Despite attempts by the IRS, many politicians, and the media to pretend that the tea party targeting scandal did not occur, lawsuits from groups affected by the illegal behavior of the IRS are still continuing. Judge Reggie B. Walton recently ruled in favor of some of these groups and ordered the IRS to produce more records relating to who was involved and how the scandal occurred. For more details on how the scandal evolved see here.
Although it has been demonstrated that numerous things Commissioner Koskinen testified to congress have proven to be false, he will likely not face any consequences for his actions. Regarding the attempts to comply with a 2013 congressional subpoena to turn over to congress all communications from Lois Lerner during the time period of the targeting scandal, he told congress in the summer of 2014 that thousands of employee hours and millions of dollars had been spent in the effort to comply with the subpoena. When in fact, virtually nothing was done to comply with it. The IT technology chief issued a preservation order to preserve all emails, but that direction never went to those responsible for recycling (erasing) old hard drives and back up tapes. When the Inspector General drove to that office in Martinsburg Virginia and requested related information, they received some back up tapes with roughly 1,000 emails from Lois Lerner. They told the IG that they had never received any communication from anyone regarding the need to preserve anything related to the targeting scandal. Here’s a link that discusses the timeline for the destruction of evidence relating to the congressional subpoena. So, what happened to the two employees blamed for destroying 422 back up tapes containing the information in the subpoena? Absolutely nothing. They have both been transferred to different positions but still work at the IRS. It appears the only people capable of holding crooked politicians accountable are the voters.
The appeals court for the District of Columbia just ruled against the IRS in a suit brought by various groups that were victims of the IRS targeting scandal. In spite of multiple violations of law, the IRS has failed to fully cooperate with congressional investigators and the DOJ refuses to prosecute those responsible, but the victims have filed suit and based on this decision will still have their day in court. I have outlined the major points of the scandal here for those interested in learning more.
Yes, I know most people are bored stiff watching CSPAN. But, I watched the entire hearing yesterday. I was disgusted by each and every democrat who appeared trying to pretend that the targeting scandal never occurred. Various high level employees at the IRS were involved in the scandal and the cover up and absolutely no one has been held accountable. If you want more details about the scandal, I have blogged about it before and provided links to other sites that have covered this issue in far more detail than I have.
Using the IRS to harass ones political opponents is in my view appalling behavior. As I have mentioned in a previous post, this scandal is not the first instance of this type of abuse of power. Both parties have done it in the past. If there are no consequences for this type of behavior, it will only get worse in the future.
The latest salvo in the feud between the IRS and congress has resulted in an impeachment resolution being introduced in the House of Representatives. For more details on the feud see here.
IRS Commissioner, John Koskinen is having a rough week. He was threatened with contempt of court charges for failure to comply with a previous court order to release recovered emails related to the Lois Lerner scandal. Earlier in the week Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chair of the House Oversight Committee wrote a letter to President Obama requesting that he be removed from office for failure to cooperate with their ongoing investigation into the same subject.
Here’s an update and information on how this could affect you.
Surprise! Surprise! The IRS failed to comply with the judges deadline last Friday. You can read about their lame excuses as to why here. So much for the most transparent administration in history.
A federal judge has given the IRS until Friday to answer questions regarding the now more than 2 year old scandal which became public when Lois Lerner admitted to unfairly targeting conservative groups who had applied for tax exempt status. Congress has not been satisfied with the less than forthcoming responses received from IRS officials in various hearings and as a result has made cuts to the IRS budget. For a blow by blow account check this site.