Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart.com
Big Government
18 Jul 2013
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform resumed hearings on the IRS scandal Thursday, featuring two key witnesses: Cincinnati-based IRS employee Elizabeth Hofacre, and Washington-based IRS lawyer Carter Hull, who recently retired after 48 years of service.
While both said they were unaware of any political motivations or White House involvement, Carter said the treatment of Tea Party cases had been unusual, and Hofacre said she had been “deeply offended” by attempts to blame rogue agents in Cincinnati.
Hull noted that even after he had recommended that certain Tea Party applications be approved, the approval was held up for further review by the office of the Chief Counsel of the IRS and other high-level officials. In his experience, he testified, that had never happened in nearly half a century of work at the IRS…
…Hofacre testified that she had not been asked to scrutinize “progressive” or liberal groups, and that she had been solely focused on groups with “Tea Party,” “Patriot,” or “9/12” in their names. She subsequently asked to be transferred to a different assignment.
The complete article, with video, is at Big Government.
Related: IRS official testifies that political appointee’s office involved in Tea Party screening
…Carter Hull, a recently retired tax law specialist, gave his first-hand account during testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Hull had earlier come under scrutiny after an employee in the Cincinnati IRS office told congressional investigators that he had been micro-managing her review of Tea Party groups’ applications for tax-exempt status. But Hull revealed that he, too, was taking orders from up the chain of command.
Hull specifically said he was told to forward documents to an adviser for embattled IRS official Lois Lerner — who first revealed the targeting of Tea Party groups and has since refused to answer lawmakers’ questions. But Hull said he was then told to send documents to the Office of Chief Counsel for their review — which is led by political appointee William Wilkins…
Rep. Jason Chaffetz unloaded on the White House and a top Democratic colleague Thursday over the idea that House Republicans should drop their investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups…
…“When you have the spokesman for the president of the United States make a definitive statement that it was two rogue agents, and start poking at these people who have no power to do anything about it, that is wrong,” Chaffetz continued. “How dare anybody suggest we’re at the end of this? This is the beginning of this. We have to make an example out of it, we need to get to the bottom of it and quite frankly I’m tired of this administration having to keep having these hearings.”
“We’ve done it on Fast and Furious, we’re doing it on Benghazi, we’re doing it on the IRS — why? Each time, there’s a pattern. ‘Nothing here.’ Always ‘just a couple people.’ That’s not true,’” he said…
Christine O’Donnell told personal tax records accessed, possibly compromised
…special agent, Dennis Martel, told O’Donnell that the records were accessed by an official in the Delaware state government on the same day she revealed she would be running for Senate. Also that same day — March 9, 2010 — a tax lien was placed on a house believed to be hers. O’Donnell, however, no longer owned the home…
Update: GretaWire: OK – this is a bit weird: Pres Obama’s appointee at the IRS who is in the spotlight over targeted tea party applications also represented Rev Jeremiah Wright
I lifted the quote below from today’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal and it warrants further scrutiny. Who is this lawyer? As the President’s appointee at the IRS what was his involvement in the targeting of conservative groups (if any?) It may be totally innocent or just a coincidence but it deserves scrutiny (remember, transparency?)
By the way, lawyers often do pro bono (free) work for POOR people or POOR organizations. I don’t know the finances of Rev Wright’s church but the Church does not appear impoverished to me and if a lawyer or law firm is looking to do pro bono work, I do know there are plenty of really impoverished people and organizations that could use free legal help from a big fancy Washington, DC law firm.
This is not to say lawyers don’t do pro bono work when there is some fascinating or novel legal issue that is an intellectual challenge and thus fun, but I don’t see the Rev Wright legal issue in that category. Instead it looks rather mundane. So…I don’t buy what Wilkins says below but I could be dead wrong.
Bottom line – transparency is needed here…
Read the whole thing.
