Paul L. Caron
Dean





Saturday, June 4, 2016

The IRS Scandal, Day 1122

IRS Logo 2Washington Examiner, IRS: White House Never Asked for Secret Information on Taxpayers:

The White House never requested any secret taxpayer information from the IRS, the tax agency said in a sworn statement filed with a federal court on Friday, hoping to put to rest lingering questions about whether political operatives tried to peek at confidential records.

IRS lawyer Sarah Tate said she searched all of the likely places where such requests would have been catalogued and concluded that the White House “has never requested or received return information of any taxpayer.” ...

[C]onservative groups had suspected a release had happened after a top White House economic official seemed to discuss the tax status of Koch Industries in 2010. They demanded the IRS disclose whether the White House had ever requested information about Koch or any other taxpayer.

The IRS’s inspector general conducted an investigation but refused to say what it found, so Cause of Action, a pressure group, filed an open-records request and eventually sued the IG and the IRS itself in 2012, demanding they release records.

A federal judge ruled that the IRS did have to search for any records, and the tax agency finally complied earlier this year, leading to Friday’s court filing.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/06/the-irs-scandal-day-1122.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

Publius: "What more can you ask for?"

Answer: The appointment of a Special Prosecutor, since the facts from 2013 to the present (untrue statements, destruction of evidence, 5th Amendment pleas) have clearly demonstrated that IRS employees cannot be trusted to investigate their own.

Posted by: MM | Jun 5, 2016 5:09:19 PM

Mr. AMT: Yes, you're right. Or Dick Cheney could have burglarized the IRS to make it look like Obama did it. But then again, wouldn't we all be better off if we dealt in facts instead of "could haves?" Which is not to say that Ms. Tate could not have missed something. What her affidavit says it that the Service has diligently searched everywhere it is reasonable to believe such materials might be found if they exist. What more can you ask for?

Posted by: Publius Novus | Jun 4, 2016 3:28:59 PM

I wish I had a lot of extra cash hanging around 'cause I'd bet all of it that we're being lied to once again. Obama made it plain he was willing to go after people, using the IRS, in his little speech in Arizona. Also, does anyone really believe Lois Lerner acted independently dealing with the tea party? Come on, lower level employees don't take such a big step without approval from above. Considering what could have happened if someone actually had their conscience kick in (highly unlikely in this administration) it could have proved disastrous before the 2012 election.

No, they knew, or at least someone with power knew.

Posted by: bflat879 | Jun 4, 2016 12:15:18 PM

Was the search conducted by the people who couldn't find Lois Lerner's emails?

Posted by: Carey Gage | Jun 4, 2016 8:06:51 AM

This is not necessarily good news. Someone at the IRS could have leaked taxpayer information to political operatives on his or her own initiative. Which is more out of control: An IRS whose employees violate the law on their own for partisan reasons, or an IRS that violates the law whenever an Administration of the correct party asks?

Posted by: AMTbuff | Jun 4, 2016 6:53:50 AM