Paul L. Caron
Dean





Wednesday, August 5, 2015

The IRS Scandal, Day 818

IRS Logo 2Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice, No. 14-1024 (July 31, 2015):

The plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to the defendant, seeking “[a]ll Justice Department records from the Interactive Case Management System detailing the number of hours DOJ Attorney Barbara Bosserman expended on the investigation of the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.” After failing to respond to the plaintiff’s request, or advise the plaintiff of its ability to appeal such a non-response, the plaintiff initiated the instant suit. ...

[T]he Court finds that the time records contain protected attorney work product and that disclosure under FOIA is not required. ...

In the present case, the defendant’s time records contain “Ms. Bosserman’s accounts of the tasks as she performed them, including notes about locations visited, persons consulted, staff briefings, and other case developments.” This material was prepared in contemplation of an ongoing criminal investigation and provided to supervisors to assist them in overseeing the investigation and potential prosecution of certain IRS employees. As a result, according to the defendant, the time records provide “a roadmap of [the DOJ’s] investigative plans” and their disclosure would “prematurely reveal the scope and focus of the investigation.” Thus, “in light of the nature of the document and the factual situation in the particular case, the document can fairly be said to have been prepared or obtained because of the prospect of litigation.’” 

Consistent with the great weight of authority at both the federal and state level, the portions of Ms. Bosserman’s time records detailing the locations visited, persons contacted, staff briefings, and other case developments are protected from disclosure as attorney work product.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/08/the-irs-scandal-day-818.html

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Comments

Rather convenient. We can't tell you if she was working on cases to persecute dissidents because it would reveal the work she was doing on prosecuting dissidents.

Posted by: wodun | Aug 5, 2015 10:15:26 AM