This is getting interesting – Jason Chaffetz responds to IRS claim of “lost emails” with prior congressional testimony specifically about that issue:

FRIDAY FEDERAL NEWS DUMP –  Well, they didn’t lose all of them, just the important ones – you know, the early emails between Lerner and various Democrats in office requesting her to take action and the construction of a plan of action – just those.

(Via Washington Times) The IRS has told Congress that it has lost some of former employee Lois G. Lerner’s emails, including some covering communications with Democrats in Congress and with other parts of the government, the House’s top tax-law writer said Friday.

Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said he was stunned that it took more than a year into the investigation for the IRS to inform Congress that it didn’t have those emails.

The agency blamed a computer crash for the mishap. (more…)

President Barack Obama has actually done what President Richard Nixon only wished he could have !

The key part of this report is that when Darryl Issa found out about the data transmission, the DOJ immediately stated they were informed by the IRS the data-file contained legally protected taxpayer information and should not have been sent to them. Funny how the DOJ defend themselves ONLY AFTER congress finds out about the issue.

WASHINGTON DC – Internal Revenue Service officials sent the Federal Bureau of Investigation a “massive” database listing of tax exempt organizations just a few weeks before the November 2012 elections, House investigators announced Monday.

Oversight and Government Reform chairmen Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, say they recently obtained an email from Lois G. Lerner, the former head of the IRS tax exempt division, to a Justice Department official asking how to format the list of tax exempt groups for delivery to the FBI.

Issa, who heads the oversight committee and Jordan, who chairs a subcommittee, said in a statement on Monday sent a new letter to the IRS, demanding more information about the data sent to the FBI. (more…)

NEW YORK – Did Chuck Schumer try to use the IRS to sidestep the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling — and stick a dagger in the heart of conservative groups?

That’s the gist of a complaint filed this week with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.

In Citizens United, the court held that bans on independent political expenditures by corporations, associations and labor unions are bans on speech.

The Center for Competitive Politics is asking that Schumer and nine other Democratic senators be investigated for trying to use the IRS to suppress the free speech of political opponents. (more…)

President Obama proclaimed there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups.   The truth begs to differ…. in a very substantial way.

Last week (May 9th) the IRS finally agreed to send the House Ways and Means Committee all of the Lois Lerner emails.   Now we know why.    Yesterday, as a result of a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch the IRS was forced to turn over those emails.   It should be noted, the scope of the emails turned over by court order to Judicial Watch are far more extensive than the IRS turned over to the House Investigating Committee.

Previously in April, the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting a criminal charge against Lois Lerner.  The newly released documents provide even more evidence that warrant DOJ action.

Released by Judicial Watch – (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released a new batch of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documents revealing that its handling of Tea Party applications was directed out of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.  The documents also show extensive pressure on the IRS by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) to shut down conservative-leaning tax-exempt organizations.

The IRS’ emails by Lois Lerner detail her misleading explanations to investigators about the targeting of Tea Party organizations.

The documents came in response to an October 2013 Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the agency refused to respond to four FOIA requests dating back to May 2013 (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Internal Revenue Service (No. 1:13-cv-01559)).

One key email string from July 2012 confirms that IRS Tea Party scrutiny was directed from Washington, DC. On July 6, 2010, Holly Paz (the former Director of the IRS Rulings and Agreements Division and current Manager of Exempt Organizations Guidance) asks IRS lawyer Steven Grodnitzky “to let Cindy and Sharon know how we have been handling Tea Party applications in the last few months.”  Cindy Thomas is the former director of the IRS Exempt Organizations office in Cincinnati and Sharon Camarillo was a Senior Manager in their Los Angeles office. Grodnitzky, a top lawyer in the Exempt Organization Technical unit (EOT) in Washington, DC, responds: (more…)

On the heels of the latest revelation that 10% of Tea Party donors have suffered through IRS audits – The following was posted yesterday on the home page for the House Ways and Means Committee:

Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) announced that one year into the investigation of the IRS targeting and abusing conservative groups, the agency has agreed to turn over all Lois Lerner emails to the Committee. Lerner is a central figure in the investigation and served as Director of Exempt Organizations at the IRS.

“While it is good that we are finally getting these emails, it should never have taken this long. The agency is finally doing what is right and hopefully this is the last of the delays. It is almost a year to the day since Lois Lerner ‘apologized’ for the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, and we need to get to the bottom of this. These documents are critical to an investigation that is holding the IRS accountable and ensuring the constitutional rights of these groups are never trampled on again. The Committee will thoroughly review the Lerner documents and follow them wherever they may lead.”   (more)

House also approved H.Res. 565, requesting appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate #IRStargeting, 250-168 w/26 Dems voting yes.

— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) May 7, 2014

WASHINGTON DC – The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

The House voted 231-187 for a resolution holding Lerner in contempt.

Lerner’s case will now be sent to the Justice Department, which then must decide whether to essentially prosecute Lerner in the case.

House GOP leaders have said Lerner’s testimony is important to fully investigate the scandal, in which IRS agents singled out Tea Party nonprofit applications for extra scrutiny. (more…)

Apparently Mr. Gowdy feels the same way most of us do. Ms. Lerner may have had the ‘right’ to remain silent, but as soon as she opened her mouth she lost her ‘ability’.
This is a good watch.

Remember this ?  (February 2013) Conservative activist and founder of True the Vote, Catherine Engelbrecht, filed an ethics complaint against far left Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).    Ms. Engelbrecht accused Cummings of harassment and intimidation.

Democrat House Committee Member Elijah Cummings denied he, nor his staff, ever had contact with leadership in the IRS about targeting or getting documents for Ms. Engelbrecht’s group, “True The Vote”.

However, today (Via WFB)  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent tax documents on a targeted conservative group to Democratic staff on the House Oversight Committee, newly released emails show, despite previous denials by ranking Oversight Democrat Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) that such contact had occurred. (more…)

Washington, DC – Today, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) announced that the Committee, acting under its authority granted in Sec. 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, voted out a criminal referral letter to Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Eric Holder regarding actions taken by IRS employee Lois Lerner. Chairman Camp, in sending the letter on behalf of the Committee, urged Holder to take a serious review of the evidence uncovered through the Committee’s investigation to determine whether Lerner violated criminal statutes.
The House Committee Investigation uncovered three specific acts undertaken by Lerner that may have violated one or more criminal statutes documented in the letter:

• Lerner used her position to improperly influence agency action against only conservative organizations, denying these groups due process and equal protection rights under the law. She showed extreme bias and prejudice towards conservative groups. The letter lays out evidence on how Lerner targeted conservative organization Crossroads GPS as well as other right-leaning groups, while turning a blind eye to similarly-organized liberal groups, like Priorities USA.

•Lerner impeded official investigations by providing misleading statements in response to questions from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

•Lerner risked exposing, and may actually have disclosed, confidential taxpayer information, in apparent violation of Internal Revenue Code section 6103 by using her personal email to conduct official business.

If convicted of these crimes, Lerner could face up to 11 years in prison.
Here is the evidence against her: (more…)

Congress votes to send details of the corruption and scandal to the DOJ for criminal prosecution.   President Obama previously pledged to “hold anyone accountable” for their participation in the political targeting of people by the IRS.    However, President Obama has recently stated “there was not a smidgen of corruption in the IRS”.   Todays recommendation comes as information surfaces that Lerner was trying to get a position in OFA…..  

(WASHINGTON DC)  The House Ways and Means Committee has voted to 23-14 along party lines to refer former head of tax exempt groups at the IRS Lois Lerner to the Justice Department for prosecution. Although the details about exactly what charges will be have not yet been released, lawmakers are arguing Lerner has not been truthful with Congress or the IRS inspector general and leaked confidential tax information.
Last time a referral like this happened, it was to Major League Baseball player Roger Clemens, who was pursued by the Department of Justice for lying to Congress but was exonerated in court. (more…)