Paul L. Caron
Dean





Friday, July 4, 2014

The IRS Scandal, Day 421

IRS Logo 2Wall Street Journal: House Lawmakers Press on IRS Probe:

House lawmakers are planning to step up pressure on the Justice Department to act on a contempt-of-Congress citation against former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner.

Legislators view the citation—passed by the House in May—as a potential pressure point in their broader efforts to force action by the Justice Department in the controversy concerning IRS treatment of conservative tax-exempt organizations, committee aides said. ...

Federal law says the local U.S. attorney has the "duty" to present the contempt citation to a grand jury. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and a year in prison, under an 1850s statute. Republicans on the committee note the statute in demanding that prosecutors pursue the case.

But "it remains unclear whether the 'duty' of the U.S. Attorney…is mandatory or discretionary," a Congressional Research Service report says. Courts generally grant prosecutors wide discretion in deciding which matters to pursue.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/07/the.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

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