Paul L. Caron
Dean





Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The IRS Scandal, Day 377

IRS Logo 2House Commitee on Oversight & Government Reform Press Release,  After DOJ Dodges Questions, Issa Subpoenas Justice Department for IRS Investigation Targeting Documents:

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., today subpoenaed the Justice Department for documents after Richard Pilger, Director of the Department’s Election Crimes Branch, refused to answer critical questions on the instructions of Justice Department counsel during a transcribed interview on May 6, 2014. The subpoena follows an April 23, 2014 letter from 17 Members of the Committee requesting materials concerning the Department’s involvement in efforts to scrutinize tax-exempt applicants after emails surfaced between Pilger and the Internal Revenue Service’s Lois G. Lerner where they discussed singling out and prosecuting tax-exempt applicants, at the urging of a Democratic Senator.  As the Federal Election Commission, the IRS and the Justice Department looked for ways to minimize the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, a clear outline emerges of government agencies cracking down on constitutionally protected free speech.

In a letter accompanying the subpoena, Chairman Issa stated: “The Department’s refusal to allow Mr. Pilger to testify about matters highly relevant to the Committee’s investigation unnecessarily delays and frustrates the Committee’s Constitutional oversight obligations.  The Department’s obstruction in this regard, coupled with its failure to produce any relevant material to date, leads the Committee to conclude the Department is not seriously committed to cooperating with the Committee’s investigation on the Committee’s terms.”

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/05/the-irs-scandal-18.html

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