Since it was revealed in May that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly targeted the tax-exempt nonprofit
status of conservative groups between 2010 and 2012, defenders of the beleaguered agency have offered three broad attempts to suppress the growing IRS scandal and put the matter to rest. However, each of these three attempts failed outright, and the scandal continues, with tenacious investigations underway by the House Oversight Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.
status of conservative groups between 2010 and 2012, defenders of the beleaguered agency have offered three broad attempts to suppress the growing IRS scandal and put the matter to rest. However, each of these three attempts failed outright, and the scandal continues, with tenacious investigations underway by the House Oversight Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.
The Daily Caller presents a look at the three attempts by IRS supporters to put out the fire — and how each attempt only fanned the flames.
1. The wrongdoing was committed by two “rogue” IRS agents in Cincinnati
IRS and Obama administration claims that the improper targeting was carried out by two rogue agents in the IRS’ Cincinnati office have been completely debunked.
“So our line people in Cincinnati who handled the applications did what we call centralization of these cases. They centralized work on these in one particular group…They didn’t do this because of any political bias,” embattled IRS official Lois Lerner said May 10.
centralization of these cases. They centralized work on these in one particular group…They didn’t do this because of any political bias,” embattled IRS official Lois Lerner said May 10.
A May 19 New York Times piece entitled “Confusion and Staff Troubles Rife at I.R.S. Office in Ohio” pushed forward Lerner’s narrative. The Times even reported that the rogue Cincinnati agents were “Low-level employees in what many in the I.R.S. consider a backwater.”
in what many in the I.R.S. consider a backwater.”
But as The Daily Caller reported, at least five different IRS offices nationwide targeted conservatives, including IRS offices in Cincinnati, Washington, D.C.; Chicago, Illinois; Laguna Niguel, California; and El Monte, California. Additionally, twelve different working groups within the IRS targeted conservatives.
“It’s impossible,” a Cincinnati-based IRS employee responded to an investigator’s question about allegations that the targeting of conservative groups was due to two “rogue” agents. “As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen.”
“Well, it’s hard to answer the question because in my mind I still hear people saying we were low‑level employees, so we were lower than dirt, according to people in D.C. So, take it for what it is,” another Cincinnati IRS employee told congressional investigators, in reference to comments made by officials of the agency’s Washington, D.C. office. “They were basically throwing us underneath the bus.”
.”
Washington-based IRS lawyer Carter C. Hull oversaw the Cincinnati IRS office’s targeting of tea party groups, even sending the Cincinnati office a letter he wrote to the Albuquerque Tea Party as a model for demanding additional information from tea party groups during audits.
“I was essentially a front person, because I had no autonomy or no authority to act on [applications] without Carter Hull’s influence or input,” Elizabeth Hofacre, an employee of the Cincinnati IRS office, told congressional investigators.
] without Carter Hull’s influence or input,” Elizabeth Hofacre, an employee of the Cincinnati IRS office, told congressional investigators.Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/08/irs-supporters-0-for-3-on-putting-scandal-to-rest/#ixzz2YaavHl4s
No comments:
Post a Comment