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Paul L. Caron
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Monday, December 22, 2014

The IRS Scandal, Day 592

IRS Logo 2American Thinker:  How to Break Through the IRS Stonewall:

The Internal Revenue Service is currently employing a naked Catch-22 strategy in order to prevent disclosure of its potential misdeeds in disclosing private taxpayer information on conservatives to the White House.  The conservative legal group Cause of Action filed a Freedom of Information request in 2012, asking for documents that relate to disclosure, and was stonewalled, so then filed suit.

An Obama appointee, Judge Amy Berman Jackson, ruled for Cause of Action and ordered Treasury to search for them.  The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has disclosed that 2,500 have been found.  This is where the Catch-22 was invoked.  Because it is illegal to share private taxpayer information, the IRS is claiming that it would be illegal for it to reveal evidence of its disclosure of such information.  You have to admire the chutzpah. ...

I suspect there would be as much stonewalling as possible, but with two years in which to act, there could be ample opportunity for Congress to get to the bottom of this, especially since Judge Jackson has made her first ruling and does not seem to want to be flouted.  As the lame-duck Obama administration draws to a close, there will be a potential decision point for Democrats in Congress if the worst suspicions of politicizing the IRS appear to be turning out to be confirmed.  If it looks like evidence will be developed showing that the IRS and White House violated the law, Chick Schumer’s admission that Obamacare was a mistake could look in comparison like a day at the beach for the Obama wing of the party.

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

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

No, no, and once again no. Are these reporters willfully ignorant or are they just not very smart? TIGTA (not the whipping-boy IRS) is NOT claiming that "[b]ecause it is illegal to share private taxpayer information, the IRS is claiming that it would be illegal for it to reveal evidence of its disclosure of such information." It is irrelevant whether sharing the information is legal or illegal. What counts is that the purpose of TIGTA's investigation(s) was to determine whether information was shared with the WH, and if so, whether the sharing was legal or illegal under the IRC. All investigations under the IRC are confidential. It does not matter whether the investigation concluded that there was or was not one or more illegal disclosures. To put it another way, the conclusion of the investigation is irrelevant; the FACT of the investigation, in all its specifics is confidential under the law. And, under the prevailing SCOTUS interpretation of the law, such information cannot be redacted and released.

Posted by: Publius Novus | Dec 22, 2014 3:50:09 PM

It would be nice if we could get coverage from mainstream network news but this issue, like Iraq War III, Afghanistan, and every other issue that reflects poorly on Obama, has been embargoed.

While the Obama administration has been threatening and hostile toward the press Democrats hate, it is important to remember he acts the same way toward the media that supports him. Sadly, there is almost zero push back but rather a complete appeasement.

Posted by: wodun | Dec 22, 2014 12:45:55 PM