‘Sham’? First IRS, now FBI shafts Tea Party tea_party_capitol_AP FBI won’t file charges against IRS over treatment of Tea Party groups (Tea Party) – The FBI does not plan to file criminal charges against anyone at the IRS with regard to the targeting of conservatives in a massive scandal that rocked America last year. In response to the news, attorney Cleta Mitchell said, “It appears that the FBI is in the pocket of the Department of Justice and the White House.” Mitchell expressed strong skepticism that the Justice Department would every fully investigate the IRS. FAX BLAST SPECIAL: Impeach Obama NOW! Sarcastically she chimed, “To quote Faye Dunaway in the last scene in ‘Chinatown,’ when she yells at Jack Nicholson ‘… he OWNS the police.’” “Therein lies the problem,” said the high-powered Washington attorney. The Washington DC-based attorney represents nearly a dozen conservative groups that were targeted by the IRS while applying for tax-exempt status. The IRS conducted highly invasive investigations that zeroed in on conservative groups and subjected them to extra scrutiny, delays and unfair targeting. Advocates for the Tea Party are upset that the FBI is not expressing an interest in obtaining the victims’ stories and only seem concerned with the stories from the culprits. “I can confirm that the FBI has not contacted me, any of my clients, or any other organizations who were victimized by the IRS,” Mitchell told news media WND. “Some investigation,” she added. Steve Eichler, CEO of TeaParty.org, an organization with millions of members, had the identical experience. “It’s amazing that this is the result of the supposed investigation,” said Eichler. “The FBI never once contacted us. They never contacted any of our attorneys.” “TeaParty.org and I are in touch with locals leaders around the country every single day – none of those people were contacted by the FBI,” Eichler said incredulously. Evidence from the Treasury Department shows that the IRS targeted conservative groups and despite that fact, investigators did not find anything that would amount to a violation of criminal law said law-enforcement officials who leaked word to the Wall Street Journal. No political hunting or “enemy” targeting was found. “What kind of investigation is this – where you don’t even talk to and interview the people who were victimized in the crime?” wondered Eichler. Eichler was asked if, as far as he could tell, there was an investigation. “I never saw an investigation,” said Eichler. “If there was, they were not talking to the people who were most affected. We were never contacted, and I’ve heard of no one who has been contacted.” Mart’s response echoed what Mitchell told the Wall Street Journal. “As far as I can tell, nobody has actually done an investigation. This has been a big, bureaucratic, former-Soviet-Union-type investigation, which means that there was no investigation,” Martin said. “This is a deplorable abuse of the public trust, but I am not surprised.” What investigators did find, sources told the paper, was that the FBI discovered a mismanaged IRS—one that made a mess of enforcement rules regarding tax-exempt applications it did not understand. Evidence, however, points to far greater targeting of conservative organizations as compared to what progressive organizations are subjected to. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) that conducted an audit of the targeting practice found only “30 percent of the organizations we identified with the words ‘progress’ or ‘progressive’ in their names were processed as potential political cases.” “In comparison, our audit found that 100 percent of the tax-exempt applications with tea party, patriots, or 9/12 in their names were processed as potential political cases during the time frame of our audit.” Even the IRS admitted to giving inappropriately close scrutiny to conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status between May 2010 and May 2012. This burdensome scrutiny delayed approval for months, even years. “The evidence shows us that conservative groups were not only flagged, but targeted and abused by the IRS,” said Sarah Swinehart who is the spokeswoman for the House Ways and Means Committee. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) charges the investigation is nothing more than a “sham” designed to protect those responsible. THE ACLJ is representing 41 organizations in a federal lawsuit against the IRS. “From Day 1, it was apparent the Obama administration was never really interested in getting to the truth. This latest revelation directly conflicts with the facts and evidence in our case – that our clients were deliberately singled out and targeted because of their conservative political beliefs.” said ACLJ’s chief counsel, Jay Sekulow. It took seven months for the IRS to contact the ACLJ to request interviews with several of the organization’s clients. However, after it was revealed that a top Obama supporter in the Department of Justice was appointed to head up the criminal investigation, the ACLJ says it will re-evaluate that request. “The appointment of Barbara Bosserman – a major political donor – to oversee the criminal probe is a significant conflict of interest,” Sekulow said. “What’s amazing is that her short tenure at the helm – just a matter of days – apparently was long enough to conclude no criminal charges will be filed against those responsible for the targeting scheme.” Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Darrell Issa, R-CA and the Subcommittee Chairman, Jim Jordan, R-OH, were also critical of Bosserman’s appointment. In a statement they released they were critical of her appointment because “congressional investigators independently discovered that a high-dollar contributor to the Obama administration failed to recuse herself.” They concluded: “These revelations further undermine the credibility of the Attorney General Holder and the Justice Department under his leadership. Given the circumstances, there is little reason for the American people to have confidence in this investigation.” Equally incredulous over the news was Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT. “How can the Department of Justice say that no charges will be filed when its investigation into the targeting of conservative groups isn’t finished?” Expect the Obama administration to conduct business as usual: sweep yet another scandal under the rug. - See more at: https://teaparty.org/sham-first-irs-now-fbi-shafts-tea-party-33221/#sthash.Ox0HqayQ.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:43:34 +0000
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