The IRS Scandal, Day 533

USA Today:  Tea Party Loses Court Battle Over Targeting to IRS:

A federal court dismissed two lawsuits against the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, ruling that the tax agency is no longer targeting conservative tax-exempt groups for greater scrutiny.

True the Vote v. IRS Ruling

Linchpins of Liberty v. IRS

"Unless an actual, ongoing controversy exists in this case, this court is without power to decide it," U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled, dismissing one lawsuit brought by True the Vote, a conservative vote-monitoring organization.

True the Vote, an offshoot of the Tea Party-affiliated King Street Patriots, had its application as a social welfare group help up because the IRS suspected it was engaging in direct political election campaigning, which is forbidden under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. IRS agents found that its web site contained "Democratic attacks and Republican/conservative response," according to confidential IRS documents obtained by USA TODAY. 

Walton said the IRS has assured the public that they're no longer screening applications for tax exemptions based on its political leanings, a practice that led to the dismissal of several top IRS officials when it was disclosed by Treasury inspectors last year.

"Thus, the allegedly unconstitutional governmental conduct, which had delayed the processing of the plaintiffs' tax-exempt applications and spawned this litigation, is no longer impacting the plaintiffs," Walton said in a second opinion dismissing a lawsuit brought by Linchpins of Liberty and 40 other groups in 22 states. ...

In a footnote, the judge did leave open the possibility that two groups -- Patriots Educating Concerned Americans Now of Redding, Calif. and the suburban Cincinnati Liberty Township Tea Party -- could still sue because the IRS failed to rule on their tax exemption application within 270 days. The judge gave the IRS 14 days to argue why that element of the lawsuit cannot go forward.

Because he dismissed the lawsuits on procedural grounds, Walton did not rule on the merits of the case. He wrote in a footnote: "The court's opinion should not be interpreted as an assessment of the propriety of the alleged conduct by the defendants."

True the Vote:  Press Release:

"The Court today correctly acknowledged that the IRS targeted True the Vote because of its perceived political beliefs," True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. “Such conduct is reprehensible and should never be acceptable in a free society. Despite this critical finding, we are stunned and disappointed in the court’s ruling which nevertheless dismisses our case. We will be evaluating our legal options and will announce our intent in that regard soon.”

• Blog of the Legal Times:  Judge Dismisses Lawsuits Over IRS Tax-Exempt Controversy
• Breitbart:  True the Vote's Lawsuit Against IRS Gets Tossed by Federal Judge
• Daily Signal:  Judge Sides With IRS, Dismisses Lawsuits by Conservative Groups Over Targeting Scandal
• Daily Signal:  The Wrongdoers at the IRS Get Away Scot-Free
• Forbes:  IRS Gets Big Win In Court As Judge Dismisses Tea Party Targeting Cases
• The Hill:  Federal Judge Tosses IRS Lawsuits
• Huffington Post:  Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against IRS by Conservative Groups
• New Orleans Times-Picayune:  Judge Dismisses Two Tea Party Group Suits Against IRS
• Newsmax:  Federal Judge Dismisses Tea Party Lawsuits Against IRS
• Politico:  IRS Notches Legal Victory in Tea Party Cases
• Twitchy:  Outrage: Court Acknowledges That IRS Targeted True the Vote, Dismisses Lawsuit Anyway

• The IRS Scandal, Day 532 (Oct. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 531 (Oct. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 530 (Oct. 21, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 529 (Oct. 20, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 528 (Oct. 19, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 527 (Oct. 18, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 526 (Oct. 17, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 525 (Oct. 16, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 524 (Oct. 15, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 523 (Oct. 14, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 522 (Oct. 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 521 (Oct. 12, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 520 (Oct. 11, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 519 (Oct. 10, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 518 (Oct. 9, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 517 (Oct. 8, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 516 (Oct. 7, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 515 (Oct. 6, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 514 (Oct. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 513 (Oct. 4, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 512 (Oct. 3, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 511 (Oct. 2, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 510 (Oct. 1, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 509 (Sept. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 508 (Sept. 29, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 507 (Sept. 28, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 506 (Sept. 27, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 505 (Sept. 26, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 504 (Sept. 25, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 503 (Sept. 24, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 502 (Sept. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 501 (Sept. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)