The IRS Scandal, Day 713

News Max, IRS Tea Party-Targeting Scandal Continues:

If the tea party and other conservative groups had been fully active in the critical months leading up to the 2012 election, would Mitt Romney be president today? The public will, of course, never know for certain.

Thanks to Judicial Watch, however, the American people do now know the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted right-leaning organizations applying for tax-exempt status and prevented them from having their voice heard during that period. ...

In their lawsuit, Judicial Watch is asking the courts to order the IRS to do the following:

• Conduct a search for any and all records responsive to (Judicial Watch’s) FOIA requests.
• Produce, by a certain date, any and all nonexempt records responsive to (Judicial Watch’s) FOIA requests and a Vaughn index of any responsive records withheld under claim of exemption.
• Enjoin the [RS from continuing to withhold any and all non-exempt records responsive to the plaintiff’s FOIA requests.

This targeting of donors and other right-leaning groups is intriguing in light of a new Lerner email Judicial Watch just released.

The email discloses that the IRS audited tax-exempt political groups using a separate investigation arm (under Lerner’s control), the Review of Operations Unit. Lerner wrote: "Also, we often use the ROO [Review of Operations Unit] to do initial research. Before starting audits — they don’t touch taxpayers, but can look at publicly available info about orgs."

These documents should dispel any remaining doubt that the Obama administration used tea party applications to do opposition research on individual citizens and groups opposed to President Obama’s policies.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 712 (Apr. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 711 (Apr. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 710 (Apr. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 709 (Apr. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 708 (Apr. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 707 (Apr. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 706 (Apr. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 705 (Apr. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 704 (Apr. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 703 (Apr. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 702 (Apr. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 701 (Apr. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• 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)