The IRS Scandal, Day 1241

Judicial Watch Press Release, Democratic Senator Sought Justice Department and IRS Criminal Prosecutions of Conservatives in 2013:

Judicial Watch today released 72 pages of Department of Justice documents revealing email conversations between Department of Justice officials and the staff of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) regarding the criminal prosecution of Tea Party groups for alleged violation of IRS rules.

The conversations were in preparation for a briefing by Justice Department officials for Sen. Whitehouse’s staff and for a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing on April 9, 2013. ...

Judicial Watch obtained the documents through a federal court order in a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (Judicial Watch v Department of Justice (No. 1:14-cv-01239)).

Later, at the Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, Sen. Whitehouse asked why the Department of Justice wasn’t prosecuting political groups on its own, independently of the IRS. ...

The newly released emails show that following the hearing, at the request of Justice Department lawyers, Sen. Whitehouse’s staff sent over examples of the organizations Whitehouse had in mind for prosecution. They included American Future Fund, Crossroads GPS, Americans for Responsible Leadership, Freedom Path, American is Not Stupid, Inc., RightChange.com II, and A Better America Now. All of these are conservative organizations.

The new emails also show collaboration in the Department of Justice with officials in the IRS in preparing for the hearing. The IRS sent a draft of its planned testimony for the hearing to the Justice Department.  Judicial Watch previously exposed a plan by the Obama IRS and Justice Department prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against the very Tea Party and anti-Obama groups that the IRS was targeting.

The Obama administration prosecution effort seemingly ended with the exposure of the IRS targeting in a May 2013 report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).  IRS official Lois Lerner did not reveal the targeting until just before the report’s release, in response to a planted question at an American Bar Association conference.

“The Obama IRS scandal includes abuse of power by Democrats in Congress who wanted to jail Obama’s political opponents to help secure Obama’s reelection,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “And Americans should know that the courts have recently concluded the Obama IRS abuses haven’t stopped – even as we approach another presidential election.”

A 2013 study by scholars from the American Enterprise Institute and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University found that, “had the Tea Party groups continued to grow at the pace seen in 2009 and 2010, and had their effect on the 2012 vote been similar to that seen in 2010, they would have brought the Republican Party as many as 5 – 8.5 million votes compared to Obama’s victory margin of 5 million.”

In March 2010, the IRS decided to single Tea Party groups out for special treatment when applying for tax-exempt status by flagging organizations with names containing “Tea Party,” “patriot,” or “9/12.” For the next two years, the IRS approved the applications of only four such groups, delaying all others while subjecting the applicants to highly intrusive, intimidating requests for information regarding their activities, membership, contacts, Facebook posts, and private thoughts.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 1240 (Sept. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1239 (Sept. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1238 (Sept. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1237 (Sept. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1236 (Sept. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1235 (Sept. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1234 (Sept. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1233 (Sept. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1232 (Sept. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1231 (Sept. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1230 (Sept. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1229 (Sept. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1228 (Sept. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1227 (Sept. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1226 (Sept. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1225 (Sept. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1224 (Sept. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1223 (Sept. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1222 (Sept. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1221 (Sept. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1220 (Sept. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1219 (Sept. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1218 (Sept. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1217 (Sept. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1216 (Sept. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1215 (Sept. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1214 (Sept. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1213 (Sept. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1212 (Sept. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1211 (Sept. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1210 (Aug. 31, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1209 (Aug. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1208 (Aug. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1207 (Aug. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1206 (Aug. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1205 (Aug. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1204 (Aug. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1203 (Aug. 24, 2016) 
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1202 (Aug. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1201 (Aug. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1101-1200 (May 14, 2016 - Aug. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1001-1100 (Feb. 4, 2016 - May 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 901-1000 (Oct. 27, 2015 - Feb. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 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, 201