Judicial Watch Sues IRS for Tea Party Scandal Records 10/18/13 As Ive noted here previously, the Obama Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has initiated an unprecedented attack against organizations characterized as Tea Party-like or conservative. Judicial Watch, of course, knows well the penchant for the Left to use the IRS to silence perceived political enemies. After all, JW was subjected to similar abuses during the Clinton administration. Now, as we also did quite effectively during the Clinton years, weve initiated an investigation to get the truth about the abuses, which are ongoing, at the IRS. On October 9, 2013, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the IRS asking the District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the nations tax collecting agency to produce records of all communications relating to the review process for organizations seeking 501(c)(4) non-profit status since January 1, 2010. (Almost all of the Tea Party groups were seeking recognition under Section 501 (c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code; which would allow them to educate Americans about public policy and spend resources related to political campaigns. I need not tell you why President Obama and his allies didnt want these Tea Party groups operating in the run-up to the 2012 election!) The lawsuit also asks the court to order the IRS to provide records of communications by former IRS official Lois Lerner concerning the controversial review and approval process. JW was forced to seek redress in federal court when the IRS failed to comply with four FOIA requests dating back to May, 2013. Specifically, Judicial Watch seeks the following records from its three FOIA requests, all filed on May 20, 2013: Any and all records concerning, regarding or related to the number of applications received from organization seeking tax exempt status under 501(c)(4); Any and all record concerning, regarding, or related to communications between the IRS and members of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4); Any and all records concerning, regarding, or related to communications between the IRS and any other government agency regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4); Any and all records concerning, regarding, or related to communications between the IRS and any office of the Executive Branch regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4); Any and all records concerning, regarding, or related to the preparation of questionnaires sent to organizations applying for 501(c)(4) tax exempt status; Copies of any questionnaires sent to organizations applying for 501(c)(4) tax exempt status. On May 22, 2013, Judicial Watch submitted another FOIA request seeking the following: Any and all records concerning, regarding, or related to Lois Lerners communications with other IRS employees regarding the review and approval process for 501(c)(4) applicant organizations; Any and all communications concerning, regarding, or related to Lois Lerners communications with any government or private entity outside the IRS regarding the review and approval process for 501(c)(4) applicant organizations. (Evidently, the IRS is as efficient at processing FOIA requests from conservative groups as it is non-profit applications.) On May 14, 2013, the Treasury Inspector General released a report revealing that the IRS had singled out groups with conservative-sounding terms such as patriot and Tea Party in their titles when applying for tax-exempt status. The IG probe determined that Early in Calendar Year 2010, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status (e.g., lists of past and future donors). According to the report, the illegal IRS reviews continued for more than 18 months and delayed processing of targeted groups applications preparing for the 2012 presidential election. And how long were the delays? Well, heres just one example courtesy of the Washington Examiner. TeaParty.net submitted their application in March 2010 and received their approval on October 2, 2013! Thats three years plus! Most other Tea Party groups have either given up, shut down, or are still waiting to hear from the IRS. A key figure in the still-developing IRS scandal is Lois Lerner, who headed the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status. Lerner refused to testify at a May, 2013, hearing before Rep. Darrell Issas (R-CA) House Oversight Committee, demanding immunity concerning her role in the targeting scandal. (Well, refused to testify is not quite accurate. Lerner submitted a statement professing her innocence and then, in an abuse of the privilege, took the Fifth.) Eventually, the agency acknowledged that while Lerner was in charge, IRS agents improperly targeted Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010-2012. Lerner retired from the IRS on September 23 after an internal investigation found she was guilty of neglect of duties and was going to call for her ouster, according to news reports. We all know exactly why the Obama IRS undertook this campaign -- to suppress the entire Tea Party movement just in time to help Obama win reelection. However, one of the most pressing questions remains unanswered: What did the president know, and when did he know it? We know that former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and his political aide, Jonathan Davis, visited the White House hundreds of times during the Obama IRS witch hunt. This may help explain why the IRS is now stonewalling our FOIA requests and forced us to go to federal court. This major FOIA lawsuit is designed to cut through the Obama administration cover-up of its IRS scandal. More updates as events warrant.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 21:11:47 +0000
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