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Paul L. Caron
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Friday, July 29, 2016

The IRS Scandal, Day 1177

IRS Logo 2The Daily Signal, Justice Department Knew of IRS Scandal 2 Years Before Congress but Did Nothing:

Recently unearthed documents reveal that the FBI knew the IRS was unfairly targeting groups because of their conservative politics two years before Congress even heard about the agency’s misconduct.

The revelation has already added fodder to the conservative case to impeach the current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

Almost 300 pages of documents released Thursday and obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act confirm that the IRS subjected conservative groups to increased scrutiny beginning in 2011.

Even though the FBI uncovered the scandal in 2011, the documents show, the Department of Justice chose not to act.

Legal Insurrection, Top IRS Officials Knew Agency Targeted Conservative Groups:

What a shock. Judicial Watch discovered that top IRS officials, including Lois Lerner and Holly Paz, knew that the agency targeted conservative groups before they told Congress.

Washington Examiner, IRS Chief's Reaction After Learning About Tea Party Targeting: 'Oh, S--t':

Then-IRS chief Steven Miller threw his pencil across the room and yelled, "Oh, s—t" when he was told in the spring of 2012 that his agency had been targeting Tea Party groups for heightened security, according to newly released documents.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/07/the-irs-scandal-day-1177.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

Leave it to Publius to act like Day 1,177 of the IRS's long pattern of malfeasance is just Day 1:

From April and May 2014:


"New Emails Show Lois Lerner Was in Contact With DOJ About Prosecuting Tax Exempt Groups"
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/04/16/breaking-new-emails-show-lois-lerner-contacted-doj-about-prosecuting-tax-exempt-groups-n1825292

"The IRS’s Torrent of Abuses"
http://townhall.com/columnists/robertknight/2014/04/18/the-irss-torrent-of-abuses-n1825845

"Judicial Watch Obtains New Documents Showing IRS Targeting Came Directly From Washington D.C."
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/05/14/new-documents-show-irs-targeting-came-directly-from-washington-dc-n1838128

Yep, Lerner, the DOJ, politicians in Washington, DC, they had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. There isn't even the appearance of impropriety anywhere to be found.

What would make a great article in this series: The lengths some hacks go to in order to whitewash IRS malfeasance over the past 6 years.

I think I saw Publius on this blog 2 years ago, attacking sources, making excuses, ignoring evidence that contradicts his "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" position of government malfeasance.

Lerner broke the law, and the DOJ refused to prosecute. It's as simple as that, and it's been proven by the public record.

Posted by: MM | Jul 30, 2016 11:07:27 AM

Allowing the deliberate program of persecution to continue after being made aware of its existence shows complicity. Low level staffers were not in control of this but Democrats always need a scapegoat.

Posted by: Wodun | Jul 30, 2016 9:59:28 AM

What these documents actually show—and what Judicial Watch tries to hide by spinning in plain sight--is that the EO problems the right wing loosely and inaccurately refers to as the "IRS scandal” were NOT initiated by IRS management or anyone above IRS management, such as the WH. According to these documents, IRS Acting Commissioner threw his pencil across the room, accompanied by a Nixonian scatological expletive when he found out about the Cincinnati BOLO. This squares with Lerner’s account, to wit, that she twice directed lower-level Cincinnati EO employees to cease and desist from creating and using the BOLO lists. In other words, these recently released documents are inconsistent with the right-wing narrative that the “scandal” was directed by the WH or Chief Counsel Wilkins, or even Lerner. So Judicial Watch has now confirmed that the original story—that the BOLO lists were created by an EO supervisor in Cincinnati (a registered Republican, BTW)—is true.

Posted by: Publius Novus | Jul 30, 2016 6:08:18 AM