Paul L. Caron
Dean





Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The IRS Scandal, Day 936

IRS Logo 2Wall Street Journal editorial, John Doe Goes to Washington: Wisconsin’s Illegal Probe Went After National Conservative Figures:

Our readers know that Democratic prosecutors in Wisconsin tried to criminalize the political speech of Governor Scott Walker’s allies, but it turns out their ambitions didn’t stop at the state line. New evidence shows that John Doe investigators were trawling the files they collected via subpoenas and search warrants for information on national conservatives. ...

[P]rosecutors and the GAB collected millions of documents, including personal files, emails and bank statements. ... The John Doe team searched the digital cache for information related to their now-discredited theory of campaign-finance coordination, but they didn’t stop there. The Milwaukee District Attorney’s office, run by Democrat John Chisholm, sent GAB staff a spreadsheet of search terms that included prominent national conservatives. ...

The list also includes search terms for such non-scandalous words as “coordination plan” and “message.” The government snoops created ideological search concepts like “big union bosses” and “big government,” as if such phrases suggest some law-breaking intent. Recall that when the IRS targeted conservative groups for special vetting, it created a “Be On the Lookout” list of key words such as “patriot” and “tea party.” ...

[T]he Milwaukee prosecutors and liberal activists at the GAB abused their authority for partisan purposes. The courts need to hold them accountable.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/12/the-irs-scandal-day-936.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

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