Time to get this into the hands of a special prosecutor with subpoena power and a grand jury, rights were violated we need answers as to who was behind it, who ordered it, who knew about it and proper sanctions applied to them. Jim Jordan: A Special Prosecutor for the IRS March 19, 2014 7:22 p.m. ET The House Oversight Committee's investigation of the IRS is at an inflection point. The president's congressional supporters realize that the administration's version of the agency's targeting of conservative nonprofits seeking tax-exempt statussuch as blaming local officials in the Cincinnati office or claiming that liberal groups were victimized along with conservative groupsis nonsense. Instead of debating the substance, they have resorted to procedural antics and misleading rhetoric. I have spent a considerable amount of time and energy on the investigationwhich included 38 daylong interviews of IRS and Treasury employees ranging from line employees in Cincinnati to the IRS commissioner to the chief of staff of the U.S. Treasury. The real news has been revealed at the Lois Lerner hearing on March 5 and in the report of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 11: "Lois Lerner's Involvement in the IRS Targeting of Tax-Exempt Organizations." The evidence brought to light in that hearing and report completely discredited Ms. Lerner's claims about her involvement in what went on. It also eviscerated the notion that liberal and conservative groups were targeted. When Ms. Lerner appeared before Congress in May 2013, she made this statement: "I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations." But Ms. Lerner, we discovered, forwarded confidential taxpayer information to her personal email account in early May 2013, which is a violation of IRS rules. About the infamous "Be on the Lookout" targeting lista document used to identify conservative groups for additional scrutinyshe told Congress that the criteria for screening tax-exempt groups for extra scrutiny never changed. In fact, she personally ordered it changed in July 2011 according to documents and testimony received by the committee. Ms. Lerner was most certainly driven by politics. One email of June 11, 2011, shows that she directed her subordinate to focus on the issues surrounding the application of Karl Rove's group, Crossroads GPS. In another email of Feb. 1, 2011, she frets about the Supreme Court "overturning the ban on corporate spending" as it applies to nonprofits. (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission also overturned the ban on union political spending, but she expressed no concern about that.) Emails and testimony that we confronted Ms. Lerner with showed her saying that the tea party is "very dangerous," ordering a "multitiered review" (read: delay) of the cases, and managing the optics of her operation so it would not be revealed as a political project. Last May, and again on March 5 of this year, Ms. Lerner refused to answer the committee's questions about the IRS treatment of tax-exempt groups, asserting her right under the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. Yet we learned on March 6 in reporting by this newspaper that she had previously given an interview to the Justice Department and, according to her lawyer, spoke with no grant of immunity. Ms. Lerner's lawyer claims she gave an interview to the Justice Department because she did not believe the Oversight Committee would treat her fairly. More likely, the reason is because Justice is friendly territory. The lead investigator is a substantial Obama campaign contributor, and Justice has already leaked that it doesn't expect to prosecute anyone. As to the claim that liberal groups were also victimized, our committee investigation has yet to hear from a single progressive group that received the systematic scrutiny and harassment faced by the tea party and other conservative groups. Congress is charged with oversight of the executive branch. The House Oversight Committee will not stop until we have all the answers, although I fully expect continued obstruction from the Obama administration and its foot soldiers in the House. When Congress is thwarted in our attempts to get answersas is clearly the case given Ms. Lerner's willingness to speak with the Justice Department but not to the public's elected representativeswe have an obligation to hold accountable those hiding the facts. Contempt of Congress is a power the House of Representatives exercised toward only five individuals in the last 30 years. The relevant statute states that any person who "willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry" may be held in contempt. Ms. Lerner's actions easily rise to a level worthy of contempt and Congress's institutional integrity demands nothing less. Additionally, it is necessary to appoint a special prosecutor. Mr. Holder called the IRS matter "outrageous and unacceptable" and ordered a Justice Department investigation to be conducted in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No one can have confidence in this investigation, started by a politically appointed attorney general and led by a campaign contributor to his boss. A special prosecutor, uncompromised by partisan political winds, provides hope of uncovering what happened at the IRS. As Elijah Cummings, my Democratic colleague on the Oversight Committee, said on May 22, 2013the day of the committee's first IRS hearinggetting the truth and restoring trust must be paramount. "This is more important than one election," he explained. "The revelations that have come forward so far provides us with a moment pregnant for transformation; not transformation for a moment, but for generations to come and generations yet unborn." I hope Mr. Cummings and fellow members of his party will join me in acknowledging the time has come for the appointment of an independent and unbiased special prosecutor. Mr. Jordan, a Republican congressman from Ohio, serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government. He is also chairman of its subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579439402001180792
Republicans opposed reviving the Special Prosecutor law during Dubya (naturally). Sorry, no take-backs. BTW, it's at an "inflection point", because Darrell "Grand Theft Auto" Issa...blew it. Now guys like Jordan want a "do-over" with an SP. Again, sorry, Republicans (and Obama Deranged hoping for an impeachment off this)....you lost.
Agreed. We need to get to the bottom of this. If someone can just choose not to answer,and get away with it...the entire thing falls apart.
LOLZ - Yes, let's get Holder to appoint another Obama donor to "investigate" the New McCarthyites' political witch hunt at the IRS. Better to handle this in court outside Congress and the White House. It will be interesting to see if Lois Lerner pulls another Susan McDougal. I bet she'd look just as good in an orange jumpsuit.
So in other words, it hasn't been proven that Lerner violated anyone's rights, and any evidence that she did is weak at best.
I think he said that Lerner has been copping the Fifth and demanding immunity from prosecution. She's just doing what any other innocent person would do - hide their innocence.
So after nearly a year of "investigations" by Issa's committee, they still haven't found enough to prosecute anyone and now think that ANYONE would be dumb enough to fall for the "special prosecutor" ploy? The Republicans sank that ship a long time ago. If anything, there should be a SP on Issa's behavior during his series of witch hunts. He gets paid to legislate not to play Inquisitor General of the Republican's ongoing GOP Inquisition.
It's called discrimination. That discrimination violated this law. The IRS employees specifically targeted and willfully deprived conservative groups of privileges granted under the law.
Issa was blocked on information requested and witnesses. Lots of stonewalling and non-cooperation. An Independent Special Prosecutor could cut through all that. Let me ask you this: Were you supportive of a Special Independent Prosecutor for the Valerie Plame case.....even though Richard Armitage, who was no friend of Bush's, at the Pentagon had already admitted he was the one who leaked?
The House Oversight Committee hasn't the power to "prosecute" anyone. The whole country is watching as the DOJ simply becomes Obama's KGB. They will vote accordingly in November. Just remember, what the Democrats make acceptable today can and will be used against them when power changes hands in 2014/2016.
Silly conservatives, there is still that bridge thing in NJ to settle, obviously if there is a need for special anything its there... The IRS only steals our money, blocking traffic, that's some serious business...
Let me ask a question. I do not know the answer, but doesn't the house control the purse strings? Can't they not fund the DOJ until they get what they want?
The Dems know that a special prospector would put Obummer into impeachment proceedings........he makes Nixon look like a choirboy..........
http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-tea-party-the-irs-scandal-and-the-actual-facts-of-the-case/ A May 14 draft report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that none of the 296 questionable applicants had been denied: “For the 296 potential political cases we reviewed, as of December 17, 2012, 108 applications had been approved, 28 were withdrawn by the applicant, none had been denied, and 160 cases were open from 206 to 1,138 calendar days (some crossing two election cycles).” In fact, the only known 501(c)(4) applicant whose request for tax-exempt status was recently denied happens to be a progressive group: the Maine chapter of Emerge America, which trains Democratic women to run for office. Although the group did no electoral work, and didn’t participate in independent expenditure campaign activity either, its partisan nature disqualified it from being categorized as working for the “common good.” Some of the organizations that did get 501(c)(4) status include: - The Louisville Tea Party, who published a list of “officially tea party endorsed candidates for the 2011 Kentucky primary.” They also published an article headined “The Rationale for Romney-Ryan,” arguing that Tea Partiers should vote for the Republican candidate. - The Katy Tea Party Patriots, who actually ran an “Oust Obama 2012” campaign, organizing block-watching with the Fort Bend GOP and phone-banking against Obama at GOP headquarters in Sugarland and Houston, Texas. Then there were others, such as the Central Valley Tea Party Inc., that won the much more politically restrictive IRS 501(c)(3) tax status in 2009. It should be noted that 501 (c)(3) status explicitly prohibits any partisan political activity... Do you still believe that political activity is not the primary activity of the Tea Party? If it is, then the IRS would have been 100% correct to withhold 501(c)(4) status. - - - Updated - - - That's an assertion you'll need to back up with some specifics.
News from kook blogs? Really? nationalmemo.com registrar whois Registrant: Eastern Harbor Media, LLC email@progressivebookclub.com Please get some information from a reliable recognized news outlet.
The IRS and Justice Dept just keep stonewalling. They're doing that for a good reason. In the absence of their transparency we must speculate.
every department does that, find proof, not a fishing expedition... look what happen to bill clinton, investigated and they asked him about his private sex life.... the right seems to want this country to change to guilty till proven innocent, and if not guilty, ask em something about their private life that would be embarrassing, them claim perjury .
I take it that you're resorting to ad hominem fallacies because you can't contradict the actual information... Par for the course.
As soon as Learner pleaded the 5th it was time to name a special prosecutor to find out what she is hiding.
