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Paul L. Caron
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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The IRS Scandal, Day 580

IRS Logo 2Judicial Watch:  Judicial Watch Lawsuit Forces Release of DOJ Emails Showing IRS’s Lois Lerner Met with DOJ Officials Just Before 2010 Elections:

Judicial Watch today released internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents revealing that former IRS official Lois Lerner had been in contact with DOJ officials about the possible criminal prosecution of tax-exempt entities two full years before what the IRS conceded was its “absolutely inappropriate” 2012 targeting of the organizations. According to the newly obtained documents, Lerner met with top Obama DOJ Election Crimes Branch officials as early as October 2010. ...

“These new documents dramatically show how the Justice Department is up to its neck in the IRS scandal and can’t be trusted to investigate crimes associated with the IRS abuses that targeted Obama’s critics.  And it is of particular concern that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which would ordinarily investigate the IRS abuses, is now implicated in the IRS crimes.  No wonder the Department of Justice under Eric Holder has done no serious investigation of the Obama IRS scandal,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is shameful how Establishment Washington has let slide by Obama’s abuse of the IRS and the Justice Department.  Only as a result of Judicial Watch’s independent investigations did the American people learn about the IRS-DOJ prosecution discussions of Obama’s political enemies and how the IRS sent, in violation of law, confidential taxpayer information to the FBI and DOJ in 2010.  Richard Nixon was impeached for less.”

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/12/the-irs-2.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

"Wodun–First, LL’s contact with DOJ was in 2010, not 2013. By the time of the idiotic planted question at the ABA Tax Section convention, almost more than TWO YEARS had passed since the IRS-DOJ consultations on perjury by exempt org applicants. "

Go back and check her emails from the day before she planted the question. LL sent an email to the DOJ the day before.

There are emails from LL to the DOJ in 2010 and 2013.

"It is not illegal for the IRS to consult with DOJ on whether to bring a tax prosecution."

It is when the basis for that referral is being on Obama's enemies list.

Posted by: wodun | Dec 12, 2014 1:40:38 PM

Bruce–No, contacts between LL and DOJ were not per se illegal. As with most things, context is important. The context here involved requests by Congress for investigation of whether exempt org applicants were lying on their Forms 1023 and 1024. 26 U.S.C. § 6103(h) & (i) allow disclosures from the IRS to DOJ in such circumstances. All criminal tax prosecutions in the U.S. begin with consultation between DOJ and IRS. In the great majority of instances, IRS refers a case for prosecution from its Criminal Investigation division to its Office of Chief Counsel and thence to the DOJ’s Tax Division, since the Tax Division is responsible for most criminal tax matters (with the remainder assigned to the Criminal Division). 28 C.F.R. § 0.70(b). The contact concerning the exempt orgs was initiated by the Criminal Division–as opposed to the IRS. And of course, no prosecutions were filed, which indicates that either the IRS or DOJ or both concluded that there were no prosecutable violations.

Wodun–First, LL’s contact with DOJ was in 2010, not 2013. By the time of the idiotic planted question at the ABA Tax Section convention, almost more than TWO YEARS had passed since the IRS-DOJ consultations on perjury by exempt org applicants. Second, there is no record of any criminal prosecution of any exempt org–liberal or conservative–for perjury. Third, the IRS refers significantly more cases to DOJ for criminal tax prosecutions each year than DOJ accepts for prosecution. It is not illegal for the IRS to consult with DOJ on whether to bring a tax prosecution. The process for filing a criminal tax is very rigorous and results in many potential cases being rejected by the IRS itself, by the Office of Chief Counsel, and by DOJ. Only cases with a very high probability of conviction are accepted by DOJ and actually prosecuted. Last, when either IRS or DOJ acquires information that a federal crime has been committed, it is their obligation to investigate such information. Some such information proves out and is prosecutes. In many more cases, the information does not support an investigation or a prosecution. In neither situation is any misconduct by IRS or DOJ indicated. In fact, the failure to evaluate information suggesting the commission of a federal crime would constitute misfeasance or nonfeasance.

Posted by: Publius Novus | Dec 11, 2014 6:59:33 AM

These latest revelations are from 2010 but it is important to remember that in 2013, the day before she planted a question at a press conference, she was in talks with the DOJ to throw people off Obama's enemies list in jail in order to intimidate non-Democrats from participating in our democratic process.

At the time of her contacts with the DOJ in 2013, the IG report had been finished and the IRS claims that the illegal actions had already stopped. Clearly this was not the case.

That these actions continued after the IG report shows that Obama's IRS is complicit in the intentional persecution of non-Democrat non profit groups based on who Democrats view as their enemies.

Posted by: wodun | Dec 10, 2014 2:45:51 PM

Richard Nixon was impeached?

Well, anyway, was Lerner's contact with the DOJ per se inappropriate, or does it depend on the context?

Posted by: Bruce | Dec 10, 2014 10:39:43 AM