The IRS Scandal, Day 1356: Reflections On The End Of My Daily Coverage

Peter J. Reilly (Forbes), TaxProf Calls An End To Day By Day IRS Scandal Coverage:

Paul Caron, the TaxProf, dean of the tax blogosphere has called the end of an era.  We were all distracted with the inauguration, an admittedly important even, but given the number of peaceful transitions of power we have had since 1800, well 1860 anyway, not really that remarkable.  Professor Caron declared that he was ending daily coverage of the IRS scandal with Day 1352.

His announcement is particularly meaningful to me. Check out the lead paragraph:

In response to inquiries from Peter J. Reilly (Forbes) and Brian Leiter (University of Chicago Law School), I previously discussed when I would stop my daily coverage of the IRS Scandal.

Professor Caron explained

My answer is the same as it has been throughout the scandal: I will stop when the daily commentary in the press and blogosphere on the scandal (from both the right and the left) ends. At several points in the scandal, as I was running out of content, a new chapter would unfold and my daily coverage would continue.

At any rate, his mention of me in this context gives me a sense of having really arrived in the tax blogosphere after over seven years since my very first post. ...

I remain the last IRS scandal agnostic. Frankly, I don't think you needed a big conspiracy to account for the IRS getting its works gummed with exempt applications from groups calling themselves a party but claiming they were mostly not political.  On the other hand, both Joe Kristan and George Will think there is a scandal and that is a tough pair to be dismissive of. ...

In October 2015 I wrote two posts in which I indicated that the quality of the TaxProf's series was being diluted, by the addition of extraneous matter. ... The core scandal had been about difficulties processing applications for exempt status. Conservative groups were not getting their exempt status revoked for single statements.

There were quite a few strands of stories that were legitimately connected to the core scandal. Lois Lerner's emails, the congressional investigations, emails lost on servers, how quickly Koskinen moved the investigation on are examples. But extraneous material started creeping in. ...

It seems that the IRS Scandal even more than usual is something that is viewed through ideological glasses. ...

I reached out for some comments on the closing of the day by day scandal coverage.  Joe Kristan refereed me to his post, which ironically became Day 1353.

Thanks to TaxProf Paul Caron for staying on this undercovered story. The IRS and Lois Lerner admitted the targeting on Day 1. People have been trying to walk that back ever since, either by moving the goal posts (“the President was never implicated”) or by pretending the targeting never happened. The tax agency taking on itself the task of targeting political organizations is scarier than it doing so at the bidding of the White House.

Now we wait to see whether the new President will disarm the IRS, or wield it.

Robert Flach, the Wandering Tax Pro wrote me:

I did not follow the professor's coverage. I agreed with you that he "jumped the shark" way back. I felt he was truly beating a dead horse.

I personally strongly oppose the Tea Party and the religious right - but I am also no fan of the Commissioner and felt he mismanaged the IRS. ...

Paul Streckfus of the EO Tax Journal wrote me:

It's probably time, even if Lois Lerner is the gift that keeps on giving. What's interesting is whether Trump wants to keep the scandal alive. The wild card is the House Freedom Caucus. They probably expect Sessions to open another investigation of Lois Lerner. If so, Caron may have stopped his countdown too soon!

The scandal has really devastated the IRS exempt function.  The groundwork for the next scandal has been laid in this one. The next scandal will be about how nobody is watching exempt organizations creating a playground for scoundrels.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 1353: Will The Trump IRS End, Or Embrace, Targeting Of Disfavored Groups? (Jan. 21, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1352: The End Of My Daily Coverage (Jan. 20, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1351: Two Federal Judges Order Five Officials To Preserve Emails Sought In FOIA Lawsuits; Judicial Watch Fears Another Lois Lerner Situation As Obama Administration Leaves Power (Jan. 19, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1350: Even Trump Adviser Buys Myth Of 'Scandal-Free Administration,' Despite IRS, Five Other Scandals (Jan. 18, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1349: Peggy Noonan On The Obama Presidency And The IRS Scandal (Jan. 17, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1348: How The Trump Administration Can Stop IRS Abuse Of Political Groups (Jan. 16, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1347: IRS Chief Counsel William Wilkins Resigns, Effective Jan. 20; GOP Questioned His Role In Tea Party Targeting (Jan. 15, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1346: The Trump Dossier, The Left, And Tea Party Targeting (Jan. 14, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1345: Donald Trump, The Intelligence Community, And Lois Lerner (Jan. 13, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1344: Democrats Remind Jeff Sessions AG Enforces 'Every Law,' Yet Were Silent When DOJ Declined To Prosecute Lois Lerner (Jan. 12, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1343: IRS Let Lois Lerner Off The Hook By Paying $12 Million For Email Backup System It Did Not Use (Jan. 11, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1342: New Chair of House Oversight Committee Pledges To Increase IRS Accountability (Jan. 10, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1341: Another View Of The Republicans' Reactivation Of The Holman Rule And Lois Lerner (Jan. 9, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1340: Tax Professors Discuss The Future Of Tax Administration And Enforcement After 'What The Media Often Refer To As The 'IRS Targeting Scandal'' (Jan. 8, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1339: House GOP Reactivates 'Holman Rule,' Would Have Permitted Reducing Lois Lerner's Pay To $1 (Jan. 7, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1338: Commissioner Koskinen Says Trump Transition Team Has No 'Axes To Grind' Against IRS (Jan. 6, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1337: The IRS Is The Third Biggest 'Tax Offender Of 2016' (Jan. 5, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1336: Fragmented Oversight Of Nonprofits In The United States (Jan. 4, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1335: Politics, Disclosure, And State Law Solutions For 501(c)(4) Organizations (Jan. 3, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1334: The IRS’s Diminished Role In Overseeing Tax-Exempt Organizations (Jan. 2, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1333: Republicans Weasel Out Of Impeaching IRS Commissioner John Koskinen (Jan. 1, 2017)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1332: The House GOP's Ridiculous Impeachment Crusade (Dec. 31, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1331: Rep. Jim Jordan Offers Resolution To Impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen (Dec. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1330: House Republicans And Democrats Forge Rare Bipartisan Agreement To Block Impeachment Of IRS Commissioner (Dec. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1329: Did The IRS's Targeting Of Conservative Groups Lead It To Grant Tax-Exempt Status To 'Hate Groups'? (Dec. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1328: House's Referral Back To Judiciary Committee Is Likely To Kill Koskinen Impeachment (Dec. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1327: Delay In Koskinen Impeachment Is Discordant Note In Kumbaya Between Trump And GOP Congress (Dec. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1326: Only 72 House Republicans Voted Against Delay In Impeachment Of IRS Commissioner (Dec. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1325: House Impeachment Leader Grills Witness Over Giving Koskinen 'Excellence In Public Service' Award (Dec. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1324: Ways & Means Committee Seeks Information From IRS About Continued Targeting Of Organizations Based On Political Beliefs — This Time, Pro-Israel Groups (Dec. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1323: Tea Party Group Decries IRS's 'Latest Bob And Weave To Avoid Accountability' (Dec. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1322: Government Denies That It Continues To Harass Tea Party Group (Dec. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1321: Maureen Dowd, Donald Trump, And The IRS Scandal (Dec. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1320: How The GOP Establishment Teamed With Nancy Pelosi To Table Impeachment Vote On IRS Commissioner (Dec. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1319: How Will The Koskinen Saga End? (Dec. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1318: More On Koskinen And Trump (Dec. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1317: Koskinen Says He Is Willing To Serve Another Term As IRS Commissioner If Trump Wants To Reappoint Him (Dec. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1316: IRS Commissioner Koskinen Says Resignation Did Not Come Up In Meeting With Trump Transition Team (Dec. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1315: Bureaucratic Bumbling Or Targeting Of Conservatives? (Dec. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1314: How The Trump Administration Can Stop IRS Abuse of Political Groups (Dec. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1313: The Koskinen-Trump Connection (Dec. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1312: Impeachment Averted, But Will Koskinen Resign Or Be Fired By President Trump? (Dec. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1311: The IRS 'Scandal' Was Part Of GOP's Strategy To Bog Down Obama Administration (Dec. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1310: Rep. Jim Jordan Is 'Frustrated' By House Passing On IRS Chief Koskinen's Impeachment (Dec. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1309: How Trump Got Yanked Into GOP's IRS Impeachment Fight (Dec. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1308: House Votes To Send Koskinen Impeachment Back To Judiciary Committee (Dec. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1307: Group Seeks Summary Judgment On Claim That Rev. Rul. 2004-6 Is So Vague That It Allows The IRS To Target Conservative Groups (Dec. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1306: Government Rejects Claim That Rev. Rul. 2004-6 Allows The IRS To Target Conservative Groups (Dec. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1305: Group Seeks Summary Judgment On Claim That Rev. Rul. 2004-6 Is So Vague That It Allows The IRS To Target Conservative Groups (Dec. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1304: 'The IRS Has Never Stopped Targeting Conservatives' (Dec. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1303: Group Sues IRS For Failure To Produce Communications With Joint Committee on Taxation (Dec. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal,  Day 1302: The 'Corrupt' IRS Is Still Persecuting The Tea Party (Dec. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1301: If Koskinen Is Impeached Or Fired, Trump Could Appoint New IRS Commissioner To Go Easy On His Taxes (Nov. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1201-1300 (Aug. 22, 2016 - Nov. 29, 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, 2013)