The IRS Scandal, Day 734

Forbes, IRS Not Grossly Negligent In Disclosure Of Exempt Application, by Peter J. Reilly:

The order from the United States District Court of Colorado in the ongoing lawsuit Citizens Awareness Project Inc versus Internal Revenue Service is giving me flashbacks.  The case relates to one of the aspects of the perennial, interminable IRS scandal, on Day 732 by TaxProf count as I write this. The lawsuit is in reaction to the improper release of tax-exempt applications to ProPublica.  That story showed up on Day 5 (May 14, 2013) as ProPublica joined in piling on the IRS with a story titled IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups.  The story actually went back to December 2012. ...

As I looked into the background a bit, it struck me that Citizens Awareness Project could well be a great example of what was upsetting Lois Lerner so much – i.e. dark money using 501(c)(4) to game campaign financing disclosure.

The IRS is not contesting that it screwed up when it released a copy of CAP’s Form 1024.  ProPublica had requested the applications of 67 organizations.  They were organizations that had reported substantial expenditures to the FEC.  On October 16, 2012 CAP reported paying Stephen Clouse & Associates  $993,916.79 for printing, production and postage in opposition to Barrack Obama. The expenditure caught a little coverage with this piece titled Mystery group spends $1 million opposing Obama. ...

The IRS admitted that it was wrong to have released CAP’s 1024 that was still in process, so presumably, it would have cut the organization a check for a grand without a lawsuit.  If the actual damages don’t break $1,000, then presumably CAP does not get to recover the costs of the action, which I suspect are a bit more than the potential claim for actual damages of $4,819.78 that the Court still sees as being in play. ...

Sophia Brown was the IRS employee charged with responding to ProPublica’s request.  Apparently she failed to check whether CAP’s Form 1024 had been ruled on yet.  Since it had not been ruled on, it should not have been released. The Court did not see any gross negligence here.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 733 (May 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 732 (May 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 731 (May 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Two Years And Counting (May 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 729 (May 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 728 (May 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 727 (May 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 726 (May 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 725 (May 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 724 (May 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 723 (May 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 722 (May 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 721 (Apr. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 720 (Apr. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 719 (Apr. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 718 (Apr. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 717 (Apr. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 716 (Apr. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 715 (Apr. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 714 (Apr. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 713 (Apr. 22, 2015)
• 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)