Lisa Myers, Rich Gardella and Talesha Reynolds
NBC News
5/28/2013
Additional scrutiny of conservative organizations’ activities by the IRS did not solely originate in the agency’s Cincinnati office, with requests for information coming from other offices and often bearing the signatures of higher-ups at the agency, according to attorneys representing some of the targeted groups. At least one letter requesting information about one of the groups bears the signature of Lois Lerner, the suspended director of the IRS Exempt Organizations department in Washington.
Jay Sekulow, an attorney representing 27 conservative political advocacy organizations that applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status, provided some of the letters to NBC News. He said the groups’ contacts with the IRS prove that the practices went beyond a few “front line” employees in the Cincinnati office, as the IRS has maintained.
“We’ve dealt with 15 agents, including tax law specialists — that’s lawyers — from four different offices, including (the) Treasury (Department) in Washington, D.C.,” Sekulow said. “So the idea that this is a couple of rogue agents in Cincinnati is not correct.”…
…[Lerner] was put on administrative leave at the end of last week after reportedly refusing to resign at Obama administration’s request. She is continuing to collect federal paychecks on her almost $180,000 annual salary, though at least one Republican senator, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, is urging the agency to speed up the process and fire her.
The complete article is at Open Channel at NBC News.
H/T Stephen Green:
…The White House now appears willing to sacrifice an IRS department head to the gods of Please Make This Go Away, which forces one to wonder how high the rot really goes.
In related news, Lerner is now expected to be able to testify on what sort of exhaust system is used under a Greyhound.
Related: At ACLJ’s website, The IRS and President Obama’s Ongoing Targeting of Conservative Groups
As the IRS continues its unconstitutional targeting of conservative citizen-led groups, President Obama (who unquestionably knows about the targeting now) has done absolutely nothing to stop it…
Video at Breitbart: Tea Party Lawyer: IRS Targeting Goes Above Lerner
