IRS anti-Tea Party scandal gets real — senior IRS officials aware of targeting (Update – Chief Counsel knew and targets expanded to groups “educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights”)
William A. Jacobson
Legal Insurrection
5/11/2013
This is getting real.
Yesterday it was just some “low level” employees involved. Now AP is reporting that senior IRS officials were aware of the targeting, via AP, IRS watchdog: Senior IRS officials knew in 2011 tea parties’ tax-exempt status being targeted…
…Remember, you’re not paranoid, they really do hate you. At the highest levels…
Dems demonize #TeaParty and DHS calls it threat so guess who gets targeted by #IRS –> Obama owns this
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) May 11, 2013
Read the entire article at Legal Insurrection.
Also, Report: IRS flagged groups involved in ‘educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights’
…Portions of a draft of that report issued to Congressional aides have made it into the hands of the Associated Press and suggest an even bigger scandal. Not only were words like “tea party” and “patriot” flagged — the AP reports that agents were directed to flag groups “involved in limiting/expanding Government” and “educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.” That leaves public schools out, but really?…
…Obama? No, but somebody’s going under the bus for this one…
Read the whole thing.
…If the IG report substantiates this, then the questions will really start flying for the Obama administration. Why would senior IRS officials remain silent while their agents illegally targeted conservative non-profits with their knowledge? Was it because they were ordered to make it happen? Most government bureaucrats don’t go that far out of their way to innovate, especially in a legal landmine area such as this. And I’d suspect that “senior officials” wouldn’t climb out on that limb unless pressed on it, too…
…Anyone still buying that this wasn’t driven by partisan motives? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?…
Also at Hot Air, 10 crazy things the IRS asked Tea Party groups
…1. We’re gonna need all your direct and indirect communication. “‘Direct and indirect communications’ is profoundly chilling of First Amendment rights, ” said David French, senior counsel for American Center for Law & Justice, which has been representing 27 conservative organizations met with IRS inquisitions. “It’s so vague as to be impossible to comply with.”…
The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight has thrown down an investigative gauntlet to the Internal Revenue Service, demanding that the agency hand over by next Wednesday every communication in its records that includes the words “tea party,” “patriot” or “conservative.”
The committee is also demanding of the IRS that by next Wednesday it provide the committee with the names and titles of all individuals who were involved in targeting conservative non-profit groups for more intensive review of their applications for non-profit status…
…Back on March 23, 2010, the day after Shulman testified, Mark Levin, president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, wrote to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration calling for an investigation of IRS misconduct in its treatment of Tea Party organizations.
Ed Driscoll: ‘The IRS: First they Came for the Tea Partiers, Then They Came for the Jews’
“Whoa: Did the IRS also target Jewish groups for ‘extra-special attention’?,” Twitchy asks…
Sarah Palin: …Americans should remember that this same corrupt IRS will be in charge of enforcing Obamacare…
HOPE AND CHANGE: Shorter IRS: “Sorry about our massive abuse power while mining your data, but trust us with your health records!” at Instapundit
House Leader Eric Cantor To Hold Hearings On IRS Targeting Conservative Groups…
