IRS admits it targeted conservative and Tea Party groups...
This post is being continually updated!
Editor's Note - The fact that the IRS scandal is portrayed as being centered in Cincinnati, Ohio sets up a false narrative; as if "oh it didn't happen in DC so perhaps it wasn't as political as some feared". That is the misnomer of misnomers. The political fact is this: he who wins Ohio wins the presidency. The importance of of Ohio in electoral politics cannot be overstated. UPDATE - IRS officials in DC and California involved in targeting conservative groups - LINK.
Editor's Note II - The same IRS department head, Steven Miller, who politicized the IRS under Clinton at center of current scandal - LINK. Why reappoint a man with his history? This indicates premeditation on the part of the administration.
UPDATE - IRS boss of Tea Party probes targeted anti-Clinton group in 1990s - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS Official Admits Clinton Enemies Were Audited - LINK.
This post is being constantly updated so please check back from time to time.
UPDATE - IRS chiefs knew about politically motivated audits in 2011 - LINK.
UPDATE - The crazy things the IRS asked TEA Party groups during the illegal inquiries - LINK. No one can say this was not politically motivated after reading this.
UPDATE - ABC News' George Will "How stupid do they (IRS and Obama Admin) think we are?" [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O4KewS-6kc]
"He has through his subordinates and agents endeavored to cause in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner." Section 1, Article 2, the Impeachment Articles of Richard Nixon.
UPDATE - Dennis Kucinich Slams IRS' Political Targeting: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRuDbeHx9Ic]
UPDATE - ABC News: IRS IG Report shows that IRS started targeting conservative groups in 2010 (video). Groups targeted included those who watch government spending, educating on the Bill of Rights, those who focus on tax policy and Jewish groups. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-z5eQ87EtY]
UPDATE - IRS Leaking private information for political reasons - LINK.
UPDATE - Koch Industries Lawyer to White House: How Did You Get Our Tax Information? - LINK.
UPDATE - Coulter: Obama's signature campaign move was opening sealed records - LINK.
UPDATE - Jon Stewart Skewers Obama over scandals - LINK. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O2jNy0jvkY]
UPDATE - IRS intimidation used to shut down TEA Party groups - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS Execs knew political targeting was happening and lied to Congress about it:
Representative Dave Camp, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, charged top IRS officials, including former commissioner Doug Shulman, of lying to Congress over the targeting of tea-party groups.
“They knew this was going on and responded in writing to the committee that it was not,” said Camp in an interview at the Capitol. He also said “yes” when I asked him whether he felt that Shulman and others had lied.
UPDATE - An IRS Exec at center of the illegal political targeting was promoted and given $42,531 in bonuses:
Lois Lerner, the senior executive in charge of the IRS tax exemption department and the federal employee at the center of the exploding scandal over the IRS targeting of conservative, evangelical and pro-Israel non-profits, was given $42,531 in bonuses between 2009 and 2011.That figure was included in data provided by the IRS in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Examiner. Lerner is director of the IRS exempt organizations division, which processes and approves or denies applications from groups seeking tax-exempt status.
UPDATE - Over $100 million in IRS bonuses since 2009 - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS Gave liberal groups a pass, put conservatives on hold for 27 months - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS targeted over 500 conservative organizations, religious organizations, educational organizations that teach American civic history, Jewish and other pro-Israeli organizations - LINK.
UPDATE - Franklin Graham also targeted by IRS - LINK.
UPDATE - Fox News host Eric Bolling was targeted by the IRS - LINK.
UPDATE - Another IRS Official at the center of the illegal targeting promoted, now in charge of IRS Obamacare office - LINK.
Sarah Hall Ingram
UPDATE - Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS executive in charge of the tax exempt division in 2010 when it began targeting conservative Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harassment, got more than $100,000 in bonuses between 2009 and 2012.
More recently, Ingram was promoted to serve as director of the tax agency's Obamacare program office, a position that put her in charge of the vast expansion of the IRS' regulatory power and staffing in connection with federal health care, ABC reported earlier today.
UPDATE - IRS illegally gave records on conservatives to a leftist George Soros sponsored group. Soros is the number one contributor to various Democrat Party organizations - LINK.
UPDATE - Soros gave $6.1 million to groups that pressured the IRS to target conservatives - LINK.
UPDATE - Senate Democrats pressured IRS to target conservatives - LINK.
UPDATE - Democrat Senator Carl Levin also pressured IRS to target conservatives - LINK. Ten elected Democrats asked IRS to target conservatives [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUP5QHXSaQg]
UPDATE - Obama Campaign Co-Chair attacked Mitt Romney using illegal leaked IRS documents - LINK.
UPDATE - Romney donor Frank Vandersloot smeared by Obama campaign audited twice: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPIYC1zq_co]
UPDATE - WOW! IRS Asked Tea Party Leader for Back-Door Password to Group's Website: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYhl3aCSXO0]
UPDATE - Report: IRS Deliberately Chose Not to Fess Up to Scandal Before Election. IRS Commissioner knew this was going on for over a year - lied to Congress - LINK: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZqROJZTf3c]
UPDATE - IRS Denied tax exempt status to pro-life groups on behalf of Planed Parenthood - LINK - LINK.
UPDATE - Conservative Hispanic Groups Targeted In IRS Scandal - LINK.
UPDATE - Mark Levin – It’s Time to Kill the IRS: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8e8LR30fWpQ]
UPDATE - CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: The testimony from [Steven] Miller comes under the category of 'how stupid do you think we are?' Here's a guy who said that the IRS openly discriminated against groups on the basis of their politics, but the action was not a political action. It was instead an attempt at efficiency. You've got to be a knave or a fool to say that and you have to be an idiot to believe it. It's simply a contradiction in terms. - LINK.
UPDATE - Texas TEA Party leader was subject to IRS, FBI, ATF and OSHA audits after applying to IRS for tax exempt status. Texas Congressman Kevin Brady asks, "Is this America anymore?": [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4Yk_qrAXQEQ]
UPDATE - Five IRS employees to testify next week to answer for wrongdoing - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS: 'Please Detail the Content of Your Members' Prayers.' - LINK: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_a4I4kr308]
UPDATE - Chris Matthews: Miller was full of it and there was clearly targeting going on - LINK.
UPDATE - Piers Morgan: I guess government can become tyrannical after all: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lKO8A285Rr0]
UPDATE - Paul Ryan grills IRS Commissioner. Can there be any doubt that Commissioner Miller mislead Congress in his previous July 2012 testimony? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmsIRiZ9sQE]
UPDATE - IRS Chief Steven Miller: "I Can't Remember" Who Is Responsible for Targeting Conservatives: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB8UV73XVJE]
UPDATE - Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough & Lisa Myers: IRS is lying, lied to Congress. Timeline: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvOakNtGhzM]
UPDATE - IRS lied in FOIA requests to conceal documents - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS agents classified applications from conservatives and churches as "obnoxious" - LINK.
UPDATE - Rep. Mike Kelly receives standing ovation after epic grilling of IRS Commissioner: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCjssK-i4Mg]
BUSTED - Top Obama Administration officials were briefed on IRS political targeting in June of 2012 - NY Times - AP - WSJ - Breitbart:
The inspector general gave Republicans some fodder Friday when he divulged that he informed the Treasury’s general counsel he was auditing the I.R.S.’s screening of politically active groups seeking tax exemptions on June 4, 2012. He told Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin “shortly after,” he said. That meant Obama administration officials were aware of the matter during the presidential campaign year.
OUTRAGE - Suit Alleges IRS Improperly Seized 60 Million Personal Medical Records - LINK.
UPDATE - IRS asked churches for membership lists: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JA7Ycsz9E]
ILLEGAL - IRS ignored Congressional demand for documents relating to the illegal targeting of citizens - LINK.
UPDATE - Trey Goudy questions former IRS Commissioner Schulman. "Can't remember". Schulman admits that he did nothing to stop the illegal practices at the IRS [Note - Some are saying that Schulman was a Bush appointee. Schulman gave $250.00 a month to the Democratic National Committee]: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpHuAh0sOI]
UPDATE - IRS official Lois Lerner pleads the Fifth Amendment after waiving that right by her opening statement. You do not get to tell your side of the story and refuse cross examination by pleading the Fifth. Pleading the Fifth means that you are not testifying in fear that doing so will reveal criminal activity that can be used against you: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDevz5uBd5o]
SHOCK - IRS official Lois Lerner asked targets of investigations about their prayers when she was at the Federal Election Commission (FEC); sued Christian Coalition in a politically motivated lawsuit and lost: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HVoLG3mwxU]
UPDATE - Ranking Democrat at the Government Oversight Committee blasts IRS: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKIuQy-QbLc]
UPDATE - Senior White House staff, including Obama's lawyer, White House Council Kathy Ruemmler, knew about illegal IRS targeting and claim they didn't tell Obama - LINK: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWXcs9k0HU]
Does anyone believe this story? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Serf5TKSym8]
UPDATE - Krauthammer: Obama still dodging questions and lying about IRS [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo-r7pAWvgQ]
Washington Post (2)- Key Obama Administration claims about IRS scandal untrue:
1 - Illegal targeting happened months before the Citizens United court ruling.
2 - Claims about "inadvertent targeting" due to "massive increase of 501c4 applications" also untrue, as there was no appreciable increase in the first year of the illegal targeting.
3 - IRS Council Lois Lerner's claim that she found out about the illegal targeting in the press also false as the IG report shows that she knew about it at least as far back as June 2011.
4 - Lerner misled Congress.
UPDATE - How did a White House economics advisory Austin Goolsbee get private tax information on Obama Administration political enemies - LINK.
UPDATE - Senator Mitch McConnell: Obama Administration used IRS as "Speech Police":[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VV-0WcPGml0]
UPDATE - More "I don't know - I don't recall" video from Obama Administration officials:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-mnCo4zPGc]
UPDATE - NBC News: Senior Washington IRS officials requested information of conservative groups:
Cleta Mitchell, another attorney representing conservative groups that allege they were targeted, said an IRS agent in Cincinnati told her a “task force” IRS office in Washington, D.C., was making the decisions about the processing of applications, and that she subsequently dealt with IRS representatives there.
“(The IRS agent in Cincinnati) told me that in fact the case would be transferred to a special task force out of Washington, and that he was told – he was the originally assigned agent – that he wasn’t allowed to make decisions, the decisions were all going to be made in Washington,” Mitchell said. “I know that this process was going on in Washington because I’ve dealt with those people.”
UPDATE - Anonymous Cincinnati IRS official says 'Everything comes from the top.' - LINK:
Everything comes from the top. We don’t have any authority to make those decisions without someone signing off on them. There has to be a directive.
UPDATE - Fox 19 Ben Swann: Individual IRS Agents/Supervisors named and they all are supervised by Agent Supervisor Cindy Thomas. Thomas visited with IRS Chief Council Lois Lerner regularly: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2psqUDTS9w]
More from Ben Swann: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3GWh-tYO7g]
UPDATE - ACLJ and 25 conservative groups sue IRS: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O62IetRnO7U]
UPDATE - The Blaze/NBC News: IRS Chief Council Lois Lerner personally signed at least some illegal questionnaires to targeted groups - LINK.
UPDATE - Pro-Israel organizations audited by IRS say government targeting coordinated - LINK.
UPDATE - Illegal IRS targeting started the day after President Obama met with the Treasury Department/IRS employees union chief - LINK.
WOW - Lois Lerner to Republican Senate Candidate "promise me you will never run for office again and this investigation will go away". How Lois Lerner tried to strong-arm Dick Durbin's opponent out of 1996 Illinois Senate race - LINK - LINK.
Orwellian - Obama Administration sends armed DHS Agents to peaceful protests against IRS - LINK.
BUSTED - IRS’s Doug Shulman had more public White House visits (157) than any Cabinet member. Bush met with his IRS chief once - LINK: UPDATE - Bill O'Reilly not happy that former IRS chief visited the White House 157 times, could be a smoking gun: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy0Ciq7kESQ]
***** The Original Story Begins Here*****
A legal inquiry from Mark Levin made it public.
Conservative radio talker Mark Levin appears to have touched off the investigation into Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative political groups back in March 2012.
In a letter last year on behalf of the Landmark Legal Foundation, an organization he heads, Levin requested an investigation into what he called “misconduct.”
On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service revealed that it had improperly targeted conservative groups for audits during the 2012 election. During a conference call, Lois Lerner, the IRS’s director of exempt organizations, explained that IRS staffers selected groups that included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax exempt status.
Levin told The Daily Caller Friday afternoon his organization had litigated similar complaints of political audits during the Clinton administration and specifically referenced the Heritage Foundation as one of the tax collector’s targets at the time.
More recently, Levin said, conservative and Tea Party groups approached him complaining of harassment by the IRS, which prompted his organization to petition Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George.
Congress to investigate.
The House oversight committee will look into the IRS’s admission Friday that it targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny during last year’s elections — a move that committee Chairmen Darrell E. Issa and Jim Jordan said smacks of “political retaliation.”
The two lawmakers said they will hold those IRS officials who were involved “responsible … for this political retaliation.”
The IRS admitted that it unfairly sent conservative and tea party groups questionnaires last year asking them to justify their tax-exempt status. Republicans at the time accused the agency of trying to intimidate conservatives into silence ahead of the elections.
Friday’s admission appears designed to deflate an upcoming audit by the IRS’s inspector general looking into the matter.
“The fact that Americans were targeted by the IRS because of their political beliefs is unconscionable,” Mr. Issa and Mr. Jordan said in a statement. “The committee will aggressively follow up on the IG report and hold responsible officials accountable for this political retaliation.”