Friday, November 1, 2013

Targeting Conservatives: Watchdog Obtains IRS - FEC Email Exchange

Watchdog obtains IRS-FEC email exchange

 
A conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, said it obtained an email chain from the Internal Revenue Service in which the department provided confidential tax information to the Federal Election Commission.
The watchdog group obtained the exchange from a freedom of information request made shortly after congressional investigators began prodding the agency on whether it inappropriately shared confidential tax information about a conservative group applying for tax-exempt status. 
 Leaking Information about conservatives isn't new for Obama's IRS

Lois Lerner, then-IRS director of Exempt Organizations, who was quoted in the emails has since retired.
Judicial Watch said the IRS sent the FEC annual tax returns, request forms for tax-exempt status, and articles of organization. The watchdog received the information from the FEC. It said the IRS had not yet complied with its request for information.
Sharing taxpayer returns would violate federal law. 
The White House Lied and blamed a few 'rogue agents in the Cincinnati office'

The House Ways and Means subcommittee on Oversight released a portion of the email exchange in July questioning whether the IRS had shared confidential information. Congressional investigators had since requested more information. The exchange between Lerner and the FEC dates back to 2009.
“These extensive emails and other materials provide a disturbing window into the activities of two out-of-control federal agencies: the IRS and FEC,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement accompanying the release. “And there is the very real question as to whether these documents evidence a crime.”
Lois Lerner earns a 'bushel of Pinocchios' from the Washington Post
An IRS Political Timeline @WSJ


Other Links:
Obama's IRS Targets Conservative Groups-Leaks Info
Democrats Justify Using IRS to Target Political Opponents
Lerner Statement - Fuller Clip
Lois Lerner Invokes the 5th Amendment @CSPANVL
A bushel of Pinocchios for IRS's Lois Lerner
IRS released confidential info on conservative groups to ProPublica
Supporters of Propublica
Planted question gambit backfires on IRS officials
IRS Targeting Conservatives is 'Poor Customer Service' that Leads to Promotions
Strassel: The IRS Scandal Started at the Top
IRS's Lois Lerner's Own Words

IRS Commissioner's Opening Statement: