Former IRS Chief: Dem Sen. Carl Levin ‘Made Us’ Target Tea Party Groups…

Former IRS Chief: Dem Sen. Carl Levin ‘Made Us’ Target Tea Party Groups…

Posted on 11 February, 2014 by Dylan

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WSJ:

FORMER IRS CHIEF: DEMOCRATIC SENATOR MADE US DO IT

A Journal editorial yesterday noted the Obama argument that new IRS rules are intended to fix “confusion” in the law surrounding non-profit groups like the Tea Party organizations that have been targeted by the tax agency. But in a letter this week to new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Reps. Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan show that the new rule-making was politically motivated from its inception. In an interview with House investigators, former IRS Acting Commissioner Steve Miller was asked what the problem was in the law that needed to be fixed. He responded, “So I’m not sure there was a problem, right? I mean, I think we were —we had, you know, Mr. Levin complaining bitterly to us—Senator Levin complaining bitterly about our regulation…” Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat, is among the most partisan Members of the U.S. Senate.
The letter also details evidence that IRS and Treasury officials believed that the Supreme Court had erred in its Citizens United decision and, instead of respecting the authority of the Court, wrongly took it upon themselves to offset the impact of the law with IRS regulation.

http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines...a-party-groups

If its true; get his passport and put his Drunk Ass on Trial ... the good thing about trials; even crooks get to defend themselves

As a rule, Americans don't like "Cheaters"
Obama's IRS 'Confusion'

New evidence undercuts White House claims about IRS motivation.

Updated Feb. 7, 2014 12:13 a.m. ET

House committees are still digging into the IRS political targeting scandal, and based on a hearing Wednesday there's more to learn. The day produced more evidence blowing apart President Obama's claims that there was "not even a smidgen of corruption" or political motivation in the IRS handling of groups applying for tax-exempt status.

Mr. Obama wants Americans to believe that the targeting resulted from the confusing tax law governing nonprofits, which he says was "difficult" to interpret and resulted in mere "bureaucratic" mistakes. This is also the Administration's justification for issuing new regulations governing 501(c)(4)s that would effectively silence White House opponents this election year. Published in the Federal Register in November, the new rules cite the "lack of a clear and concise" regulation as reason for the rewrite.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp blew up this fairy tale at Wednesday's hearing with new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Mr. Camp unveiled a June 14, 2012 email from Treasury career attorney Ruth Madrigal to key IRS officials in the tax-exempt department, including former director Lois Lerner.
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House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee Chairman Rep. Charles Boustany (R., La.), left, and ranking member Rep. John Lewis (D., Ga.) on Wednesday before the start of the IRS hearing.Associated Press

The email cites a blog post about the political activity of tax-exempt 501(c)(4) groups and reads: "Don't know who in your organizations [sic] is keeping tabs on c4s, but since we mentioned potentially addressing them (off-plan) in 2013, I've got my radar up and this seemed interesting."

Interesting for sure. The IRS typically puts out a public schedule of coming regulations, and Mr. Camp noted that in this case "off-plan" appears to mean "hidden from the public." He added that committee interviews with IRS officials have found that the new 2013 rules were in the works as early as 2011, meaning the Administration has "fabricated the rationale" for this new regulation.
Mr. Camp added that everything his committee has discovered contradicts the White House argument that the IRS scandal was caused by legal "confusion." The current rules governing 501(c)(4)s have existed, unchanged, since 1959. Prior to 2010 the IRS processed and approved tax-exempt applications in fewer than three months with no apparent befuddlement.

The IRS hyper-scrutiny of conservative groups only began in 2010 amid the Obama Administration's larger political attack on political donors like the Koch brothers, and emails show that IRS officials were acutely aware of this political environment. In February 2010, for example, an IRS screener in Cincinnati flagged an application to his superiors noting: "Recent media attention to this type of organization indicates to me that this is a 'high profile' case."

From then on applications were routed through the offices of Mrs. Lerner and Obama-appointed IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, and long approval delays ensued. Extensive interviews and emails show that neither the initial Cincinnati interest, nor the subsequent Washington delay, was in any way driven by "confusion."

Mr. Koskinen promised in December to restore public trust in the IRS, but he didn't do much of that on Wednesday. He toed the Administration line on the new 501(c)(4) rules, promising to address concerns only "to the extent I have any control" over the process. He refused to say if he'd comply with Mr. Camp's request for IRS and Treasury documents pertaining to the rule-making, fretting instead about low IRS "morale" and lack of funding.

The quickest way Mr. Koskinen could restore public trust in the IRS would be to halt the new politically toxic 501(c)(4) rules until investigations into the original targeting are complete. Meantime, the House should sharply reduce IRS funding until the agency is more responsive.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...65161576171176

Former IRS Chief: Democratic Senator Made Us Do It

A House investigation reveals who was behind the regulation of political speech. Plus, the GOP punts on immigration.

60 Comments

By JAMES FREEMAN and BRIAN CARNEY
CONNECT

Feb. 7, 2014 7:29 a.m. ET

FORMER IRS CHIEF: DEMOCRATIC SENATOR MADE US DO IT

A Journal editorial yesterday noted the Obama argument that new IRS rules are intended to fix "confusion" in the law surrounding non-profit groups like the Tea Party organizations that have been targeted by the tax agency. But in a letter this week to new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Reps. Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan show that the new rule-making was politically motivated from its inception. In an interview with House investigators, former IRS Acting Commissioner Steve Miller was asked what the problem was in the law that needed to be fixed. He responded, "So I'm not sure there was a problem, right? I mean, I think we were —we had, you know, Mr. Levin complaining bitterly to us—Senator Levin complaining bitterly about our regulation..." Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat, is among the most partisan Members of the U.S. Senate.

The letter also details evidence that IRS and Treasury officials believed that the Supreme Court had erred in its Citizens United decision and, instead of respecting the authority of the Court, wrongly took it upon themselves to offset the impact of the law with IRS regulation.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0107184512.jpg

Peggy Noonan writes today on her "obsession"—how dependent our society is on electricity and how vulnerable the grid is to attack. This week the Journal reported on a highly-professional attack carried out on a California power station last year. Ms. Noonan writes that preventing such attacks isn't a Washington priority. "You always want to think your government is on it. You want to think they see what you see. But really, they're never on it. They always have to be pushed." We would add that with so many potential targets in the U.S., the best defense is a competent intelligence effort that can identify imminent threats and does not respect the imaginary privacy rights of foreign malefactors.

WHY TODAY'S JOBS REPORT IS IMPORTANT
After a series of mixed readings on the economy, this morning's unemployment report will get especially close attention to see if GDP growth at the end of last year can be sustained.

APPLE BUYS ITSELF
Apple CEO Tim Cook reports that the company has been aggressively buying back its own shares, which is sure to please activist investor Carl Icahn. And buybacks are certainly a respectable way to return cash to shareholders. But we wonder if it means the company sees few attractive areas to invest in growth, either inside or outside the tech giant.

BOEHNER PUNTS ON IMMIGRATION
Yesterday the House Speaker all but declared immigration reform a dead issue for this year. Mr. Boehner said that many lawmakers don't believe the President will faithfully execute the proposed law. "The president seems to change the health care law on a whim, whenever he likes. Now, he is running around the country telling everyone he's going to keep acting on his own," added the Speaker. "And he's feeding more distrust about whether he is committed to the rule of law."
That sad result, notes a Journal editorial, is that "here stand Mr. Obama's two main pro-growth priorities: Freer trade looks like it will die at the hands of Democrats beholden to Big Labor, while immigration reform is strangled by Republicans dancing to talk radio."

REAL OLYMPIC GOLD
The 2014 Winter Olympics kick off today, and with no sports to cover this week, the news out of Sochi has been dominated by curious toilets, dubious water and revealing hints about the surveillance apparatus in place for the games. Our editorial today notes that Vladimir Putin has gotten what he wanted, sort of—a showcase of the Russia he's built, warts and all.
But the Olympics are a time for coming together, so we'd like instead to draw your attention to a heart-warming tale of an improbable athlete, a luger from the very warmPacific island nation of Tonga. He is his nation's first Winter Olympian. And he has renamed himself after an underwear brand. Human perseverance, global cooperation, and commerce. Beautiful.

SPEAKING OF SURVEILLANCE...
Two American diplomats have apparently been recorded playing at kingmakers in Ukraine. Moscow says the recording shows America "crudely interfering" in Ukraine's affairs—the version of the recording linked to above comes complete with Russian subtitles. And two American diplomats seemingly talking on an open line about whom to put into government and whom to keep out certainly is crude. But at the bottom of that NYT story is the harrowing story of Dmytro Bulatov's capture and torture by security forces, in which he believes the Russians had a hand.

LIFE ON THE INSIDE
Michael Martoma, formerly of the hedge fund SAC Capital, was found guilty of insider trading Thursday. The WSJ's MoneyBeat blog notes that the conviction makes prosecutor Preet Bharara 79-for-79 in insider-trading cases. He's not only been successful, but he's done so while expanding the scope of insider-trading laws far beyond the paradigmatic case of a corporate exec selling his stock just before announcing a huge loss, say. A number of Mr. Bharara's cases have looked at hedge funders who used so-called expert networks, which the government argues were essentially a ruse for gathering material nonpublic information on things like drug trials.

Traders will always seek an edge, and the creeping criminalization of any informational advantage should be worrisome—do we really want only ill-informed actors making investment decisions? Of course, if you follow that logic far enough, you might just conclude that insider trading is a victimless crime that makes markets more efficient, and should be decriminalized altogether. We're not saying we necessarily agree, but there's a strong case to be made.

This column is available every day at wsj.com/morning.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...790615366.html

http://www.alipac.us/f9/irs-smoking-...-fryer-297402/

Lerner Won’t Back Down From Immunity Deal; What Does She Know?

February 28, 2014 by Ben Bullard

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UPI FILE

Lois Lerner told the House Oversight Committee in May that she did not want to incriminate herself in giving testimony about the Internal Revenue Service discrimination scandal targeting Tea Party and conservative nonprofit groups during President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
She did a bad job of pleading the 5^th last year, but has nevertheless remained adamant that she won’t testify unless ordered to do so by a judge — or unless she’s granted immunity from any prosecution her testimony might otherwise elicit. Lerner, the former director of the IRS Exempt Organizations Division, appears to know enough to be scared. She reiterated her immunity sine qua non again Wednesday after the Oversight Committee issued a fresh order for her to appear at a hearing next week.
Through her attorney, Lerner had reportedly been nearing an agreement with the Oversight Committee to give them a preview of what she might say if she were to testify — a first step toward answering a summons without invoking the 5^th Amendment.
Lerner stepped down from her IRS role in September, five months after telling the Oversight Committee they couldn’t make her talk unless they could guarantee her freedom. Nearly a year later, and five more months removed from her job, she hasn’t budged — even as the IRS scandal fades from public consciousness.
What does she know?

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Liberty News, Staff Reports

http://personalliberty.com/2014/02/2...does-she-know/

http://www.alipac.us/f9/mark-levin-m...-scand-302731/

Mark Levin Says This Senator Should Be Dragged Before a Federal Grand Jury

May 15, 2014 By Jennifer Burke

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On Wednesday, TPNN reported on a bombshell story. Emails obtained by Judicial Watch provide extensive, clear, and disturbing evidence of major collusion between Democrat Senator Carl Levin and senior officials in the targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups. (LISTEN to Mark Levin address this below.)

For months, Democrats have denied any knowledge of or participation in this IRS scandal. Barack Obama himself said there was not even a smidgen of corruption and claimed the scandal is essentially phone. But, the emails tell a different story and Mark Levin calls out the major players in this corruption and cover-up.

This is the scandal of all scandals because all roads to funding the federal government, pretty much go through the Internal Revenue Service. And the liberals love the Internal Revenue Service, they love the Internal Revenue code because you find it confounding and overwhelming. And this is how they catch you. They love it so much that Obamacare is laundered through the IRS.

Mark explains that Senator Carl Levin, whom he describes as a nasty man, is in the most powerful position in the Senate. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee Investigative Committee, he has standing subpoena power. In a flagrant abuse of power, he used his position to write letters that threatened the IRS and pushed them to go after Tea Party groups. Even worse, Mark said, “he wasn’t just calling for the investigation of these groups, he was calling for the prosecution of these groups.”
Carl Levin is retiring and, at that time, there will be no constitutional protection to provide him immunity. He will have to answer for what Mark says is “working hand in glove with the Internal Revenue Service to unleash the IRS, or as I call it the IRSS, against many of you and many of the organizations that you hold dear.” Mark calls for even further action against Carl Levin.

This guy should be dragged before a grand jury, and the sooner the better because he’s retiring and after he retires, ladies and gentlemen, there is no immunities clause in the Constitution that can protect him.
Even now, I would argue, that such conduct, pushing to unleash the Internal Revenue Service, against individual citizens who are forming groups is criminal in nature and he should be dragged before a grand jury in any event.

Mark Levin also says that there is no way that Carl Levin did not communicate with the Obama campaign, the DNC, the Obama White House. He was working to shut down the groups that worked as an opposing voice and force to Obama prior to the 2012 election and he abused his position of power in the process.
Calling this a massive cover-up and a massive abuse of power, Mark Levin said that Harry Reid is culpable in this scandal as well as this explains why he will not allow the Senate to participate in a serious investigation of the IRS abuses.

LISTEN to Mark Levin tear apart the corruption of the Democrats in their efforts to silence conservatives through the power of the IRS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...;v=EyqusKDO6vI


http://www.tpnn.com/2014/05/15/mark-...al-grand-jury/