The IRS Scandal, Day 667

Forbes, Finally, Suing IRS Over All Those Emails, by Robert W. Wood:

Whatever your political views, it is worth reading the press release by Judicial Watch about its latest lawsuit against the IRS. You have to be a kind of Energizer Bunny to keep after the dog-ate-my-homework targeting scandal. Like President Obama, some insist there was not a smidgen of corruption at the IRS. Others aren’t so sure.

The latest Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeks “any and all records related to the destruction of damaged hard drives from IRS employee computers from January 1, 2010, to the present.” The suit was filed in federal court, Judicial Watch v. Internal Revenue Service. Interestingly, the lawsuit was filed even before the latest Hearings of the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform. On February 26, 2015, the Treasury Inspector General said he is investigating possible criminal activity at the IRS. The most disturbing revelation was that the IRS had not even asked for the backup tapes when the ‘hard drive crash’ excuse was first used. If true, that sounds like a game-changer.

After all, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen testified that recovery efforts had been thorough, and the tapes and emails couldn’t be found. Remember all the millions and millions in taxpayer money spent looking? One report said over 250 IRS employees spend 100,000 hours, costing taxpayers at least $14 million. Mr. Koskinen has been characterized as a political fixer who, unlike most IRS Commissioners, has not had a career in the tax industry.

He may want to explain all the multi-million dollar recovery efforts, particularly if somehow they did not include some simple questions! In the meantime, the IRS statements in briefs in the Judicial Watch case showcase what is hard to see as anything but obstruction. The IRS has said repeatedly that “records that pertain to the destruction of damaged hard drives are not maintained in a searchable manner.” The IRS has denied multiple requests, leading to multiple suits. ...

IRS attorneys said the back-up system would be too onerous to search. Yet in recent testimony, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said IRS tech employees told them that IRS management never asked for the tapes.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 666 (Mar. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 665 (Mar. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 664 (Mar. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 663 (Mar. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 662 (Mar. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 661 (Mar. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 660 (Feb. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 659 (Feb. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 658 (Feb. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 657 (Feb. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 656 (Feb. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 655 (Feb. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 654 (Feb. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 653 (Feb. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 652 (Feb. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 651 (Feb. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 650 (Feb. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 649 (Feb. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 648 (Feb. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 647 (Feb. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 646 (Feb. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 645 (Feb. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 644 (Feb. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 643 (Feb. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 642 (Feb. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 641 (Feb. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 640 (Feb. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 639 (Feb. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 638 (Feb. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 637 (Feb. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 636 (Feb. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 635 (Feb. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 634 (Feb. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 633 (Feb. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 632 (Jan. 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 631 (Jan. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 630 (Jan. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 629 (Jan. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 628 (Jan. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 627 (Jan. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 626 (Jan. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 625 (Jan. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 624 (Jan. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 623 (Jan. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 622 (Jan. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 621 (Jan. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 620 (Jan. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 619 (Jan. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 618 (Jan. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 617 (Jan. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 616 (Jan. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 615 (Jan. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 614 (Jan. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 613 (Jan. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 612 (Jan. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 611 (Jan. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 610 (Jan. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 609 (Jan. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 608 (Jan. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 607 (Jan. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 606 (Jan. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 605 (Jan. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 604 (Jan. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 603 (Jan. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 602 (Jan. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 601 (Dec. 31, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 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)