investigation now? It's all a big witch hunt!" said the cubby, bald witch!

Quick Elijah, get your race cards out! Someone prepare a distraction!

And of course the media will let this whole scandal blow by like a cool breeze. "Elijah was a civil rights hero ya know!" Besides, we can't waste time on this! We have a war on women to fight!

"We shall overcome..." Everyone! Join in! "We shall overcome...some...dayayayay!"

I never thought I would see the day when brazen lawlessness and scandal could be buried by simply ignoring it. America is no longer a nation of laws - It's just a nation of liberal groupthink. Sad really.

..

Cummings! No wonder he tried so hard to stop the investigation. Deserves prison!

..

However, if you follow the trail, this all started as a request by Sheila Jackson Lee to Cummings because True the Vote was investigating her district here in Texas.

Her district which had the most addresses with 6 or more registered voters per addresses than anyone else in Texas.

..


Now it's Elijah's turn to plead the 5th. Too bad the liberal media doesn't have a smidgen of curiosity about this story.

..


Too bad we don't have a media that would hold true to the tenets of journalism. One would think that this would be a pretty newsworthy story.

..

Rep Cummings will get what he deserves. At this point it certainly looks like Lois Lerner was doing the heavy lifting for member(s) of Congress. Her buddies. I'd suggest if she was working for Cumming that she was working for others. Issa needs to cast wide his net.

The US government is a very serious piece of work. It can kill you, imprison you, or impoverish you. It has tremendous power. Unfortunately, some individuals who work in the Government are real clowns. I'd suggest that Cummings is one of them. He's a phony and a hater who hides behind his authority but is another thug who was smart enough to figure out it's better to be a bad guy with a badge than a bad guy without a badge. I wouldn't be surprised if the DOJ was somehow involved in this exchanging of information along with other Congressmen.

..

Just recently, Elijah was incensed when Chairman Issa turned off his mike, during his planned after hearing rant.
Now prove bubbles up, Elijah is just another lying liberal, not really anyone interested in any truth.

Instead of looking for facts and the truth in these oversight hearings, the Democrats are looking for excuses, and think lies are great and the right way to protect their guilty.

We have no more rule of law in our Federal government, we have mob rule, being led by the liberals and dear leader. After all they “won”.

Their goal appears to be to drain the treasury of as much as possible before losing the Senate and control of Congress. After all they did change the rules, so the party in the minority, is toothless. Will these rule-changers be whining the rules are unfair, if they lose the majority?



Breaking: Top Democrat Involved in IRS Scandal!

You read that correctly: The very person calling for the investigation to be ended turns out to be at the center of the scandal! The very person who is charged with investigating the scandal has actually been involved in it all along!

From the very beginning, the Democrats have been trying to stonewall and derail the Congressional investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has spear headed this charge to end the investigation. Rep. Cummings has said that this is nothing but a “partisan witch hunt” and that the investigation into the IRS scandal is nothing but an attempt to keep the scandal in the headlines leading into the midterm elections.

Rep. Cummings has called for an immediate end to the Oversight Committee’s investigation, claiming that the case is solved and the whole investigation should be wrapped up.

Well, in the last 24 hours, the entire IRS investigation has been blown open!

Recently obtained emails show that Rep. Cummings was working with the IRS in 2012 and 2013 to go after the voter fraud prevention group, True the Vote. As you might remember, this organization has been at the heart of the scandal from the very beginning.

Catherine Engelbrecht founded True the Vote and testified before the Oversight Committee that once she got involved in politics, her organizations and businesses began to receive extra scrutiny from what she called “an assortment of Federal agencies.” Since filing as a non-profit group, Catherine Engelbrecht has been subjected to more than fifteen audits and inquiries from the IRS, FBI, ATF, and even the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, who fined her in excess of $20,000.

Well, she can thank the Distinguished Elijah Cummings for that. Since the summer of 2012, Elijah Cummings’ staff has been instrumental in going after True the Vote. The Congressman’s staff requested the organizations tax information, in addition to information regarding how they train their volunteers.

Within 3 days of Cummings reaching out to the IRS, Lois Lerner was already on it. She had instructed her underlings to get the Democrat Senator the files he wanted.

Holly Paz, who worked beneath Lois Lerner, spearheaded the targeting effort and went out of her way to get the information for Rep. Cummings. Lois Lerner would repeatedly monitor the progress, asking her deputy “did we find anything?” The IRS ultimately handed over True the Vote’s 990 forms to Cummings’s staff.

For months, Elijah Cummings has denied all of this. In fact, Cleta Mitchell, the attorney for True the Vote, testified before the Committee and openly accused Rep. Cummings of coordinating with the IRS to target the group. The Congressman responded, “What she just said is absolutely incorrect and not true.”

Well, it turns out that every single word of it was true!

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the Committee investigating the IRS scandal, turns out to be at the very heart of the scandal itself!

This is why we continue to push Congress to investigate this! We know that this scandal goes all the way to the top, and it is just a matter of time before the Committee discovers more IRS collaboration with Congressional Democrats or the White House!

Congress is supposed to be a separate and co-equal branch of government that can oversee the Executive Branch and ensure that it operates fairly and neutrally. That is the purpose of the Government Oversight Committee. But when the corruption spreads reaches Congress and manifests itself in the very people who are supposed to be protecting the American People… then we have a serious problem!

There is a clear conflict of interest here! How could Elijah Cummings possibly be able to meet his obligations on the Government Oversight Committee when he can’t even figure out how to oversee himself and his staff?!

This IRS scandal runs deeper than any of us even imagined. And when more people are discovered to have been involved, they must be removed from the investigation all together!

Rep. Elijah Cummings lied to the American people and played an integral part in targeting a conservative non-profit group. He has been trying to bring an end to the investigation before it became apparent that he was at the center of it! The American people deserve the truth and as long as this crook is involved in the investigation, the truth will forever be out of reach! He must be removed from the Government Oversight Committee IMMEDIATELY!

The truth is that every single government agency participated in Obama’s reelection campaign. Until Cummings and his ilk are removed from power, we will never quite know the administration’s involvement! Cummings must be suspended NOW!

http://www.conservative-daily.com/2014/04/10/breaking-top-democrat-involved-in-irs-scandal/

[Jolie Rouge]

More fuel has been added to the “phony scandal” fire http://twitchy.com/2013/07/31/disgusting-sniveling-maggot-jay-carney-names-benghazi-irs-as-phony-scandals/ after an email has come to light in which Lois Lerner, the IRS division director and central figure at the center of the agency’s targeting of conservative groups http://twitchy.com/2013/05/10/ap-irs-is-totally-sorry-for-targeting-groups-with-names-that-include-tea-party-or-patriot/ - “joked” (possibly) about getting a job with Organizing for Action:


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkzQ_qICUAEqF-1.png


Zach Hanover @zhanover

Here's the email where Lois #Lerner joked about joining @OFA while she was targeting conservative groups at #IRS.

1:47 PM - 9 Apr 2014


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkzJqDZCAAAp5Nw.png

Stephen Hayes ✔ @stephenfhayes

Lois Lerner, a central figure in #IRS probe, wrote colleagues that she wanted job w/Obama for America. Via @Kerpen.

1:40 PM - 9 Apr 2014

Was that a joke from Lerner that at the same time provided a window into the anti-conservative mindset that had permeated the division under her direction?

Tweeters discussed:


Guy Benson @guypbenson

.@kerpen @stephenfhayes serious question: Any chance Lerner was being sarcastic there? Fact that colleagues weren't sure is telling.


1:45 PM - 9 Apr 2014



Phil Kerpen ✔ @kerpen

@guypbenson @stephenfhayes Sure. But she was DIRECTING staff to DENY conservative groups at the same time.
So even joking speaks volumes.

1:46 PM - 9 Apr 2014


Josh Jordan @NumbersMuncher

Why would Lerner, a civil servant, even joke she might get hired to take over the DC OFA office?
Maybe because was already doing their work?

2:08 PM - 9 Apr 2014


John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz

After having conservative groups targeted, Lerner actually joked about working for OFA in DC.
As if she felt like she already earned it...

2:13 PM - 9 Apr 2014

Regardless of whether Lerner’s email was a joke, which could still serve as evidence of a “smidgen” of corruption, one thing is for certain:



Josh Jordan @NumbersMuncher

If there was an email like this for Christie/Bridgegate media would air 1 hour specials tonight. RT @TPCarney Awkward

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkzQ_qICUAEqF-1.png

2:15 PM - 9 Apr 2014
http://twitchy.com/2014/04/09/even-joking-speaks-volumes-lois-lerner-email-about-ofa-job-sparks-amazement-and-disgust/

[Jolie Rouge]

Lois Lerner Held in Contempt!
April 10, 2014 By Jennifer Burke

Lois Lerner has refused to answer questions regarding her role, or the actions of the IRS, in the targeting, harassment, and intimidation scandal of Tea Party and conservative groups. Now, the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, has voted 21–12 to hold her in contempt. Lerner, who was in charge of the tax exempt division in the IRS, made what amounted to an opening statement during her first appearance before the House Oversight Committee before invoking the Fifth Amendment.

Republicans on the committee have contended that Lerner gave up her right to plead the Fifth by delivering an opening statement in which she claimed that she had done nothing wrong. In making a statement, their argument is that they have the right to question her about her claims.

While Democrats on the committee accuse Republicans of election year political maneuvering and McCarthyism, many damaging facts have come out, all of which the left is ignoring, that implicates not only Lerner in this scandal, but also Democrats including Rep. Elijah Cummings.

President Obama has claimed that there is not a smidgen of corruption in the IRS scandal, despite the fact that a full investigation has never been done. The left has declared the scandal to be phony. Democrat Cummings has worked at every turn to obstruct justice and block answers from being found.

Earlier this week, Lerner was referred to the Justice Department by the House Ways and Means Committee for potential prosecution of her actions. If convicted of the crimes for which she has been accused, she could face 11 years in prison. Given Eric Holder’s refusal to conduct a full investigation into the IRS scandal, holding Lerner in contempt would give those targeted by her and the Democrats for their political beliefs at least some justice. The resolution of contempt now moves to a vote in the full House.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/04/10/lois-lerner-held-in-contempt/

[Jolie Rouge]

House Panel Votes to Hold Ex-IRS Officer in Contempt
Thursday, 10 Apr 2014 01:57 PM By Newsmax Wires

A U.S. House committee voted to hold former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about her role in scrutinizing Tea Party groups seeking tax exemptions.

The vote today by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was 21-12, along party lines. “We represent the people and they deserve an answer,” said Representative Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican.

The action follows yesterday’s vote by the House Ways and Means Committee to ask the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against Lerner. Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has said the full House would hold Lerner in contempt if she refused to testify. “The American people deserve the truth about what happened,” Boehner said today.

Republicans on the Oversight committee, including panel Chairman Darrell Issa of California, say Lerner waived her constitutional rights against self-incrimination last year by stating that she had done nothing wrong before refusing to answer questions. Democrats disagreed. “Trying to rip up the Constitution and run roughshod over the Bill of Rights is not a path to truth,” said Representative Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat. “It is merely political theater.”

If the full House finds Lerner in contempt, the matter would be referred to federal prosecutors. Lerner, who was suspended and retired last year, was director of tax-exempt organizations at the IRS. She was in charge of an office at the tax agency that oversees nonprofit groups, including politically active ones organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code.

According to the law, those groups must be organized exclusively to promote social welfare. IRS regulations say that such groups can’t be primarily political. Under Lerner’s leadership, the IRS gave Tea Party groups extra scrutiny based solely on their names. Beyond that, Republicans on the Ways and Means panel alleged yesterday that Lerner engaged in an “aggressive and improper pursuit” of Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, a nonprofit political group advised by Republican Karl Rove, who was an aide to President George W. Bush.

Lerner’s intervention should be investigated by the Justice Department as a crime because she treated Republican-leaning groups unfairly, the committee said in a letter published after a two-hour closed session. Some of the information in the letter had been kept secret under taxpayer-privacy laws.

Lerner has denied wrongdoing and said she committed no crimes. Democrats dismissed the letter as political theater and said Camp could have taken his concerns directly to prosecutors without the rare step of going public.

Crossroads GPS, which doesn’t have to disclose its donors, pumped more secret money into the 2012 election than any other group, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group that tracks political spending. The nonprofit group spent about $71 million of the $180 million it raised on TV ads and other activities it was required to report to the Federal Election Commission.

It also distributed about $35 million in grants that year, according to its tax forms. The largest grant recipient was Americans for Tax Reform, whose president is Grover Norquist, the tax documents show. Crossroads applied for nonprofit status in September 2010, telling the IRS that its involvement in politics would be “limited.” Approval or denial of that application would be public. As is allowed under the law, the group operated under 501(c)(4) while its application is pending.

The Ways and Means letter uses Lerner’s e-mails to argue that she circumvented the agency’s procedures to attempt to deny Crossroads tax-exempt status, select them for an audit and interfere in the agency’s appeals process.

According to the documents, the IRS began drafting a letter denying Crossroads tax-exempt status two days before the scrutiny of Tea Party groups became public in May 2013. The documents don’t make it clear if the letter was sent. It was still in draft form on May 30, after Lerner had been suspended, and the IRS has taken no final action on the application. “The evidence shows that without Lerner’s intervention, neither adverse action would have been taken against Crossroads,” the letter said. “The committee has found no record of Lerner pursuing similarly situated left-leaning groups, despite receiving similar public complaints.”

Crossroads GPS President Steven Law said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that the committee “confirms that there was an organized high-level effort within the IRS to subvert the agency’s own standards and procedures in order to harass law- abiding conservative advocacy groups like Crossroads GPS.”

Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, said in a statement that keeping the focus on the IRS helps Rove. “It is about whether he can use tens of millions of secret, corporate dollars to pollute our democracy while claiming to be operating as a tax exempt ‘social welfare’ organization,” Doggett said.

Lerner’s attorney, William Taylor of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP in Washington, said in a statement yesterday that “the timing of today’s vote is odd. We have not heard from the House Ways and Means Committee. Nor has the committee previously issued a report of its findings.”‎

Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department will decide whether to prosecute Lerner. Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that the investigation “remains a high priority of the department. We will review the letter once we receive it and take it under consideration.”

The House voted to find Holder in contempt in June 2012 after the administration cited executive privilege in refusing to turn over documents to Issa’s committee. The panel was investigating Holder’s role in overseeing a botched attempt to track gun smuggling known as “Fast and Furious.”

The laws Lerner may have violated include one that prohibits false statements, another that prohibits the use of official positions to deprive people of their rights and a U.S. tax code section that limits disclosure of taxpayer information. The Ways and Means letter said Lerner misled investigators about when she became aware of the scrutiny of Tea Party groups. It cited her use of a private e-mail address to which she sent some taxpayer information. If someone other than Lerner accessed the information, that may be a crime, the letter said.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/lerner-contempt-charges-house/2014/04/10/id/564832#ixzz2yWGJ0KhC

[Jolie Rouge]

MSNBC’s Alex Wagner: IRS Are the Ones Who Have Been Actually Targeted!

April 12, 2014 By Matthew Burke

The absurdity level has been raised, to the degree that is possible at pro-Communism network, MSNBC.

MSNBC Obama cheerleader, Alex Wagner, in attempting to provide cover for Obama regime tyranny, attempted to twist the unconstitutional IRS targeting of of Tea Party groups and other Americans for their political beliefs, into making the brutal agency somehow the victim, rather than the villain in the scandal.

Never mind that the Obama IRS has already publicly admitted to, and apologized for the actions, Wagner thinks that it was actually the IRS targeted. As the Washington Free Beacon reports, Wagner sent out this trial balloon on Thursday, likely to be repeated by other leftist talking heads in the very near future (WATCH VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdzppBnFORw&feature=player_embedded ):


“In my mind, the IRS, who is trying to get this out are the ones who have actually been targeted in this investigation.”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdzppBnFORw&feature=player_embedded

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/04/12/msnbcs-alex-wagner-irs-are-the-ones-who-have-been-actually-targeted/

[Jolie Rouge]

Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace Grills Dem. Congressman On IRS Scandal
By Jeffrey Meyer | April 14, 2014

Fox News Sunday was the only Sunday show that discussed the latest revelations in the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups. As a result, viewers were treated to host Chris Wallace grilling Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI) over why the IRS targeted 100 percent of conservative groups as opposed to only 30 percent of liberal groups.

Appearing on Sunday April 13, Wallace challenged Levin: “30 percent of organizations with progress or progressive in their names were examined as possible political groups. And, therefore, not included -- would not have been considered for tax exempt status. But 100 percent of groups with Tea Party, Patriot or 9/12 in their names were examined. Congressman Levin, 248 conservative groups were examined, but only 29 liberal groups. How do you explain that disparity?” http://www.mrctv.org/videos/fox-news-sunday-s-chris-wallace-grills-dem-congressman-irs-scandal


http://www.mrctv.org/videos/fox-news-sunday-s-chris-wallace-grills-dem-congressman-irs-scandal

Congressman Levin attempted to filibuster Wallace’s question and argued “What happens is the chairman gives us the material. We can look at it for one day. Take no notes. And then we go into executive session and we violate the confidentiality of the taxpayer’s records”

For his part, Wallace continued to press his liberal guest for answers and rejected Levin’s spin:


Congressman Levin that is a very interesting answer. But it has nothing to do with my question. I'm asking you a specific question…. How do you explain the fact that 30 percent of progressive groups were examined for their tax exempt status eligibility and 100 percent of conservative groups? How do you explain that?

Levin then tried to blame the Koch brothers and Karl Rove for the IRS scandal but Wallace refused to accept the liberal spin: “You can say that there are more conservative groups. But it doesn't explain why 100 percent of conservative groups were examined and only 30 percent of liberal groups. It doesn't matter if it was 10-3, it was 100 percent of the conservative groups, and 30 percent of the liberal groups. How do you explain that?”

Kudos to Wallace for being the only Sunday host to talk about the IRS scandal this past week. Hopefully ABC, CBS and NBC will follow Wallace’s lead and actually start covering the scandal instead of pretending that no story exists.



Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace

April 13, 2014

9:14 a.m. Eastern

CHRIS WALLACE: It's been almost a year now since we learned the IRS was targeting conservative groups. And this week, Republicans tried to push what's been a halting investigation. The House Oversight Committee voted to hold ex-IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress. And the House Ways and Means Committee is asking the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against her. Joining us now, two members of Ways and Means, from Michigan, the top Democrat Sander Levin, and from Louisiana, one of the leading Republicans on the panel, Charles Boustany. When the IRS scandal broke last May, gentlemen, President Obama condemned what the agency officials had reportedly done as outrageous. But now, he says that they have been cleared. Take a look at his change of heart on this scandal. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If, in fact, IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practice that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that's outrageous. And there's no place for it.

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: But no mass corruption?

OBAMA: Not even mass corruption. Not even mass corruption. Not even a smidgeon of corruption.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

WALLACE: Congressman Boustany, given the fact the Justice Department investigation is still on going, how do you explain that change of heart from the president?

REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY (R-LA), WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Well, it's hard to believe because based on all the documents we've reviewed, over a million -- half a million documents, dozens of interviews, we found compelling evidence that indeed Lois Lerner was involved in criminal activity. It's highly suggestive and it needs to be thoroughly investigated. And that's why we're asking for the criminal investigation.

WALLACE: So, how do you explain the president, again, when this investigation in the Justice Department investigation is still open, how do you explain them saying there's not a smidgeon of corruption?

BOUSTANY: Well, that's the point. Our investigation is still on going in Congress. If the Justice Department is doing an investigation, it's still open. We need to get to the facts. And that's what we tried to do at the Ways and Means Committee. But we know that she violated internal procedure. She violated -- potentially violated federal law by revealing private confidential taxpayer information by putting it on her own personal e-mail address. We know that she tried to or sought to intervene in the appeals process for some of these groups, which is a violation not only of procedure but also federal law. So, there are some really disturbing facts that are emerging in this. And that's why we need to complete the investigation and that's why there needs to be a full criminal investigation.

WALLACE: Congressman Levin, you know, you can say, well, that's just the Republican majority on Ways and Means. But the Treasury Department inspector general did a report that came out last May and he found that conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status were treated very differently from liberal groups. Let's put up his findings: 30 percent of organizations with progress or progressive in their names were examined as possible political groups. And, therefore, not included -- would not have been considered for tax exempt status. But 100 percent of groups with Tea Party, Patriot or 9/12 in their names were examined. Congressman Levin, 248 conservative groups were examined, but only 29 liberal groups. How do you explain that disparity?

REP. SANDER LEVIN (D-MI), RANKING MEMBER, WAYS AND MEANS CMTE: Well, first of all, the inspector general left out the information in his report that there were liberal groups. But let me try to explain what's happening here. You know, the document that we were given to look over, it said this on the top: "The following document contains confidential tax reform information and is being provided to you for review. Any subsequent unauthorized disclosure of its content is prohibited by law and is punishable by fine or imprisonment." So, what happens is the chairman gives us the material. We can look at it for one day. Take no notes. And then we go into executive session and we violate the confidentiality of the taxpayer’s records --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: Congressman Levin that is a very interesting answer. But it has nothing to do with my question. I'm asking you a specific question --

LEVIN: It does. It does.

WALLACE: No, it doesn't, sir. I'm asking you a specific question. How do you explain the fact that 30 percent of progressive groups were examined for their tax exempt status eligibility and 100 percent of conservative groups? How do you explain that?

LEVIN: I'll explain it. It also does what I said to respond to your question as to what's going on here. More Tea Party groups and conservative groups applied for 501c4 status than other groups. In 2006, of the 501c4 organizations, only $1 million was spent on election campaign stuff. In 2012, $256 million and two of the organizations were Koch brother organizations and a third was Karl Rove. So, one half --

WALLACE: But, sir, it still does not explain -- you can say that there are more conservative groups. But it doesn't explain why 100 percent of conservative groups were examined and only 30 percent of liberal groups. It doesn't matter if it was 10-3, it was 100 percent of the conservative groups, and 30 percent of the liberal groups. How do you explain that?

LEVIN: Look, this is what the attorney general is looking into.

WALLACE: He's been looking into it for a year, sir.

LEVIN: The president called for an examination by the attorney general. They are looking into that. We should not disrupt that by essentially having a secret session.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeffrey-meyer/2014/04/14/fox-news-sunday-s-chris-wallace-grills-dem-congressman-irs-scandal#ixzz2yuBoNTdi

[Jolie Rouge]

The Bipartisan Vote You Probably Didn’t Hear About…
May 8, 2014 By Matthew Burke

Yesterday, the full House voted to hold the Obama IRS’s former head of tax exempt, Lois Lerner, in contempt of Congress, a historical rarity among government officials. And while six Democrats courageously and patriotically broke ranks, voting with Republicans for Lerner’s contempt charge, there was a different, even more bipartisan vote yesterday on the House floor.

A whopping 26 Democrats joined Republicans in approving a resolution calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Obama IRS targeting scandal, with the final vote being 250-168 in favor of the resolution.

That vote from yesterday is seen as a major sign of mistrust with Eric Holder, the first sitting attorney general in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress (with 17 Democrats voting against Holder while 108 abstained).

Both Obama and Holder, when the unconstitutional targeting of Tea Party groups by the Obama IRS was revealed, promised a full and honest investigation of the scandal. Yet, Holder, in an obvious conflict of interest, made a sham of any real investigation by appointing a major Obama donor to head the “investigation.”

The Holder Justice Department has previously leaked to the media that no one would likely be prosecuted in the case, indicating a complete lack of objectively.

The resolution that passed yesterday, requesting that Holder appoint a special counsel, was offered by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). The resolution said:


“[T]he Administration’s efforts to undermine the investigation, and the appointment of a person who has donated almost seven thousand dollars to President Obama and the Democratic National Committee in a lead investigative role, have created a conflict of interest for the Department of Justice that warrants removal of the investigation from the normal processes of the Department of Justice.”


The fact that 26 Democrats in this highly charged issue would agree that the Attorney General of the United States is too corrupt to do his job is telling.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/05/08/the-bipartisan-vote-you-probably-didnt-hear-about/

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Pro-Free Speech Group Files Ethics Complaint Against Sen. Chuck Schumer; Eight Other Democrat Senators

June 6, 2014 By Matthew Burke

An ethics complaint has been launched with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, against Senator Chuck Schumer and eight other Democrat senators, for pressuring the Obama IRS to target Tea Party and other conservative groups.

Senators Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Carl Levin, Michael Bennet, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeanne Shaheen, Al Franken, Jeff Merkley, and Tom Udall were named by the Center for Competitive Politics, a pro-free speech group, accused of stifling “the free speech rights of nonprofit organizations with which they did not agree.”

One egregious example of evidence substantiating the accusation referenced by the Center is a speech given by Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer (NY), entitled “The Rise of the Tea Party and How Progressives Can Fight Back.” Schumer explained in the speech how the Obama IRS could be used, “to stamp out Tea Party organizations.”

In commenting about the ethics complaint, sent in a letter dated June 2, 2014, to Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer and Vice Chairman Johnny Isakson, Center president David Keating said:

“Richard Nixon faced impeachment charges for attempting to use the IRS for political purposes. These similar actions surely require the Ethics Committee to sanction one or more of these senators or, at the very least, to adopt rules to ensure it never happens again.

“Over many years, both Republicans and Democrats sought to use the IRS for political purposes and this must stop.”

The complaint against the nine Democrat senators also includes a letter, signed by each of the accused, in which they requested that former Obama IRS commissioner, Douglas Shulman, target the groups.

In February of this year, it was discovered that 100% of 501(c)(4) groups targeted by the Obama IRS for audit were conservative.


http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/06/pro-free-speech-group-files-ethics-complaint-against-sen-chuck-schumer-eight-other-democrat-senators/

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IRS: So… Our Computer Crashed And Erased All Of Lois Lerner’s Emails
The Daily Caller 2 hours ago

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claimed Friday that it cannot produce Lois Lerner’s emails to and from the White House and other administration departments due to a supposed computer crash.

The IRS previously agreed to hand over all of the ex-IRS official’s emails from 2009 to 2011 to the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Dave Camp. But the IRS claimed Friday that it has Lerner’s emails to and from other IRS officials but it cannot produce emails to and from the Treasury and Justice Departments, the Federal Election Commission, or Democratic offices.

The IRS’ computer crash may go down in history next to the eighteen and a half minute gap in the Watergate tapes, which was supposedly caused by a mistake by Richard Nixon’s secretary Rose Mary Woods.

“The fact that I am just learning about this, over a year into the investigation, is completely unacceptable and now calls into question the credibility of the IRS’s response to Congressional inquiries,” Camp said in a statement. “There needs to be an immediate investigation and forensic audit by Department of Justice as well as the Inspector General.”

“Just a short time ago, Commissioner Koskinen promised to produce all Lerner documents,” Camp continued. “It appears now that was an empty promise. Frankly, these are the critical years of the targeting of conservative groups that could explain who knew what when, and what, if any, coordination there was between agencies. Instead, because of this loss of documents, we are conveniently left to believe that Lois Lerner acted alone. This failure of the IRS requires the White House, which promised to get to the bottom of this, to do an Administration-wide search and production of any emails to or from Lois Lerner. The Administration has repeatedly referred us back to the IRS for production of materials. It is clear that is wholly insufficient when it comes to determining the full scope of the violation of taxpayer rights.”

http://news.yahoo.com/irs-computer-crashed-erased-lois-lerner-emails-203605784.html

comments

Really?

The NSA is gathering a bunch of data on random people- so much so that it claims it can't comply with court orders because there's too much to sort through. Gmail, which is free, keeps things FOREVER unless you actively delete them. The company I work for, not nearly as important as the US Government, has off-site backup for all emails so that if I delete locally they remain retrievable for 10 years.

I hate to swear in a post, but this is some #$%$ #$%$, to expect me to believe that the IRS could lose something stored electronically.

I'm not Republican or conservative, it's clear to me, however, that they were targeted, and I find that appalling. This little fiction about lost emails better not prevent proper punishment for all those involved.

..

Geez, my computer crashed and I lost all my tax information, guess that means I get a free year from the government. Gotta love the IRS.

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Simple answer the NSA has a copy of the emails. Who are they kidding The computer crashed. the receiving computer didn't or the sending computer didn't crash unless the Pontus has the hard drives erased. They recover data everyday from crashed and smashed harddrives. Who in the world do they think they are talking to LOST we are not 1st graders for gods sake.

This is another cover-up just so happens that now they just found they crashed and are missing.

Bet any good hacker can recover the info that's turned up missing. Bet Snowden has a copy of them. LOL

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Wait let me wipe the surprise off my face. Who in this country didn't believe that they would come up with a way to withhold the evidence that the White House is at least in on the whole thing. Sad that they had to use the new version of "the dog ate my homework" excuse. Think about it folks. The FBI can retrieve files from pretty much destroyed hard drives and track an email to any individual they want. Maybe her computer crashed but the entire Gov email certainly didn't. This is the biggest mierda de toro story I've ever seen shamefully perpetrated on the people. Just remember who and what you are voting for at the poles come November and let them hear us LOUD AND PROUD to be Americans. Take charge of your country and whatever party you belong to VOTE so we can all believe that at least the people have actually spoken.

Hey Lois stand over there against that wall, smile , and wait for the flashes....

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WHAT A CROCK OF BS

If this was a pvt company and they came up with that excuse AG HOlder a true prick would be going after you one way or the other.
Is it not amazing that just those emails were "lost:" and nothing else.

Whats the possibility of that happening.

I beg anyone who is an American and has knowledge of this evil beach and potusa/wh, please come forth, it is your duty and oath of office.
Put these buggers in jail for what they have done to the good people of the USA.

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Paula Priesse

June 14th - Techies are going berserk over the ridiculous IRS claim that two years of Lois Lerner’s emails were lost due to a computer crash.

Scratch that - not all of her emails - just ones to outside agencies and the White House. The corruption is so systemic within this administration that they don’t even bother hiding it anymore. In March the acting IRS commissioner testified that all of Lerner’s emails were archived.

And at “The Blaze,” former Microsoft program manager Norman Cillo lists 6 reasons (server backups & redundancies) of why the IRS is full of it.

If a special prosecutor is not appointed, Congress should withhold all funding for the IRS until every Lerner email is delivered.

But since we can never count on them, every American who is being, or will be, audited should now feel free to tell the IRS this:

“Dear Sir/Madam: Unfortunately a computer crash has erased the documentation that you have requested. Since records no longer exist, any audit at this point is totally unnecessary. Have a nice day and please send our appreciation to Ms. Lerner.”

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Sharyl Attkisson has several questions about IRS 'computer crash,' lost emails
http://twitchy.com/2014/06/14/sharyl-attkisson-has-several-questions-about-irs-computer-crash-lost-emails/

Yesterday we learned that the IRS has reportedly lost two years’ worth of emails from Lois Lerner to the White House, the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, the FEC, and Democrat offices due to a “computer crash.”

Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson once again leads a master class in how to ask the tough questions. While many journalists seem to be laughing off the “computer crash” excuse as the Obama administration just being the Obama administration, Attkisson has a specific and exhaustive list of requests for the administration.

Lois Lerner’s Lost Emails: Questions for the IRS

The news came late in the day on Friday the 13th.

According to the House Ways and Means Committee, the IRS reports having “lost” former IRS manager Lois Lerner’s emails to and from other IRS employees sent between January of 2009 and April of 2011 due to a ‘computer crash.’

In light of the disclosure, these are some of the logical requests that should be made of the IRS:

• Please provide a timeline of the crash and documentation covering when it was first discovered and by whom; when, how and by whom it was learned that materials were lost; the official documentation reporting the crash and federal data loss; documentation reflecting all attempts to recover the materials; and the remediation records documenting the fix. This material should include the names of all officials and technicians involved, as well as all internal communications about the matter.

• Please provide all documents and emails that refer to the crash from the time that it happened through the IRS’ disclosure to Congress Friday that it had occurred.

• Please provide the documents that show the computer crash and lost data were appropriately reported to the required entities including any contractor servicing the IRS. If the incident was not reported, please explain why.

• Please provide a list summarizing what other data was irretrievably lost in the computer crash. If the loss involved any personal data, was the loss disclosed to those impacted? If not, why?

• Please provide documentation reflecting any security analyses done to assess the impact of the crash and lost materials. If such analyses were not performed, why not?

• Please provide documentation showing the steps taken to recover the material, and the names of all technicians who attempted the recovery.

• Please explain why redundancies required for federal systems were either not used or were not effective in restoring the lost materials, and provide documentation showing how this shortfall has been remediated.

• Please provide any documents reflecting an investigation into how the crash resulted in the irretrievable loss of federal data and what factors were found to be responsible for the existence of this situation.

• I would also ask for those who discovered and reported the crash to testify under oath, as well as any officials who reported the materials as having been irretrievably lost.

The Committee had requested the Lerner emails as part of its investigation into to the targeting of conservative non-profits by the IRS. The Obama administration has denied any corruption or intentional wrongdoing. Lerner took the Fifth when asked to testify to Congress. The House of Representatives subsequently held her in contempt. The lost materials are said to include any communications that may have occurred between Lerner and outside agencies or groups such as the White House, the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, the Federal Elections Commission and the offices of Democrats.

House and Ways Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) says that along with providing news of the emails that have been lost, the IRS suggested in the same letter to Congress that it end its investigation.

The late disclosure of the lost emails may be reason to disregard the suggestion.

http://sharylattkisson.com/lois-lerners-lost-emails-questions-for-the-irs/

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IRS Claims to Have Lost Over Two Years of Lois Lerner's Emails, Will Networks Report?
By Geoffrey Dickens | June 13, 2014 |

Apparently two years of Lois Lerner’s emails have been lost, according to the IRS. The disappearance of the emails caused House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp to blast: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=384506


“The fact that I am just learning about this, over a year into the investigation, is completely unacceptable and now calls into question the credibility of the IRS’s response to Congressional inquiries. There needs to be an immediate investigation and forensic audit by Department of Justice as well as the Inspector General.”

The question has to be asked: will the suspicious nature of this latest revelation be enough to get the Big Three networks to get back to covering the IRS-Tea Party scandal?

Camp’s June 13 statement went on to elaborate why those missing emails are so crucial to the investigation:


“Just a short time ago, Commissioner Koskinen promised to produce all Lerner documents. It appears now that was an empty promise. Frankly, these are the critical years of the targeting of conservative groups that could explain who knew what when, and what, if any, coordination there was between agencies. Instead, because of this loss of documents, we are conveniently left to believe that Lois Lerner acted alone.

This failure of the IRS requires the White House, which promised to get to the bottom of this, to do an Administration-wide search and production of any emails to or from Lois Lerner. The Administration has repeatedly referred us back to the IRS for production of materials. It is clear that is wholly insufficient when it comes to determining the full scope of the violation of taxpayer rights.”


http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2014/06/13/irs-claims-have-lost-over-two-years-lois-lerner-s-emails-will-netw#ixzz34rLpEVq1

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https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/10301192_10152508965822464_6518812272780290958_n.j pg

Now the IRS has “lost" emails from 6 OTHER employees involved in the targeting scandal!

Demand a special prosecutor NOW! Sign and SHARE: http://www.cruzcrew.gop/irs/

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Trey Gowdy Goes Off on IRS Commish for Claiming No Criminal Actions at IRS:
‘You Don’t Even Know What Statutes Are at Play’
Jun. 23, 2014 10:29pm Pete Kasperowicz


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Avfm2urqdHM

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) late Monday criticized IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for claiming there’s no evidence of criminal misconduct at the IRS over the targeting scandal, even though he hasn’t bothered to examine the criminal code. “You have already said multiple times today that there was no evidence that you found of any criminal wrongdoing,” Gowdy said. “I want you to tell me what criminal statutes you’ve evaluated.”

“I have not looked at any,” Koskinen replied.

“Well then how can you possibly tell our fellow citizens that there’s not criminal wrongdoing if you don’t even know what statutes to look at?” Gowdy shot back.

Koskinen said several times that he’s seen no evidence that anyone consciously acted inappropriately, but Gowdy said that’s not the same as trying to examine whether a crime was committed.

“How would you know what elements of the crime existed?” Gowdy asked. “You don’t even know what statutes are in play.”

Koskinen said he believes he can rely on common sense, but Gowdy blasted that answer out of the water before Koskinen could finish his thought.

“Common sense? Instead of the criminal code, you want to rely on common sense?” Gowdy said as Koskinen shook his head at the table.

“You can shake your head all you want to, Commissioner. You have said today that there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and I’m asking you what criminal statutes you have reviewed to reach that conclusion.” Gowdy concluded that Koskinen had “no idea” whether any crimes have been committed.

Koskinen then tried to close out his argument saying enough evidence is in to dismiss the idea that the IRS scandal was a coverup directed from the White House. But Gowdy rejected that idea, and said it’s Democrats who are trying to say the GOP is “obsessed” with the White House when it was the White House that first intervened.

“It was Jay Carney that perpetuated the myth that it was two rogue agents in Ohio, it wasn’t any of us. Was that accurate?” Gowdy asked.

“Not that I know of,” Koskinen replied.

“So that was inaccurate and that came from the White House. Who said there’s not a smidgen of corruption?”

“My understanding is that was the president,” the commissioner answered.

“So that’s Jay Carney and the president both inserting themselves into the IRS scandal,” Gowdy said. “And you want to blame us for bringing the White house into it?”

“I haven’t blamed you at all,” Koskinen said.

“You just did, commissioner. You just did.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/23/watch-gowdy-slams-koskinen-for-claiming-no-criminal-actions-at-irs/

If any fair-minded person had ANY question about the need for a Special Prosecutor in this matter, Gowdy has put such questions to rest.

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IRS chief Koskinen demonstrates the number one job qualification for anyone in the Obama administration: ARROGANCE. http://allenbwest.com/2014/06/koskinen-illustrates-primary-job-qualification-obama-administration-arrogance/

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The PARALLELS are there between Richard Nixon's Articles of IMPEACHMENT and Obama's use of the IRS as a political WEAPON. Most don't have the GUTS to bring it up, but Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar did during the yesterday's IRS hearings.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/24/video-congressman-reads-richard-nixons-articles-of-impeachment-to-obama-irs-commissioner/

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Elijah Cummings Heavily Involved in IRS Scandal…Could Face Prosecution

April 10, 2014

Elijah Cummings has been trying to kill the investigation into the IRS scandal, making ridiculous claims and calling it a witch hunt. Well, it caught a big witch by the name of Elijah Cummings. Emails that have been released, shows that Cummings was eyeball deep in the scandal, asking for and receiving information on the conservative group, True the Vote, from Lois Lerner. His office illegally received confidential tax records from the group. Cummings is denying his involvement, despite his email asking for the same information that he received.

On Wednesday, committee chairman , Rep Darrel Issa accused Cummings of being complicit in the IRS targeting of conservative groups. In an email turned over to the House Oversight Committee, Cummings asked for dirt from the IRS (which is a felony since taxpayer information is private) on True the Vote. Within days of that email, Lerner sent out a questionnaire to True the Vote asking them all sorts of private questions. Days after receiving those answers, Lerner sent the information to Elijah Cummings.

Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, has testified to Congress that her group was targeted by the IRS and the emails fit into the timeline perfectly. True the Vote spent years trying to get their tax exempt status approved. Recently we learned that despite the cries from the liberals that their groups were targeted too, agents at the IRS testified under oath that all progressive applications were approved.

For his part, Cummings appears to have committed a felony in asking the IRS for confidential information, receiving that same information and is also guilty od not recusing himself from the investigation because of conflict of interest. I am not naive enough to believe Cummings will have to answer for his crimes, but it certainly blows a huge hole into the liberal argument that the IRS scandal is a fake scandal.

True the Vote has accumulated a lot of hate from liberals for their stance that the dead must be purged from the voting registry and that all voters must present IDs in order to stop voter fraud. Cummings involvement did not come out until last week, when the committee gained access to the emails.

Cummings’ email to the IRS demanded information identical to that which the IRS demanded from True the Vote and that same information was then shared with Cummings’ office. Issa concludes:

“The IRS and the Oversight Minority made numerous requests for virtually identical information from True the Vote, raising concerns that the IRS improperly shared protected taxpayer information with Rep Cummings’ staff.”

Evidence shows that Lerner was personally involved in gathering the information for Cummings. She asked Holly Pas if they had the information yet and when Pas said no, Lerner instructed her to find out the very next day.

As for Catherine Engelbrecht, the founder of true the vote, the IRS was not the only government entity sicced on her by the Obama regime. The the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Occupational Health and Safety Administration; and the Texas Commission on Environment Quality – an partner organization of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, all took turns in making her life a living hell.

http://freepatriot.org/2014/04/10/bombshell-report-elijah-cummings-heavily-involved-irs-scandal-face-prosecution/
meanwhile, Obama and Holder appointed a longtime democratic and Obama donor to investigate wrongdoing by the IRS. *chuckle*

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In the latest installment of "White House: The Young and the Lawless," we learn that Lois Lerner and the IRS also targeted a sitting U.S. Senator - not that this should be particularly shocking after everything else we've been finding out. http://allenbwest.com/2014/06/irs-lerner-targeted-sitting-u-s-senator/

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Things are looking worse and worse for the IRS. Not only were they caught targeting conservative groups, it appears that the IRS also may have helped Barack Obama steal an election. http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/06/irs-admits-leaking-confidential-information-used-against-mitt-romney-in-2012-elections

The conservative group National Organization of Marriage accused the IRS of leaking documents to the Obama Campaign in 2012. A top Obama campaign official Joe Solomese used the information to attack Mitt Romney during the 2012 election. The Huffington Post used the leaked documents in a story questioning former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s support for traditional marriage. The document showed Romney donated $10,000 to NOM.

The IRS agreed this week to pay only $50,000 in damages to the National Organization for Marriage after leaking confidential information to a leading gay marriage group.

… NOM released this statement today.

“It has been a long and arduous process to hold the IRS accountable for their illegal release of our confidential tax return and donor list, which was ultimately given to our chief political rival by the recipient,” said John Eastman, NOM’s chairman and a member of the ActRight legal Foundation team that brought the lawsuit against the IRS on NOM’s behalf in October, 2013. “In the beginning, the government claimed that the IRS had done nothing wrong and that NOM itself must have released our confidential information. Thanks to a lot of hard work, we’ve forced the IRS to admit that they in fact were the ones to break the law and wrongfully released this confidential information.”

NOM said that an investigation revealed that its 2008 tax return and list of major donors was released to Matthew Meisel, a gay activist in Boston, MA. Email correspondence from Meisel revealed that he told a colleague that he had “a conduit” to obtain NOM’s confidential information. While testifying under oath in a deposition in the litigation, Meisel invoked the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination and refused to disclose the identity of his conduit.

Documents obtained during the litigation prove that Meisel then provided NOM’s tax data to the Human Rights Campaign (whose president was a national Co-Chair of the Obama Reelection Campaign).

The information was also published by the Huffington Post.

Who wants to make a bet on how many officials will see the inside of a jail cell for this? The winning bet would be on zero, because there’s no way that Obama is going to punish people for practicing the corruption he’s fostered in his years as president.

http://www.rightwingnews.com/irs-scandal-2/irs-admits-to-leaking-confidential-information-used-against-mitt-romney-in-2012-elections/

The IRS has lost all credibility. There is a reason why so many 3rd world countries remain 3rd world countries--CORRUPTION!!! There hasn't been a better time and a better justification to abolish the IRS completely and just think they are now in charge of your healthcare...gives you great comfort doesnt it

..

How many Liberals would - justly - be screaming for Bush's head on a pike had this happened under his watch ?? Nothing but *crickets* now.

..

How can one expect the IRS to be honest when their overseer, Turbo Tax Tim Geithner, cheated on his TAXES?? And kept his job

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Watch The Priceless Reaction From This NBC Reporter When Asked Why They Won't Cover The IRS Scandal
'You're Asking the Wrong Guy': NBC's Pete Williams Deflects MRCTV's Question on Lack of IRS Scandal Coverage
June 26, 2014

http://newsbusters.org/sites/default/files/2013/petewilliams580.jpg

NBC justice correspondent Pete Williams this morning refused to answer queries from Dan Joseph of our sister site MRCTV.org regarding the peacock network's lack of coverage of the ever-deepening IRS scandal, including Lois Lerner's missing emails. "I cover the Supreme Court. You're asking the wrong guy," Williams protested, insisting that while he "[has] a lot of power at NBC... deciding how much coverage" goes to stories not on Williams's beat "is not one of them." "I respect your question, but you're asking the wrong guy," he reiterated.

The Supreme Court, however, is just one part of Williams's beat. He also covers the U.S. Justice Department, which has thus far failed to start proceedings to prosecute Lois Lerner for contempt of Congress and whose department head, Attorney General Eric Holder, is resisting calls for a special prosecutor in the IRS scandal. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/03/20/eric-holder-declines-ted-cruzs-request-for-special-prosecutor-in-irs-case

To watch the full exchange, http://www.mrctv.org/videos/nbcs-pete-williams-lack-irs-scandal-coverage-youre-asking-wrong-guy




http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb-staff/2014/06/26/youre-asking-wrong-guy-nbcs-pete-williams-insists-deflecting-question-netw#ixzz35mh0xrM3

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Rep. Stockman Introduces ‘The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act!’
June 20, 2014 By Matthew Burke

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to follow laws that the Obama administration refuses to follow themselves,” said Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX), in introducing “The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act.”

Congressman Stockman introduced the bill Friday in response to the Obama regime’s ridiculous claim that the Obama IRS somehow “lost” Lois Lerner’s emails because her “hard drive crashed.”

The name of the bill is derived from that age-old excuse, “the dog ate my homework.”

“Taxpayers should be allowed to offer the same flimsy, obviously made-up excuses the Obama administration uses,” Stockman said about the bill.

The bill states that taxpayers “shall be given the benefit of the doubt when not producing critical documentation, so long as the taxpayer’s excuse therefore falls into one of the following categories.”

Each of these categories is a humorous dig at several other Obama regime scandals. The ten categories that are allowable excuses by taxpayers according to the bill are:

1. The dog ate my tax receipts
2. Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction
3. Traded documents for five terrorists
4. Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon
5. Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room
6. Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car
7. Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords
8. Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar
9. Was short on toilet paper while camping
10. At this point, what difference does it make?

As you can see, Congressman Steve Stockman has quite the sense of humor.

The end of the one-page bill hilariously says that If the IRS needs “good, high quality copies” of any needed documentation, they should check with the NSA, referencing another scandal in which Obama has been massively spying on Americans without a search warrant, as is required by the Constitution.

The FULL TEXT of the bill is as follows:


The resolution may be cited as the “Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Resolution.”

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must allow taxpayers the same lame excuses for missing documentation that the IRS itself is currently proffering

Whereas, the IRS claims that convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction is sufficient justification not to produce specific, critical documentation; and,

Whereas, fairness and Due Process demand that the American taxpayer be granted no less latitude than we afford the bureaucrats employed presently at the IRS;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that unless and until the Internal Revenue Service produces all documentation demanded by subpoena or otherwise by the House of Representatives, or produces an excuse that passes the red face test,

All taxpayers shall be given the benefit of the doubt when not producing critical documentation, so long as the taxpayer’s excuse therefore falls into one of the following categories:

1. The dog ate my tax receipts
2. Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction
3. Traded documents for five terrorists
4. Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon
5. Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room
6. Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car
7. Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords
8. Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar
9. Was short on toilet paper while camping
10. At this point, what difference does it make?

In any case, IRS can see the NSA for a good, high quality copy.


Do you think that citizens should be able to use the same lame excuses as the Obama IRS?

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/20/rep-stockman-introduces-the-dog-ate-my-tax-receipts-act/

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CNN’s Blitzer Presses IRS Chief:
‘Why Shouldn't Taxpayers Use the Crashed Hard Drive Excuse?’
By Curtis Houck | June 27, 2014

During Thursday’s edition of The Situation Room on CNN, host Wolf Blitzer committed an act of journalism in grilling IRS Commissioner John Koskinen with question after question about the growing IRS e-mail scandal. His questioning included one where he asked (via a Twitter follower), “[w]hy shouldn’t taxpayers use the crashed hard drive excuse when undergoing an IRS audit?”

The interview, which lasted 13 minutes and 47 seconds, is more time than ABC and NBC spent on the IRS e-mail scandal combined on both their morning and evening news programs since the outrage surrounding lost emails of IRS employees, including former employee Lois Lerner, broke on June 13. [MP3 audio here http://newsbusters.org/sites/default/files/2012/2014-06-26-CNN-SR-IRSChief_0.mp3 Video http://www.mrctv.org/videos/cnn-s-blitzer-presses-irs-chief-why-shouldnt-taxpayers-use-crashed-hard-drive-excuse ]

Blitzer also pressed him with questions as to why hasn’t there been an special investigator brought into examine the scandal, why hasn’t someone been held accountable for the awful email record keeping system, and whether he believes there should be a criminal investigation of the matter as well “because this looks fishy, as you know. The appearance is awful for the IRS right now.”

Further, he asked Koskinen why U.S. law forces private companies (with the threat of criminal prosecution) to retain email records for five years while the IRS can’t seem to retain emails for that long as they instead recycle “their hard drives every six months or so.”

In response, Koskinen said that, currently, the emails of IRS employees are classified as official records and therefore are not preserved as such.

On the political front, Blitzer confronted Koskinen about his donations to Democratic candidates over his lifetime http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/barbara-boland/dems-fawn-over-irs-commissioner-who-contributed-over-85000-their and whether he believes that Democrats would be outraged (as opposed to their disinterested state now) if this scandal would be happening with a Republican president.


BLITZER: Now you're a Democrat. You've given money to Democratic causes. Democratic candidates, including the President of the United States, and so the suggestion is you're not going to be objective in this kind of investigation. Reassure the American people that you're not going to let your partisanship interfere with this investigation.

KOSKINEN: I've never been a partisan operative or a political operative. I was actually asked by the Bush administration to come in and work on Freddie Mac.

BLITZER: But you did contribute to the Obama campaign.

KOSKINEN: I've contributed to campaigns for the last 40 or 50 years. Many of them friends. I, at this point in my career, it's not my intention at all to play games with the Congress. My goal is to help restore people's faith in a critical institution for the country, the IRS. As I said, people need to feel comfortable that it's not a politicized agency, that it treats people fairly, no matter who they are.

BLITZER: Because a lot of Democrats -- you think this is just a partisan witch hunt -- but imagine if this were a Republican administration that had the IRS allegedly go after liberal organizations to question their tax-exempt status applications, Democratic-oriented organizations, and all of a sudden, the person who was in charge of that division decides to plead the 5th and all of a sudden a lot of emails are then suddenly missing. If this were a Republican administration, wouldn't the Democrats be understandably outraged?

KOSKINEN: Whether they'd be outraged or not, I don't know...

Relevant portions of the interview are transcribed below.


BLITZER: But the U.S. archivist who testified before the Hill, you saw him probably, testify, he said the IRS, in his words, "did not follow the law in preserving documents as required by the statute for public and official records." So someone broke the law.

KOSKINEN: The IRS has run an antiquated response to the Records Act, which everyone treats seriously and that's because of the email system. Official records in communications are printed out in hard copies. All of the information about taxpayers and their files are saved separately.

(....)

BLITZER: But there's suspicion -- the appearance looks really ugly. And don't you think there should be a much more serious investigation, an outside special prosecutor, for example? FBI should come in and take a close look, especially given the appearance of wrongdoing?

KOSKINEN: Well, the Congress has asked the inspector general, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration to do an investigation. He's working very hard at it. We've given him access to all the people, all the emails. He's trying to get at least an interim report out in the next few weeks. I think the appropriate way to proceed is let's see what the I.G. finds out. We've provided all the information we have about it, including the fact that they tried to retain our emails. We provided everybody the -- whereby the end of next week, all of the 24,000 emails we've found, together with the 43,000 thereafter -- and I think we need to pull all of this together, see what we know and then proceed.

(....)

BLITZER: The -- here's what a lot of people have pointed out to us. Sarbanes-Oxley -- you're familiar with that law -- private companies, they have to retain email data for five years. You're familiar with that, right?

KOSKINEN: I'm familiar with Sarbanes. I didn't know that particular...

BLITZER: It's a criminal penalty if they don't. So why wouldn't -- if public companies have to do that, why wouldn't the IRS have to retain important emails for at least five years, as opposed to six months, because they've been recycling their email, their hard drives every six months or so. That sounds suspicious.

KOSKINEN: I -- the IRS process, though, is every important official record gets -- is supposed to be printed out. We have 2,000 employees trained to make sure that happens. So the official records of the IRS are printed out and are saved in hard copy and now preserved. The emails, all emails are not official records. So at this point, the policy for the IRS is to in fact print them out. But that's an antiquated program and we're looking at trying to modernize it.

BLITZER: I got a ton of questions. I told my Twitter followers I was going to be interviewing you today, and I asked for some suggested questions. I got a variation of this one by a lot of folks. This one from T.G. Parker: "Why shouldn't taxpayers use the crashed hard drive excuse when undergoing an IRS audit?"

KOSKINEN: A number of them already have done that, and the question has been is there a dual standard? And as I've said, the IRS has 24,000 Lois Lerner emails from this period. We, historically, if a taxpayer has lost electronic records, have said if you have other indications and evidence of what went on, we'll take that from you. It's if you lose a document it doesn't mean you lose the argument. We actually work with taxpayers to say we'll look at other evidence, like the 24,000 emails. And if we can find any evidence to support your case -- and, in fact, if the circumstances support your case, we'll support you and you won't have any problems.

BLITZER: Now you're a Democrat. You've given money to Democratic causes. Democratic candidates, including the President of the United States. And so the suggestion is you're not going to be objective in this kind of investigation. Reassure the American people that you're not going to let your partisanship interfere with this investigation.

KOSKINEN: I've never been a partisan operative or a political operative. I was actually asked by the Bush administration to come in and work on Freddie Mac.

BLITZER: But you did contribute to the Obama campaign.

KOSKINEN: I've contributed to campaigns for the last 40 or 50 years. Many of them friends. I, at this point in my career, it's not my intention at all to play games with the Congress. My goal is to help restore people's faith in a critical institution for the country, the IRS. As I said, people need to feel comfortable that it's not a politicized agency, that it treats people fairly, no matter who they are.

BLITZER: Because a lot of Democrats -- you think this is just a partisan witch hunt -- but imagine if this were a Republican administration that had the IRS allegedly go after liberal organizations to question their tax-exempt status applications, Democratic-oriented organizations, and all of a sudden, the person who was in charge of that division decides to plead the 5th and all of a sudden a lot of emails are then suddenly missing. If this were a Republican administration, wouldn't the Democrats be understandably outraged?

KOSKINEN: Whether they'd be outraged or not, I don't know. But this investigation started out on the Hill. As you said, a political review of did the White House, did the Treasury Department, did the administration drive this? Last week, the White House noted it had no emails from Ms. Lerner; Treasury turned over all of its Lois Lerner emails. Nobody has turned up an email yet that says anybody outside of the IRS was involved.



http://newsbusters.org/blogs/curtis-houck/2014/06/27/cnn-s-blitzer-presses-irs-chief-why-shouldnt-taxpayers-use-crashed-har#ixzz362nIrkvw

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/curtis-houck/2014/06/27/cnn-s-blitzer-presses-irs-chief-why-shouldnt-taxpayers-use-crashed-har#ixzz362n29tYe

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/curtis-houck/2014/06/27/cnn-s-blitzer-presses-irs-chief-why-shouldnt-taxpayers-use-crashed-har#ixzz362moSh86

[Jolie Rouge]

SMOKING GUN? Lois Lerner Emails Reveals She’s Been Hiding Information from Congress
July 9, 2014 By Greg Campbell

On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released emails that were written by Lois Lerner, the disgraced former IRS official who is at the center of the IRS’ years-long campaign of harassment of Tea Party groups. The emails may serve as the smoking gun in the IRS scandal as they appear to show Lerner purposefully working to conceal evidence from Congress regarding the IRS’ targeting of Tea Party organizations. http://oversight.house.gov/release/new-e-mails-show-lerner-intentionally-sought-hide-information-congress/

On April 9th, 2013, Lerner exchanged emails with the IRS’ Director for Exempt Organizations Exam Unit Manager Nanette Downing who was in charge of audits and Maria Brooke, an IRS technology employee.

In the email, Lerner asks:


“I had a question today about OCS [Microsoft Office Communications Server]. I was cautioning folks about email and how we have several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails – so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails. Someone asked if OCS conversations were also searchable – I don’t know, but told them I would get back to them. Do you know?”

Of course, the email leads one to wonder what, exactly, needs to be covered up and inaccessible via email.

The technology employee responded to Lerner’s inquiry, writing, “OCS messages are not set to automatically save” but noted that “parties involved in an OCS conversation can copy and save the contents of the conversation to an email or file.”

“Perfect,” Lerner responded.


Lerner is at the center of the scandal with her having refused to complete her testimony before Congress after she began her testimony by offering a statement regarding her innocence, but then promptly refusing to answer questions. However, by entering into testimony, Lerner had waived her Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify. Lerner has further angered lawmakers with an absurd claim that years of emails she was required to provide to Congress has vanished forever after her computer crashed.

The scandal serves as just one of many plaguing the Obama Administration and with one scandal cascading over another, several lawmakers have referenced impeachment as a possible solution to cleaning up our scandal-ridden executive branch.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/07/09/smoking-gun-lois-lerner-emails-reveals-shes-been-hiding-information-from-congress/

[Jolie Rouge]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/10502508_577578399021385_3343116011645792150_n.jpg

[Jolie Rouge]

Massive Cover-Up Underway in the IRS!

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because the news surrounding the IRS scandal is going to make you angrier than you have been in a while.

As you know, a Federal judge demanded that the IRS testify under oath concerning the fate of Lois Lerner’s hard drive and emails.

Lois Lerner was the IRS bureaucrat in charge of non-profit compliance. Throughout the Obama presidency, she reigned over a department within the IRS that deliberately targeted Conservative non-profit organizations to delay them from receiving tax-exempt status and effectively keep them out of the 2012 election.

Over that time, she emailed a lot of people. Hundreds of people. The emails that Congress has been able obtain show a woman who was at the heart of this scandal and was eager to ‘right the wrongs’ of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. They show a woman who was so intent on limiting conservatives’ right to free speech that she would deliberately bog groups down in ridiculous and endless paperwork.

But Congress only has a handful of Lois Lerner’s emails. The rest were apparently “lost” when Lois Lerner’s computer and hard drive “crashed.” At least that is what the IRS is claiming. On Friday, the IRS officially responded to the Judge’s ruling and informed the court that when multiple data technicians were unable to recover the data off of Lois Lerner’s hard drive, it was physically erased and destroyed.

What the IRS isn’t telling you is that this hard drive “crash” came just days after the IRS was notified that Lois Lerner was under a Congressional investigation. The minute the IRS learned it was the subject of an investigation, it had an obligation under the law to back up all of the relevant data.

And guess what… the IRS didn’t. The IRS defied Congressional investigators and allowed Lois Lerner’s data to become corrupted and deleted.

But now, the tax agency has informed investigators that almost TWENTY people, all connected to Lois Lerner, have also had their hard drives conveniently “crash!”

The cover-up at the IRS is in full swing! Congress must arrest Lois Lerner and demand that a Special Prosecutor be appointed to the case!

The IRS is systematically destroying evidence of Lois Lerner’s crimes! Tell Congress that you DEMAND they arrest Lois Lerner and request a Special Prosecutor!

As if the IRS’s story couldn’t get more ridiculous, the tax agency just notified Congress that a number of Lois Lerner’s associates, who she emailed on a regular basis, also experienced catastrophic computer “crashes.” Wow… what a coincidence. Right as investigators are bearing down on them, we learn that pretty much everyone Lois Lerner was emailing also had their data corrupted and lost.

David Fish was one of Lois Lerner’s advisors. The two emailed one another often. His computer conveniently “crashed.”

Andy Megosh also worked with Lois Lerner at the IRS. As a manager of Exempt Organizations Guidance, he communicated with Lois Lerner on an almost daily basis regarding organizations’ applications for tax-exempt status.

Then there is the example of Kimberly Kitchens, an IRS employee in the Cincinnati Office who donated to Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. Remember when Lois Lerner and the IRS claimed that the whole IRS scandal was the fault of a few agents in Cincinnati? Well, her hard drive also just “crashed.”

All in all, the IRS estimates that a little less than TWENTY hard drives crashed, most belonging to employees with clear connections to Lois Lerner.

Why does this matter? It matters because anyone with half a brain knows that IRS is lying when it claims it cannot recover Lois Lerner’s emails. The wonderful thing about email is that there is always a sender and a recipient. Every email that Lois Lerner sent or received exists on another hard drive or server.

If you send an email to someone, there are records of it every step of the way between the sender and the recipient.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that there is a massive cover-up going on in the IRS. There are forces at work doing everything they can to shroud Lois Lerner’s involvement in the scandal. I suspect that the reason for this defense is the fact that if Lois Lerner is broken, she will lead investigators straight to the White House!

Ever since the beginning, we knew that the IRS was lying. Just because Lois Lerner’s hard drive crashed doesn’t mean the emails are inaccessible. They still exist on the hard drives of whomever she was communicating with. But now, we are hearing one by one that all the people who worked with Lois Lerner are also experiencing conveniently timed computer “crashes.”

Don’t you see what is happening? People within the executive branch are systematically destroying evidence. They first tried to just erase Lois Lerner’s hard drive, expecting Conservatives to just accept that. But when you and other like-minded patriots demanded that Congress follow the trail and subpoena the email records of everyone Lois Lerner was communicating with, all of a sudden their computers started crashing too!

Congress goes on vacation in a little under a week. If a special prosecutor is not assigned before then, God only knows how many records and documents will have been destroyed once your Representatives and Senators return from the Congressional recess. If Congress doesn’t arrest Lois Lerner and push for a Special Prosecutor, we will never get to the truth!

Based on how large the IRS scandal has grown, there is no doubt in my mind that this stretches all the way to the White House. That’s the only explanation for how everyone connected with Lois Lerner has experienced conveniently timed “computer crashes.”

You have the power to pressure Congress to act! Join me and raise your voice to DEMAND Lois Lerner’s arrest and the appointment of a Special Prosecutor!

The IRS is systematically destroying evidence of Lois Lerner’s crimes! Tell Congress that you DEMAND they arrest Lois Lerner and request a Special Prosecutor!

Do they think we’re stupid?

http://conservative-daily.com/2014/07/22/massive-cover-up-underway-in-the-irs/

[Jolie Rouge]

Trey Gowdy Was ‘Thrilled’ to See the IRS Chief
– Right Before Smoking His Comically Unbelievable BS
By Mike Miller 7 hours ago

Video at source ... http://www.c-span.org/video/?320097-1/irs-targeting-investigation

This was over before it started. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was outmatched from beginning to end by House Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy at Wednesday’s hearing.

At question was whether former IRS official Lois Lerner’s emails have indeed been destroyed – as previously claimed by Koskinen himself.

As Koskinen choked on Gowdy’s exhaust, the South Carolina lawyer put the pedal to the medal – slamming the commissioner for whining about “low IRS morale.”

It was like the IRS chief was on a ten-speed bike, while Gowdy was lapping him in a Dodge Viper. Nobody makes a lying bureaucrat squirm like Gowdy.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/07/160238-trey-gowdy/

[Jolie Rouge]

DOJ Attorneys: Lerner’s Emails Exist, But Here’s Why We Aren’t Turning Them Over
By Jennifer Van Laar

Despite IRS officials’ sworn testimony and affidavits to the contrary, a DOJ attorney has learned there is a backup system where Lois Lerner’s emails are stored.

So why haven’t they been produced, pursuant to subpoena and court order?


http://video.foxnews.com/v/3748050408001/judicial-watch-missing-lerner-emails-a-big-lie/?intcmp=HPBucket&playlist_id=928378949001#sp=show-clips

Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton explained on Fox News this afternoon: http://video.foxnews.com/v/3748050408001/judicial-watch-missing-lerner-emails-a-big-lie/?intcmp=HPBucket&playlist_id=928378949001#sp=show-clips


A Department of Justice attorney told a Judicial Watch attorney on Friday that it turns out the federal government backs up all computer records in case something terrible happens in Washington and there’s a catastrophe, so the government can continue operating. And they say it would be too hard to go get Lois Lerner’s emails from that backup system.

So everything we’ve been hearing about scratched hard drives…it’s all been a pack of malarkey. They could get these records, but they don’t want to.

And there’s no such thing as Lois Lerner’s missing emails. It’s all been a big lie. They’ve been lying to the courts, to the American people, to Congress. It’s outrageous.

Mr. Fitton goes on to say, “The Obama administration needs to get on the ball and start retrieving them [the emails], as opposed to stonewalling and continuing to obstruct justice.”

Judicial Watch will be asking the Court for relief on this issue, likely in the form of a court order to produce the emails from the backup system.

[boopster]

remember that federal employee who was watching thousands of porn because he had nothing better to do? I am sure he is not the only one who has nothing to do so why not put them on the trail of the missing, misplaced, forgotten or whatever you want to call them ...emails? just make sure they do ot have a magic eraser!

[Jolie Rouge]

remember that federal employee who was watching thousands of porn because he had nothing better to do? I am sure he is not the only one who has nothing to do so why not put them on the trail of the missing, misplaced, forgotten or whatever you want to call them ...emails? just make sure they do ot have a magic eraser!

They were NEVER lost.

A Department of Justice attorney told Judicial Watch, a watchdog organization, late last week that Lois Lerner’s emails still exist. Every keystroke on every government computer is recorded. This is done in case of some catastrophic catastrophe so that government can survive, even when the physical computer systems are destroyed. This central backup system, which is highly confidential, apparently records EVERYTHING.

IRS Lied, Currently Hiding Lois Lerner’s Emails!

By now, we all know the story of how the IRS illegally targeted Conservative non-profit groups.

Lois Lerner, the IRS bureaucrat at the heart of the scandal, is on record deliberately targeting these groups. The emails that are available prove that she was collaborating with the FEC and DOJ to go after the President’s opponents.

The vast majority of the evidence proving Lois Lerner’s guilt, however, was destroyed in an alleged “computer crash.”

Well, that was the story that the IRS originally told. Then, they changed their tune and said that the hard-drive was crashed and the data was unrecoverable. Then that turned out to be a lie as IRS technicians testified that they could have recovered the emails, but the IRS chose to incinerate the hard-drive instead. Technicians recounted that the hard-drive has deep gashes in concentric circles, something that was likely handmade and definitely recoverable.

But despite all the evidence, the IRS has always asserted that the emails and data on the hard-drives were lost forever. They claimed that there was absolutely nothing they could do to recover the evidence that Lois Lerner broke the law.

In new bombshell testimony, the IRS’ story has now been debunked and proven to be a COMPLETE LIE!

The IRS has been caught lying to us! Demand that Congress ARREST Lois Lerner and every IRS Bureaucrat behind this cover-up!

A Department of Justice attorney told Judicial Watch, a watchdog organization, late last week that Lois Lerner’s emails still exist.

Every keystroke on every government computer is recorded. This is done in case of some catastrophic catastrophe so that government can survive, even when the physical computer systems are destroyed.

This central backup system, which is highly confidential, apparently records EVERYTHING. The only problem is that the data isn’t categorized. It is just archived by its date stamp. This means that there is no easy way to go through the backups and find a specific document.

So when the IRS said that it couldn’t recover Lois Lerner’s emails, that was a complete lie. The IRS has the power to recover everything Lois Lerner ever wrote on her computer… but the tax agency believes it will take too long so it isn’t going to even bother!

That’s right… the IRS has the power and ability to recover all of Lois Lerner’s emails and documents, but has lied in testimony before Congress and a Federal Judge, claiming that recovery was physically impossible.

This is an agency that is supposed to be neutral. Instead, we have entire departments within the IRS that made it their goal to disqualify as many Conservative, opposition non-profit groups as possible. They did this during an election year, which meant that these groups weren’t able to participate fully in the 2012 election!

And now, after more than a year of the IRS stonewalling Congress and claiming the emails were unrecoverable, everything that the Obama administration has told Congress had been proven to be a lie!

The IRS didn’t just lie once… they have lied CONTINUOUSLY to the American people, and Congress MUST hold these Obama bureaucrats accountable!

We now know, without a doubt, that Lois Lerner’s emails and files are backed-up. Now it is time for Congress to use its powers to force the IRS to hand over the documents and force the administration to appoint a special prosecutor!

The IRS has been caught lying to us! Demand that Congress ARREST Lois Lerner and every IRS Bureaucrat behind this cover-up!

This ends NOW! The Obama administration has gotten away with hiding evidence and lying to the American people for far too long. The IRS has deliberately misled Congress and withheld evidence, both of which are crimes!

If the emails are accessible, the only reason to lie to Congress is if the IRS has something to hide.

These criminals deserve to be dragged out of their offices in handcuffs. Congress has the power to arrest these liars and we must DEMAND that they do so immediately! The IRS has been caught lying to us! Demand that Congress ARREST Lois Lerner and every IRS Bureaucrat behind this cover-up!

http://conservative-daily.com/2014/08/26/breaking-news-irs-lied-currently-hiding-lois-lerners-emails/

[boopster]

hasn't she already been found in contempt (so has holder) ? Doesn't seem to mean anything if you are in this administration

[Jolie Rouge]

Missing Person Alert! Where is IRS Scandal Figure Andrew Strelka?
By Geoffrey Dickens | September 5, 2014

1778 shares The IRS targeting scandal has all the intrigue of a political thriller. First it was the missing e-mails, then destroyed hard drives and now a missing person in the form of one-time Lois Lerner underling Andrew Strelka. On September 3, Republican Congressman Jim Jordan sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding to know, by a Friday deadline, the information on the whereabouts of Strelka. In the letter Jordan suggested the Department of Justice was hiding Strelka from the House Oversight Committee investigating the IRS-targeting scandal. Incredibly, this accusation has yet to be covered by any of the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) network evening or morning shows. Strelka is important to the case because, as Fox News.com reported, he was “employed as an attorney at the Justice Department’s tax division, until recently represented the IRS in civil lawsuits filed over the targeting. However, Strelka used to work under IRS official Lois Lerner in the exempt organizations division of the IRS.” http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/05/gop-lawmaker-demands-doj-hand-over-contact-info-former-employee-linked-to-irs

On September 5, Fox News.com reported the following:


A top House Republican is demanding the Department of Justice hand over contact information on a former employee accused of having a conflict of interest in the IRS targeting scandal investigation.

In a Sept. 3 letter, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, once again asked Attorney General Eric Holder for information on Andrew Strelka’s whereabouts. “Despite notifying [Oversight and Government Reform] Committee staff that the [Justice] Department no longer employs Mr. Strelka, the department has refused to assist the committee in speaking to Mr. Strelka directly,” Jordan wrote. “The department’s efforts to prevent the committee from learning Mr. Strelka’s whereabouts suggest the department has cause for keeping him from speaking with the committee.”

Jordan says he wants Strelka’s contact information so the Oversight Committee can conduct a transcribed interview. The letter gives Holder a Friday deadline for the information.

The DOJ has addressed the Strelka issue in the past, saying he is no longer an employee.

They have also said that the department is “already conducting an active investigation” into the IRS matter.

In August, Jordan along with House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., pressed the DOJ for information on Strelka. The lawmakers claimed in that letter that Strelka, who was employed as an attorney at the Justice Department’s tax division, until recently represented the IRS in civil lawsuits filed over the targeting.

However, Strelka used to work under IRS official Lois Lerner in the exempt organizations division of the IRS. Lerner was the IRS’s exempt organizations director when Tea Party and other conservative groups were scrutinized when applying for tax-exempt status.

The lawmakers claim that Strelka’s relationship with Lerner should have prevented him from being involved in the investigation.

They also say they have emails that show that during his tenure Strelka was directly involved in the targeting of conservative groups.

In one case, they point out, Strelka was informed by a manager to be on the “lookout” for a Tea Party case.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2014/09/05/missing-person-alert-where-irs-scandal-figure-andrew-strelka

[Jolie Rouge]

Obama IRS Commissioner: ‘Wherever We Can, We Follow the Law’

September 12, 2014 By Matthew Burke

The corrupt and rogue Obama IRS made a startling revelation this week in regards to its administration and enforcement of the Obamacare healthcare law, and it came straight from the horse’s mouth, in this case Obama IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. http://www.tpnn.com/2014/09/09/bombshell-accidental-phone-call-made-by-holder-aide-proves-collusion-between-doj-and-dems-in-irs-scandal/

“Wherever we can, we follow the law,” Koskinen told Congressman Kevin Brady of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health on Wednesday.


Rep. Brady, a Republican from Texas, was taken aback at the remark and responded, “I encourage you to follow the law in all instances.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGLI1fS9zhs&feature=player_embedded


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGLI1fS9zhs&feature=player_embedded

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/09/12/video-obama-irs-commissioner-wherever-we-can-we-follow-the-law/

[Jolie Rouge]

Obama IRS Commissioner: Destroying Lerner’s Records Illegal, But it Wasn’t Intentional ;)
September 18, 2014 By Matthew Burke

Obama IRS commissioner John Koskinen testified on Wednesday to the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing that hard drive crashes continue at the Obama IRS “as we speak,” and admitted that the corrupt, tyrannical, Soviet-style agency did not save any of the information that was destroyed on Lois Lerner’s Blackberry.

Koskinen, an Obama regime appointee, admitted that for the IRS to have destroyed Lerner’s records would be “not consistent with the law,” but made a weak argument in attempting to justify the cover-up by promising that there’s no evidence that the Obama IRS destroyed the evidence on purpose.

As the Daily Caller points out, while Koskinen claimed the Obama IRS had no system for the IRS to back up or store emails, a laughable claim refuted by prior testimony, Koskinen failed to mention that the agency terminated its long-term contract with a data retrieving and storage company, Sonasoft, very shortly after Lerner’s computer “crashed.” http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/17/koskinen-hard-drive-crashes-continue-as-we-speak/


VIDEO at link : http://www.tpnn.com/2014/09/18/video-obama-irs-commissioner-destroying-lerners-records-illegal-but-it-wasnt-intentional/

[boopster]

another not informed government employee?

[Jolie Rouge]

Lois Lerner insisted IRS higher-ups were not aware of the practice initiated by low-level employees in Cincinnati, and an IRS statement said "they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale," without explaining what other motivation there could have been.


IRS gave Obama foundation fast, retroactive non-profit approval
while stalling conservative applications
By Doug Powers • May 18, 2013 04:51 PM

Before we start, just to set the mood, click “play” to start the theme song of the IRS’s relationship with liberal organizations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iWrI...layer_embedded


Conservative groups have reported waiting for the IRS to review or approve their non-profit status applications for many months and even years (as well as receiving ridiculous demands from the IRS http://washingtonexaminer.com/congre...rticle/2529924 ).

Other groups didn’t have to wait nearly as long. I wonder why: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...767_story.html

When the Barack H. Obama Foundation sought tax-exempt status to raise money for good works in Kenya, the Internal Revenue Service provided quick help.

The IRS approved charitable status for the foundation, which was run by President Obama’s brother and named after his father, in about a month’s time. The IRS also agreed to give the group this important financial status retroactively, back to 2009, when it had begun its fundraising. Lois Lerner gave this application a fast green-light in June of 2011. http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/ir...thers-charity/ The IRS was even nice enough to make the non-profit status retroactive so as to not make liars and lawbreakers out of the Foundation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...767_story.html


In 2009, the Barack H. Obama Foundation was accused by the National Legal and Policy Center of being a scofflaw. The group had been promoting itself as a charity and seeking donations that it said would be tax-deductible, but it lacked the required tax-exempt status.


Lois Lerner tells Congress: 'I Have Done Nothing Wrong'
Wednesday May 22, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the storm over the agency's targeting of conservative groups told Congress on Wednesday that she had done nothing wrong in the episode, and then invoked her constitutional right to refuse to answer lawmakers' questions.

In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner defended herself during a brief appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee is investigating the agency's improper targeting of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, and Lerner oversees the IRS office that processes applications for that status.

"I have done nothing wrong," said a stern-looking Lerner, sitting next to three other witnesses and reading from a written statement. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee."

Lerner then said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right to avoid incriminating herself. Nine minutes after she began speaking, committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, excused her and Lerner left the hearing room through a rear door, escorted by her lawyer and several other men.

The men quickly whisked Lerner into an elevator, where several of the men physically pushed back television camera operators who were trying to film them.

Lerner's refusal to answer questions was not a surprise. Her attorney, William W. Taylor III, wrote a letter to the committee this week saying she would do so.

Lerner revealed the agency's targeting two weeks ago and apologized for the actions.

http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/Lois-Lerner-IRS-scandal-Congress/2013/05/22/id/505819?promo_code=F492-1&utm_source=Test_Newsmax_Feed&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1

Why did she apologize if she "did nothing wrong" ??


Wow! She might be wiping away a lot more tears real soon!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/q71/s480x480/581714_10151712663487650_958042595_n.jpg

IRS director Lois Lerner's Signature is on Letters to Many Groups Targeted by IRS
Showing that she was DIRECTLY INVOLVED.

"A series of letters suggests that senior IRS official Lois Lerner was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups as recently as April 2012, more than nine months after she first learned of the activity.

Lerner, the director of the IRS exempt organizations office in Washington, D.C., signed cover letters to 15 conservative organizations currently represented by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) between in March and April of 2012. The letters, such as this one sent to the Ohio Liberty Council on March 16, 2012, informed the groups applying for tax-exempt status that the IRS was “unable to make a final determination on your exempt status without additional information,” and included a list of detailed questions of the kind that a Treasury inspector general’s audit found to be inappropriate. Some of the groups to which Lerner sent letters are still awaiting approval.

Lerner has denied involvement in the targeting, which she has blamed on a few “front-line people” in the agency’s Cincinnati field office. “I have not done anything wrong,” she told members of the House oversight committee on Wednesday. "

It is absolutely AMAZING... the hubris of these folks that do this stuff, deny it, and then don't expect that the TRUTH will ever come out. She had better be negotiating her immunity and getting ready to SQUEAL like a stuck pig on whoever told her to do all this.

More: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/349212/%5Btitle-raw%5D




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LOIS LERNER HAS A LONG SORDID HISTORY OF TARGETING CONSERVATIVES

Lois Lerner, the controversial director of the tax-exempt organizations division at the Internal Revenue Service, has a long sordid history of targeting conservatives.

Under the direction of Lois Lerner, the Federal Election Commission sued the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. She harassed the Christian Coalition for three election cycles. Eventually, she lost her case. At one point Lerner even asked a conservative if Pat Robertson prayed over him. (Sound familiar?)

Then there’s this…

Lois Lerner made this offer to Republican Senate candidate Al Salvi in 1996, “Promise me you will never run for office again, and we’ll drop this case.”


USofArn reported:



The Illinois Review has more on Lerner:



These actions landed Lois Lerner at the IRS where she used the same tactics against conservatives and Christians – only on a much larger scale. 500 conservative and Christian groups were illegally targeted by the Obama IRS during her tenure. For twenty-seven months the Obama IRS refused to approve any Tea Party applications for tax-exempt status.

At the same time the Obama/Lerner IRS approved dozens of progressive applications.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/breaking-lois-lerner-told-republican-in-1996-promise-me-you-will-never-run-again-and-well-drop-this-fec-case/



https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/971628_10151607094997159_1286339735_n.jpg

Bob Woodward doesn't believe the story the White House is spinning about the IRS Scandal - http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/bob-woodward-irs-92177.html neither should you.

Bob Woodward criticizes IRS ‘fiction’
TAL KOPAN | 6/4/13 6:39 AM EDT

http://bcove.me/5es2721n

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/bob-woodward-irs-92177.html#ixzz2VJL4RUnV

Lois Lerner Speaks: ‘I Didn’t Do Anything Wrong’
by Evan McMurry | 8:44 am, September 22nd, 2014

"I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m proud of my career and the job I did for this country.”

Thus sprach Lois Lerner, the embattled former IRS official around whom the IRS scandal, pseudo- or otherwise, has coalesced, in her first interview since the beginning of the controversy a year and a half ago. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/lois-lerner-breaks-silence-irs-scandal-111181.html

In an exclusive two-hour interview with Politico, flanked both by her husband and her attorneys, Lerner defended her career at the IRS and presented herself as a passionate civil servant who’s become a scapegoat, a role that has prohibited her from finding other employment.

“I was the person who announced it,” she said, explaining why she was chosen as the face of the scandal. “I assume the other part of it is because I declined to talk, and once I declined to talk, they could say anything they wanted, and they knew I couldn’t say anything back.”

Politico’s Rachel Bade talked to former coworkers and employees who painted Lerner as both a politically-minded person quick to anger and a generous boss who’s ideology was her job.

As for those missing emails, Lerner dismissed the idea of premeditated cover up out of hand. “How would I know two years ahead of time that it would be important for me to destroy emails, and if I did know that, why wouldn’t I have destroyed the other ones they keep releasing?” she asked.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/lois-lerner-speaks-i-didnt-do-anything-wrong/

[Jolie Rouge]

POLITICO: Lois Lerner is the REAL Victim of the IRS Scandal

September 22, 2014 By Greg Campbell

Should we feel bad for Lois Lerner? The IRS bureaucrat that spent years targeting Tea Party groups for harassment and impeding their nonprofit work out of, seemingly, political motivations is, according to Politico, the real victim of the IRS scandal.



Please…





In an exclusive interview with Politico, the disgraced former head of the IRS’ tax-exempt division weaves a sob story that would be funny if not so entirely nauseating.

The article begins,

Employers won’t hire her. She’s been berated with epithets like “dirty Jew.” Federal agents have guarded her house because of death threats. And she’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending herself against accusations she orchestrated a coverup in a scandal that has come to represent everything Americans hate about the IRS.

Lois Lerner is toxic — and she knows it. But she refuses to recede into anonymity or beg for forgiveness for her role in the IRS tea party-targeting scandal. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” Lerner said in her first press interview since the scandal broke 16 months ago. “I’m proud of my career and the job I did for this country.”

While we should all abhor such anti-Semitic remarks (if, in fact, Lerner’s claims are true), the fact that she is so hated by so many speaks to her betrayal of the American people.

The piece details how the big ol’ meanie conservatives are painting this kind woman as a monster and notes,


“We followed the trail where it leads, and we saw it lead to Lois Lerner,” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said at a hearing Thursday. “She refers with disdain to conservatives; she’s an active liberal; and it’s clear her actions were set out to be detrimental to conservatives.”

Yet Lerner is also described as “apolitical” and fair. Some say she was a generous boss who inspired loyalty, baking brownies and handing out lottery tickets to managers to raise morale. She’s putting her babysitter’s son through college and in 2005 flew to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to rescue animals.

Well… that settles it; nobody who bakes brownies could possibly use their position to squash legitimate political dissent. We can all go home and fold up the investigative committees; Lerner is innocent because she baked her subordinates brownies.



The puff piece reads more like a character witness letter than anything that could rightfully be considered legitimate journalism. It claims that Lerner maybe “bears some of the blame for the selective scrutiny of tea party applications, and numerous emails understandably raise eyebrows.” However, it glosses-over the missing emails, the refusal to continue her testimony and the missing hard drive that is reportedly salvageable but that Democrats just shrug-off as “stuff happens.”

Conspicuously missing from the fawning piece of propaganda is that Lerner has disgraced herself and her country. Our rights are exactly that- our rights. The left would not and should not tolerate a bureaucrat using their influence to squash the legitimate political dissent of the NAACP or any other civil rights organization. However, the Tea Party groups that appeared as a means of protecting the civil rights of all Americans were targeted as a means to arrest their efficacy and the Democrats are playing keep-away with the truth.

It’s an affront to everything that is good about America.


Breitbart’s John Nolte beautifully summed up the situation: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2014/09/22/politico-loislerner-real-victim-of-irs-scandal


It’s a hard knock life for Democrats who oversee a federal agency that tied a sitting president’s political enemies up in knots during an election year.

Imagine how much better our country and government would be if the media’s Politicos put as much effort into pressuring the IRS to cough up those emails as they do playing Oprah for a corrupt federal bureaucrat…

Every hard-earned gain for civil rights in this country has been about one thing: equal protection under the law by our government. This fundamental protection under our Constitution is what the IRS violated. If Lerner had targeted for partisan purposes black, gay, and Hispanic groups — well, let’s just leave it at…

Democrats sure got it good.

Shame on Politico for taking part in advancing this outrageous fiction.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/09/22/politico-lois-lerner-is-the-real-victim-of-the-irs-scandal/

[Jolie Rouge]

One Chart Showing Exactly Who the IRS Targeted Makes Obama’s ‘Corruption’ Claim Look Awfully Silly
By Juan Leon 2 days ago

Just how accurate is President Obama’s claim that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS targeting scandal? http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/03/not-even-smidgen-corruption-obama-downplays-irs-other-scandals/

In a February interview with Bill O’Reilly, the President suggested media coverage was turning a non-issue into a controversy, telling O’Reilly, “These kinds of things keep on surfacing, in part because you and your TV station will promote them.” http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/112532-oreillys-obama-interview-president-beats-fox-almost-much-seahawks-beat-broncos/

Similarly, former head IRS official Lois Lerner recently made an assertion in an interview with Politico that she “didn’t do anything wrong.” http://www.ijreview.com/2014/09/180439-lois-lerner-breaks-16-month-press-silence-stunning-acknowledgement-nothing-wrong/

However, this infographic from Reason seems to belie Lerner’s and Obama’s claims: http://reason.com/blog/2014/09/23/who-is-the-irs-targeting

http://static.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/irstargeting2x1.png

The chart’s most startling figure shows how of the 298 groups whose applications for tax exempt status were delayed, a whopping 83% were right-leaning organizations.

The other revelations – conservative groups having to answer more than 3 times as many questions as liberal groups and being approved for non-profit status 45% of the time versus 70% of the time for liberal groups – buoy the position that the IRS did in fact target conservative groups.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/09/181545-infographic-puts-presidents-even-smidgen-corruption-irs-claim-back-magnifying-glass/

[Jolie Rouge]

One Chart Showing Exactly Who the IRS Targeted Makes Obama’s ‘Corruption’ Claim Look Awfully Silly
By Juan Leon 2 days ago

Just how accurate is President Obama’s claim that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS targeting scandal? http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/03/not-even-smidgen-corruption-obama-downplays-irs-other-scandals/

In a February interview with Bill O’Reilly, the President suggested media coverage was turning a non-issue into a controversy, telling O’Reilly, “These kinds of things keep on surfacing, in part because you and your TV station will promote them.” http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/112532-oreillys-obama-interview-president-beats-fox-almost-much-seahawks-beat-broncos/

Similarly, former head IRS official Lois Lerner recently made an assertion in an interview with Politico that she “didn’t do anything wrong.” http://www.ijreview.com/2014/09/180439-lois-lerner-breaks-16-month-press-silence-stunning-acknowledgement-nothing-wrong/

However, this infographic from Reason seems to belie Lerner’s and Obama’s claims: http://reason.com/blog/2014/09/23/who-is-the-irs-targeting

http://static.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/irstargeting2x1.png

The chart’s most startling figure shows how of the 298 groups whose applications for tax exempt status were delayed, a whopping 83% were right-leaning organizations.

The other revelations – conservative groups having to answer more than 3 times as many questions as liberal groups and being approved for non-profit status 45% of the time versus 70% of the time for liberal groups – buoy the position that the IRS did in fact target conservative groups.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/09/181545-infographic-puts-presidents-even-smidgen-corruption-irs-claim-back-magnifying-glass/

[Jolie Rouge]

One Chart Showing Exactly Who the IRS Targeted Makes Obama’s ‘Corruption’ Claim Look Awfully Silly
By Juan Leon 2 days ago

Just how accurate is President Obama’s claim that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS targeting scandal? http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/03/not-even-smidgen-corruption-obama-downplays-irs-other-scandals/

In a February interview with Bill O’Reilly, the President suggested media coverage was turning a non-issue into a controversy, telling O’Reilly, “These kinds of things keep on surfacing, in part because you and your TV station will promote them.” http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/112532-oreillys-obama-interview-president-beats-fox-almost-much-seahawks-beat-broncos/

Similarly, former head IRS official Lois Lerner recently made an assertion in an interview with Politico that she “didn’t do anything wrong.” http://www.ijreview.com/2014/09/180439-lois-lerner-breaks-16-month-press-silence-stunning-acknowledgement-nothing-wrong/

However, this infographic from Reason seems to belie Lerner’s and Obama’s claims: http://reason.com/blog/2014/09/23/who-is-the-irs-targeting

http://static.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/irstargeting2x1.png

The chart’s most startling figure shows how of the 298 groups whose applications for tax exempt status were delayed, a whopping 83% were right-leaning organizations.

The other revelations – conservative groups having to answer more than 3 times as many questions as liberal groups and being approved for non-profit status 45% of the time versus 70% of the time for liberal groups – buoy the position that the IRS did in fact target conservative groups.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/09/181545-infographic-puts-presidents-even-smidgen-corruption-irs-claim-back-magnifying-glass/

100 Percent of 501(c)(4) Groups Audited by the Obama IRS Were Conservative
February 12, 2014 By Matthew Burke

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/02/12/100-percent-of-501c4-groups-audited-by-the-obama-irs-were-conservative/

[boopster]

curious to hear what juan williams of fox would say to this - figures lie? or would he say - everybody lies...it's bipartisan and expected in government...?

[Jolie Rouge]

Lois Lerner Tries to Barge Into Neighbor’s Home to Escape Reporter

By Jason DeWitt on October 7, 2014

Instant classic!

Former IRS official Lois Lerner, who repeatedly targeted Barack Obama’s political opponents by denying them tax-exempt status, investigating and auditing them, got a taste of her own medicine last week. Lerner was herself “targeted” — in her own neighborhood — at the hands of fearless reporter Jason Mattera.

WATCH the whole thing — and wait for the best part….the old neighbor :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u88vMSbX_xA&feature=player_embedded

“I wouldn’t want her in my house either!” Awesome. Even her own neighbors want nothing to do with her.

In case you don’t remember who Lerner targeted, it was essentially anyone who opposed her boss Obama, using the full power of her officer in a way that would have made Josef Stalin proud.

Jim Hoft did a great job summarizing her enemies list: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/08/far-left-former-irs-official-lois-lerner-used-private-email-account-for-government-business/#sthash.yG5gJr8E.dpuf

The IRS Conservative Targeting Scandal involved:
•Hundreds of conservative groups were targeted
•At least 5 pro-Israel groups
•Constitutional groups
•Groups that criticized Obama administration
•At least two pro-life groups
•An 83 year-old Nazi concentration camp survivor
•A 180 year-old Baptist paper
•A Texas voting-rights group
•A Hollywood conservative group was targeted and harassed
•Conservative activists and businesses
•At least one conservative Hispanic group
•IRS continued to target groups even after the scandal was exposed
•10% of Tea Party donors were audited by the IRS
•And… 100% of the 501(c)(4) Groups Audited by IRS Were Conservative

Emails released in July show Lois Lerner has a “deep animous” towards “a–hole”conservatives.
Lois Lerner warned colleagues to hide information from Congress back in 2013 – after the targeting investigation was in full swing.
Lois Lerner targeted conservative Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa.
Lois Lerner reached out to the Holder Department of Justice on a plan to prosecute conservative tax-exempt groups.
Lois Lerner funneled Democrat Elijah Cummings information on a targeted conservative group.
Lois Lerner and the Treasury Department secretly drafted rules to target conservatives.

Payback is a b-tch, but it won’t be complete until this corruptocrat sits in a Federal prison cell.

http://toprightnews.com/?p=6364

[comments

Jason Mattera and Jim Hoft can expect to be audited in ...3...2...1...

[boopster]

great! :) there is one way for her to escape the press but not too sure she wants to go to prison.

[Jolie Rouge]

IRS Admits They Haven’t Been Looking For The “Missing” Emails
"Has only searched a database that it knows does not contain the missing records."
Heather Laskin — November 7, 2014


The IRS just came out and gave a reason for why they can’t find Lois Lerner’s missing emails – they haven’t been looking for them.

Judicial Watch, a government watchdog group that has been pursuing legal action against the IRS in regard to the scandal, announced Wednesday that, after months of legal maneuvering, the IRS finally admitted to a court that they have not searched “any of the IRS standard computer systems for the ‘missing’ emails of Lois Lerner and other IRS officials.”


Their reasoning? They claimed “the servers would not result in the recovery of any information.”

They also said they did not search back-up tapes because there is “no reason to believe that the tapes are a potential source of recovering” the emails, and they had not searched the government-wide back-up system because they had “no reason to believe such a system…even exists.” They claimed they did not submit “declarations about any of the foregoing items because it had no reason to believe that they were sources from which to recover information lost as a result of Lerner’s hard drive failure.”

Department of Justice attorneys for the IRS previously told Judicial Watch that Lerner’s emails, along with all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of a government-wide catastrophe, but that it would be too onerous to search that system.

The IRS admitted that it has only searched a database that it knows does not contain the missing records.

http://www.westernjournalism.com/irs-admits-havent-looking-missing-emails/#tveP4fskowHTmvLk.99

[boopster]

i can hear children use the excuse as to why they lie................because the government does and because the government does and does not get punished, then to everyone is not a crime and is acceptable :(

[Jolie Rouge]

i can hear children use the excuse as to why they lie................because the government does and because the government does and does not get punished, then to everyone is not a crime and is acceptable :(

I have heard that a BJ is "not sex" as per Bill Clinton's testimony

[boopster]

I am really ancient - i had to look up what bj is LOL. perhaps it isn't sex and it is just possibly a type of pulmonary therapy? :lollypop: :rolleyes:

(I was trying to get the rolling eyes...didn't work)

[Jolie Rouge]

Up to 30,000 missing emails sent by former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner have been recovered by the IRS inspector general, five months after they were deemed lost forever.

The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) informed congressional staffers from several committees on Friday that the emails were found among hundreds of “disaster recovery tapes” that were used to back up the IRS email system. “They just said it took them several weeks and some forensic effort to get these emails off these tapes,” a congressional aide told the Washington Examiner.

The IRS, in a statement provided to the Examiner, said the agency and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is fully cooperating with the investigation. "As Commissioner Koskinen has stated, the IRS welcomes TIGTA’s independent review and expert forensic analysis." The IRS statement said. "Commissioner Koskinen has said for some time he would be pleased if additional Lois Lerner emails from this time frame could be found."

Committees in the House and Senate are seeking the emails, which they believe could show Lerner was working in concert with Obama administration officials to target conservative and Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status before the 2012 presidential election.

The missing emails extend from 2009 to 2011, a period when Lerner headed the IRS’s exempt-organizations division. The emails were lost when Lerner’s computer crashed, IRS officials said earlier this year.

In June Koskinen told Congress the emails were probably lost for good because the disaster recovery tape holds onto the data for only six months. He said even if the IRS had sought the emails within the six-month period, it would have been a complicated and difficult process to produce them from the tapes.

The IRS also lost the emails of several other employees who worked under Lerner during that period.

Lerner, who retired from the IRS, has refused to be questioned by Congress.

She provided a statement at a March hearing, but then clammed up, following the advice of her lawyer to avoid self-incrimination.

The House, led by Republicans, voted in May to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress.

Congressional aides said officials from the inspector general’s office said it could take weeks to get the recovered emails off the tape before sending them to lawmakers in Capitol Hill.

In all, investigators from the inspector general’s office combed through 744 disaster recovery tapes. They are not finished looking.

There are 250 million emails on the tapes that will be reviewed. Officials said it is likely they will find missing emails from other IRS officials who worked under Lerner and who said they suffered computer crashes.

Investigators said the emails could include some overlapping information because it is not clear how many of them are duplicates or were already produced by Lerner to the congressional committees.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee he chairs will be one of the committees that will examine the emails.

“Though it is unclear whether TIGTA has found all of the missing Lois Lerner e-mails, there may be significant information in this discovery,” Issa told the Examiner. “The Oversight Committee will be looking for information about her mindset and who she was communicating with outside the IRS during a critical period of time when the IRS was targeting conservative groups. This discovery also underscores the lack of cooperation Congress has received from the IRS. The agency first failed to disclose the loss to Congress and then tried to declare Lerner’s e-mails gone and lost forever. Once again it appears the IRS hasn’t been straight with Congress and the American people.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/30k-missing-irs-emails-recovered/article/2556522

[Jolie Rouge]

32,774 ‘Found’ IRS Emails Prompt Criminal Probe
The Fiscal Times
By Jackie Leo
2 hours ago

Let’s review.

Lois Lerner, the former IRS official, took the “Fifth” at her hearing at a House Oversight Committee in May 2013 and said, “I will not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of this committee’s meeting.”

The reason for the hearing was the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS, prompting an apology by the agency. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/irs-admits-targeting-conservatives-for-tax-scrutiny-in-2012-election/2013/05/10/3b6a0ada-b987-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html As early as March 2010, four different IRS offices sought out applications from conservative groups with the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their names and made demands that were so onerous, the groups’ tax exempt status was held up for more than two years. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/weirdest-irs-questions-for-the-tea-party-views-donors-and-etymology/

The action followed a BOLO (be on the lookout) after the Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United and found it unconstitutional to ban free speech by corporations, unions and other organizations. http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/08-205.htm

A few liberal groups were caught in the sweep, but most received their tax-exempt status in far less time than the conservative groups. USA Today analyzed the IRS data and concluded that liberal groups were given a free pass. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/14/irs-tea-party-progressive-groups/2158831/

Did Lois Lerner act alone or did someone else give her the green light to target these groups? If she wouldn’t talk about it, maybe her emails would finally settle the issue.

Then, incredulously, the head of the IRS announced that Lerner’s emails were lost. Not just lost—deleted and irretrievable because the hard drive was fried and destroyed and whatever had been backed up on servers had been permanently deleted. Yikes!

Last Thursday, the IRS inspector general said it took only two weeks for investigators to find hundreds of tapes—the very tapes IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said were either destroyed or deleted. To punctuate the problem, the IRS claims it has spent $10 million producing documents, including 67,000 Lois Lerner emails.

Throughout it all, Lerner, who was placed on administrative leave, received her salary and benefits and continued to receive bonuses—a total of $129,300 over three years, according to Forbes. The former commissioner also received a $100,000 bonus. http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/02/26/lois-lerner-of-irs-got-129300-bonus-but-for-what

To date, taxpayers have spent millions investigating the IRS scandal—including the $10 million spent trying to recover the “lost tapes” to the millions spent on six different investigations.

Chances are, by the time this issue is resolved, there will be a new president, a new cabinet, and a new investigation.

http://news.yahoo.com/32-774-found-irs-emails-101500498.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Lerner breaks silence
By RACHAEL BADE | 9/22/14 4:59 AM EDT

Employers won’t hire her. She’s been berated with epithets like “dirty Jew.” Federal agents have guarded her house because of death threats. And she’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending herself against accusations she orchestrated a coverup in a scandal that has come to represent everything Americans hate about the IRS.

Lois Lerner is toxic — and she knows it. But she refuses to recede into anonymity or beg for forgiveness for her role in the IRS tea party-targeting scandal. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” Lerner said in her first press interview since the scandal broke 16 months ago. “I’m proud of my career and the job I did for this country.”

Lerner, who sat down with POLITICO in an exclusive two-hour session, has been painted in one dimension: as a powerful bureaucrat scheming with the Obama administration to cripple right-leaning nonprofits. Interviews with about 20 of her colleagues, friends and critics and a survey of emails and other IRS documents, however, reveal a much more complicated figure than the caricature she’s become in the public eye.

The portrait that emerges shows Lerner is, indeed, fierce, unapologetic and perhaps even tone-deaf when she says things that show her Democratic leanings. She had a quick temper and may have intimidated co-workers who could have helped her out of this mess. It’s easy to see how Republicans have seized on the image of a devilish figure cracking down on conservative nonprofits.

“We followed the trail where it leads, and we saw it lead to Lois Lerner,” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said at a hearing Thursday. “She refers with disdain to conservatives; she’s an active liberal; and it’s clear her actions were set out to be detrimental to conservatives.”

Yet Lerner is also described as “apolitical” and fair. Some say she was a generous boss who inspired loyalty, baking brownies and handing out lottery tickets to managers to raise morale. She’s putting her babysitter’s son through college and in 2005 flew to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to rescue animals.

And she’s a savvy lawyer: She studiously avoided answering fundamental questions about her role in the IRS scandal that could land her in deeper trouble with Congress. During her POLITICO interview, flanked by her husband, a partner at a national law firm, and two of her personal attorneys, she opened up about her life as a pariah, joked about horrible news photos and advice that she disguise herself with a blond wig, and cried when expressing gratitude for her legal team’s friendship.

Very few details of Lerner’s personal history, professional background or life since her fall have been detailed in the news media. One thing is clear: She doesn’t seem poised to back down or give her Republican critics in Congress any satisfaction. “Regardless of whatever else happens, I know I did the best I could under the circumstances and am not sorry for anything I did,” the 63-year-old said.

An apology and a firestorm

On May 22, 2013, Lerner returned to the seeming safety of her IRS office after invoking the Fifth Amendment and being chased down a Capitol Hill hallway by the Washington press corps.

Instead, she was summoned by the human resources department and ordered to resign or clean out her desk by 2 p.m. and be escorted from the building on indefinite administrative leave. She refused to resign.

It was a startling turnabout for the woman whose alumni magazine said she had “rock star status” in the tax world and who was a recipient of a government service award for ethics. She thought she was months away from a quiet retirement after 33 years working for Uncle Sam.

“Under both Republican and Democratic administrations, she got these amazing ratings and bonuses. … And once she retired, she would have gone out with bells and whistles, and the IRS commissioner would have made a speech. … It went from that to: You’re under criminal investigation, and your career is ruined, in a week,” said Lerner’s husband, Michael Miles, who sat to her right during the interview.

The beginning of the end started a few days earlier, when acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller asked her to get ahead of a damning inspector general report due the following week. It detailed IRS agents giving heightened scrutiny to nonprofits using words like “tea party,” “patriot” and “limited government spending,” and asking the groups inappropriate questions about their donors and political affiliations.

Lerner, then head of the division handling organizations claiming tax-exempt status, obliged and dropped what turned out to be a political bombshell at an American Bar Association conference, using a planted question to apologize for the treatment of right-leaning nonprofits from IRS “front-line people” in Cincinnati.

Within days, lawmakers in both parties were calling for her resignation, furious that IRS leaders, including Lerner, had withheld information when asked by lawmakers for months about the matter. Top officials also blamed Cincinnati, when, in fact, Washington was also handling the cases.

Called to testify before the House Oversight Committee, Lerner decided to take the Fifth and read a defiant speech declaring her innocence — one that Republicans argued waived her rights. She says she’d do it again.

“By taking the Fifth, Lois put a sign on her back: Kick me,” said Paul Streckfus, editor of the EO Tax Journal. “To the average person, that sounds like, ‘Oh my God, she must be hiding something!’”

Lerner, for her part, assumes she is at the center of the storm because “I was the person who announced it. I assume the other part of it is because I declined to talk, and once I declined to talk, they could say anything they wanted, and they knew I wouldn’t say anything back.”


(continues ... )
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/lois-lerner-breaks-silence-irs-scandal-111181.html#ixzz3TEXbThZc

[boopster]

i read the other 2 pages. the article somewhat berates her but also vilifies her so i have to ask:
if she was innocent why did she plead the 5th?
she was held in contempt of court but what punishment did she receive (reporters who have been held in contempt have spend days, weeks or even months behind bars)?
why did she get the inspector general's report before she had to answer any questions? is this normal procedure?
why was she allowed to retire and collect a pension when she could be accused of a crime against americans?
she and her family have allegedly received hate mail so if I received hate mail would the government protect me?
she i am sure is not the only person in the irs who is guilty of crimes but so far, no one is being held accountable and punished for crimes committed so where is the justice?
the irs continues their ineptitude/coverup at the expense of americans, but they continue to collect salaries and bonuses. they seem to be held to a different standard when considering they send refunds to illegals, they get bonuses for not doing their jobs, they can owe back taxes but do not have their salaries garnished, they refused to trade in their medical insurance for obamacare but they make sure you have to buy it or else penalize you, etc

[Jolie Rouge]

DOJ won’t press contempt charges against Lois Lerner
Michael Cantrell
April 1, 2015 4:31 pm

The Department of Justice has decided it’s not going to press contempt charges against Lois Lerner.

Big shock - right ?

From CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-no-contempt-charges-against-lois-lerner/




In other words, she did her duty for the Obama administration by targeting conservatives who opposed the president, so her reward is a get out of jail free card.

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most corrupt administration to ever sit in the White House.

There is a message that this Administration is sending out by not pursuing charges against Lerner, and it’s that your First Amendment right to voice your political opinions doesn’t matter.

You need to be a good little lap dog and get with the program, or there will be consequences.

Those hired to do the president’s dirty work are obviously protected, which means the egregious violations the administration carries out will likely go unpunished.

I don’t know about you, but I’m totally ready for some fresh blood in the White House.

http://www.youngcons.com/doj-wont-press-contempt-charges-against-lois-lerner/

[boopster]

i will second that

[Jolie Rouge]

Federal Judge Orders Release of Information That Would Tie Obama to IRS Scandal

For the second time this week, a federal judge has tossed a monkey wrench into the mechanism of the Obama caliphate machine. For two years, Cause of Action has been seeking information about the IRS transferring taxpayer information to the White House. Lois Lerner at the IRS was allegedly passing information to Obama adviser Jeanne Lambrew. Sharing confidential taxpayer information is a felony under section 6103 of the tax code.

The ironic thing is the IRS refused to say whether it broke the law in violating section 6103 because answering the question would violate section 6103. The judge, Amy Berman Jackson, who ruled:


“This court questions whether section 6103 should or would shield records that indicate confidential taxpayer information was misused, or that government officials made an improper attempt to access that information.”

The information passed between the IRS and the White House could include the tax returns of the Koch brothers. In fact, several of the records transferred are suspected to be on Obama’s enemies list. The Obama administration was supposed to turn over 2,500 documents relating to the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) were supposed to be turned over at the end of 2014, but never were. Instead the White House and IRS stonewalled just like they have in all of Obama’s scandals.

Dan Epstein, executive director at Cause of Action responded to the decision by the judge:


“As we have said all along, this administration cannot misinterpret the law in order to potentially hide evidence of wrongdoing. No administration is above the law, and we are pleased that the court has sided with us on this important point.”

Here is the rule on taxpayer information:

(a) General rule

Returns and return information shall be confidential, and except as authorized by this title—

(1) no officer or employee of the United States,

(2) no officer or employee of any State, any local law enforcement agency receiving information under subsection (i)(7)(A), any local child support enforcement agency, or any local agency administering a program listed in subsection (l)(7)(D) who has or had access to returns or return information under this section or section 6104 (c), and

(3) no other person (or officer or employee thereof) who has or had access to returns or return information under subsection (e)(1)(D)(iii),subsection (k)(10), paragraph (6), (10), (12), (16), (19), (20), or (21) of subsection (l), paragraph (2) or (4)(B) of subsection (m), orsubsection (n),

shall disclose any return or return information obtained by him in any manner in connection with his service as such an officer or an employee or otherwise or under the provisions of this section. For purposes of this subsection, the term “officer or employee” includes a former officer or employee.


The penalty for a federal employee disclosing taxpayer information illegally is a $5,000 fine, five years in prison or both. The party whose information has been disclosed can also bring a lawsuit in a federal District Court.

http://www.thepcgraveyard.com/2015/08/28/federal-judge-orders-release-of-information-that-would-tie-obama-to-irs-scandal/

[boopster]

now let's not hold our breath waiting for this admin to hand over anything.... except lies

[Jolie Rouge]

Congressmen Erupt After IRS Erases Another Hard Drive That Judge Required Them To Preserve

If there is no penalty for wrongdoing, why should they stop? http://www.weaselzippers.us/252564-congressmen-erupt-after-irs-erases-another-hard-drive/


Via Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com/2016/01/22/chaffetz-and-jordan-erupt-after-irs-erases-another-hard-drive/


Leading members of Congress are ripping IRS officials for erasing a computer hard drive after a federal judge ordered it to be preserved.

“The destruction of evidence subject to preservation orders and subpoenas has been an ongoing problem under your leadership at the IRS,” Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Rep. Jim Jordan, wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen late Thursday.

“It is stunning to see that the IRS does not take reasonable care to preserve documents that it is legally required to protect,” Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, and Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said in the letter to Koskinen.

The IRS recently admitted in court to erasing the hard drive even though a federal judge had issued a preservation related to a Microsoft Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the federal tax agency last year, according to court documents. Microsoft accuses the IRS of inappropriately hiring an outside law firm to audit it and of failing to hand over related documents requested under the FOIA.

Chaffetz and other members of the oversight panel began calling for Koskinen’s impeachment in October. Chaffetz and Jordan in their letter point out that the IRS in March 2014 also destroyed 422 backup tapes containing as many as 24,000 emails sent or received by Lois Lerner, former director of IRS’ Exempt Organizations Division.

[Jolie Rouge]

http://www.charismanews.com/politics/issues/57365-why-john-koskinen-is-refusing-to-testify-at-his-impeachment-hearing

[boopster]

here's an article where the irs says they need congressional approval to stop payments they know are fraudulent https://www.yahoo.com/news/outraged-over-23-billion-wrongful-081500609.html?ref=gs

huh? so the irs thinks they have to accept fraudulent claims? heck i know someone audited by the irs for giving what the irs thought was too much to their church and they had to provide all documents before they could get a refund!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so why do they hand over billions to those who they know or suspect to be fraudulent but question when a person they think gives to much to a christian org gets questioned?????