The watchdog group, Judicial Watch, has obtained — through court order — a series of letters indicating the IRS was pressured by none other than Michigan’s senior U.S. Sen. Carl Levin to place greater scrutiny of groups seeking favorable tax status from the government. Levin’s first letter — dated March 30, 2012, 7 months before that year’s presidential election — was directed to then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman and emphasized the “urgency” of tackling the issue of possible political activity by nonprofit applicants. Levin, who has announced his retirement at the end of his current term, didn’t explain why the issue was so urgent but he demanded information within three weeks on whether the IRS was “seeking any information about political activities, and how the IRS determines whether and when to send that questionnaire.” To make matters worse, Judicial Watch Senior Attorney Ramona Cotca said on my WJR radio show that Levin’s letters cited 10 organizations for special attention. Nine were on the conservative side of the aisle. Shulman responded with a 16-page response about IRS rules involving such questions, an exchange that came about a month after the agency’s efforts to target tea party groups was exposed by articles in newspapers across the country, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times. Levin’s intent is rather clear and he was joined by fellow Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Dick Durbin in trying to pressure the tax agency. by Frank Beckmann - host of “The Frank Beckmann Show” on WJR-AM (760) detroitnews/article/20140516/OPINION01/305160001 detroitnews/.../20140516/OPINION01/305160001
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 10:48:44 +0000
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