Thursday, May 15, 2014

Emails Show IRS Pressure To Shut Down Conservatives

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Judicial Watch has struck again.  Recently, the organization uncovered emails that served as a smoking gun regarding the liberal left cover-up of the Benghazi attack, exposing a specific attempt to adjust the narrative about what happened when four American lives were terminated on the 9/11 anniversary in 2012 in Libya to protect the President and his failed policies. . . and now, thanks to Judicial Watch, emails have surfaced showing the not only were TEA Party groups and conservative groups specifically targeted by the IRS, but that there was pressure from higher up to ensure these groups were targeted, and shut down.

It is natural for big government types to wish to silence their opposition.

The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism. -- Karl Marx

When the IRS scandal emerged, where the Internal Revenue Service was accused of acting as a hostile arm of the Obama administration, and purposely targeting TEA Party groups and conservative groups, it created a rush of GOP donors to pull back funding into the Republican Party for fear of being a target, as well, just in time for an election.  The accusations were discounted by liberal leftists and democrats with claims that progressive groups also were targeted, and the evidence was clear that President Barack Obama had nothing to do with it, and in fact no party leadership was involved.  The scandal was chalked up to be an isolated case of a few over-zealous IRS employees doing things they shouldn't have.

However, it is turning out the higher-ups had more to do with the whole thing than originally thought.

Judicial Watch, as with the Benghazi scandal, requested through the Freedom of Information Act, transcripts of documents and emails.  After hunting through that batch of documents, it was revealed that the tax agency's handling of Tea Party applications, specifically targeting them and disapproving them, 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.

No wonder she was trying to plead the fifth.

The smoking gun, or at least one of them, is a key email string from July 2012 that confirms IRS Tea Party scrutiny was directed from Washington, DC.  According to Judicial Watch, on July 6, 2010, Holly Paz (the former Director of the IRS Rulings and Agreements Division and current Manager of Exempt Organizations Guidance) asked 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:

EOT is working the Tea party applications in coordination with Cincy. We are developing a few applications here in DC and providing copies of our development letters with the agent to use as examples in the development of their cases. Chip Hull [another lawyer in IRS headquarters] is working these cases in EOT and working with the agent in Cincy, so any communication should include him as well. Because the Tea party applications are the subject of an SCR [Sensitive Case Report], we cannot resolve any of the cases without coordinating with Rob.

The reference to Rob is believed to be Rob Choi, then-Director of Rulings and Agreements in IRS’s Washington, DC, headquarters.

When liberal left protectors claimed there was no White House connection in this scandal, a part of the argument has been that the President doesn't need to send email or memos to his people.  Obama surrounded himself with radical leftists that think like he does so that he wouldn't have to tell them how to punish his enemies, and silence the opposition.

Also, according to Judicial Watch: Another email string from February – March 2010 includes a message from a California EO Determinations manager discussing a Tea Party application “currently being held in the Screening group.” The manager urges, “Please let ‘Washington’ know about this potentially embarrassing political case involving a ‘Tea Party’ organization. Recent media attention to this type of organization indicates to me that this is a ‘high profile’ case.” A co-worker responds: “I think sending it up here [DC] is a good idea given the potential for media interest.” As with Ben Rhodes’ Benghazi-related talking points email, Judicial Watch obtained a more complete version of this IRS email chain than was provided to a congressional committee.

The Judicial Watch documents also contain email correspondence to internal IRS investigators from Lerner, dated April 2, 2013, that tries to explain the “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) criteria used to select organizations for screening and scrutiny:

Because the BOLO only contained a brief reference to “Organizations involved with the Tea Party movement applying for exemption under 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4)” in June 2011, the EO Determinations manager asked the manager of the screening group, John Shafer [IRS Cincinnati field office manager], what criteria were being used to label cases as “tea party ” cases. (“Do the applications specify/state ‘ tea party’? If not, how do we know applicant is involved with the tea party movement?”) The screening group manager asked his employees how they were applying the BOLO’s short –hand reference to “tea party.” His employees responded that they were including organizations meeting any of the following criteria as falling within the BOLO’s reference to “tea party” organizations: “1. ‘Tea Party’, ‘Patriots’ or ’9/12 Project’ is referenced in the case file. 2. Issues include government spending, government debt and taxes. 3. Educate the public through advocacy/legislative activities to make America a better place to live. 4. Statements in the case file that are critical of the how the country is being run. . . “

So, we believe we have provided information that shows that no one in EO “developed” the criteria. Rather, staff used their own interpretations of the brief reference to “organizations involved with the Tea Party movement,” which was what was on the BOLO list.

Lerner omits that her office was “developing” the applications for all Tea Party groups.

The IRS documents also include a presentation entitled “Heightened Awareness Issues” with a red and orange “Alert” symbol identifying the “emerging issues” that trigger scrutiny for organizations seeking tax-exempt status. Page six of the presentation focuses on the Tea Party organizations due, in part, to the fact that these groups had become a “Relevant Subject in Today’s Media.”

A series of letters between Senator Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations, and top IRS officials throughout 2012 discuss how to target conservative groups the senator claimed were “engaged in political activities.” In response to a Levin March 30 letter citing the “urgency of the issue,” then-Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller assured the senator that IRS regulations were flexible enough to allow IRS agents to “prepare individualized questions and requests” for select 501(c)(4) organizations.

The newly released IRS documents contain several letters and emails revealing an intense effort by Levin and IRS officials to determine what, if any, existing IRS policies could be used to revoke the nonprofit exemptions of active conservative groups and deny exemptions to new applicants. In a July 30, 2012, letter, Levin singles out 12 groups he wants investigated for “political activity.” Of the groups – which include the Club for Growth, Americans for Tax Reform, the 60 Plus Association, and the Susan B. Anthony List – only one, Priorities USA, is notably left-leaning.

As the election neared, the emails become more urgent, demanding that these groups are targeted.  It is sort of like having a Sedition Act passed, without using Congress to make the law, and using the IRS to carry out the sentencing and execution.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Peace Quote, Karl Marx - Brainy Quote

New Documents Show IRS HQ Control of Tea Party Targeting - Judicial Watch

No comments: