DOJ Aide Caught "Red-handed" in IRS Scandal

[sunmaster14]

This is like something out of a movie (my emphasis added):

The administration official calling House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) office last week had an odd request.

Could the Justice Department get some help leaking information about the IRS’s scrutiny of conservative groups? asked Brian Fallon, a top spokesman for Attorney General Eric Holder.

Apparently thinking he had reached the office of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), Fallon said the department wanted congressional staffers to get documents to selected reporters so that officials could comment on them “before the majority” did.

After Issa spokesman Frederick Hill replied that Oversight Committee staffers would have to examine those documents first, the line went silent, and Fallon placed the call on hold for three minutes.

When he returned to the line, Fallon was “audibly shaken,” according to an account of the conversation that Issa recounts in a letter sent to Holder.

If the corruption wasn't so offensive, the incompetence would actually be kind of humorous.

 

[Spindrift]

Out of a movie? You mean the screw up of calling the wrong person right?

Because the controlled leaking of information to the press is a time honored tradition in Washington. Let's see the Republican's try to say otherwise.

 

[DDWW]

Out of a movie? You mean the screw up of calling the wrong person right?

Because the controlled leaking of information to the press is a time honored tradition in Washington. Let's see the Republican's try to say otherwise.

The "everyone does it (I claim)" defense!

 

[jhunter1163]

The "everyone does it (I claim)" defense!

Everyone does do it, and has since the beginning of time; just ask Richard Nixon. The last paragraph of the linked article claims that Issa himself routinely leaks documents.

 

[Corsair 115]

The IRS "scandal" again? The "scandal" that in fact saw liberal/progressive groups scrutinized just as much, if not more, than conservative groups?

 

[TragicMonkey]

Usually if people feel the need to actually call something "a scandal" it's not one, they just wish it were. Actual scandals don't need to be labelled such, they are self-evidently scandalous.

 

[sunmaster14]

Everyone does do it, and has since the beginning of time; just ask Richard Nixon. The last paragraph of the linked article claims that Issa himself routinely leaks documents.

Aside from the fact that when you're caught red-handed doing something bad, there should be consequences regardless of how many actually do that bad thing too, the leaking is not the problem here. It's the fact that a supposedly neutral Department of Justice has been politicized to such a point that a top aide to the Attorney General was evidently actively conspiring with Democrats on a Congressional committee to politically undermine an active investigation.

 

[sunmaster14]

Usually if people feel the need to actually call something "a scandal" it's not one, they just wish it were. Actual scandals don't need to be labelled such, they are self-evidently scandalous.

Never heard this before. Would it be better to call it IRS-gate? What would you call it?

 

[sunmaster14]

The IRS "scandal" again? The "scandal" that in fact saw liberal/progressive groups scrutinized just as much, if not more, than conservative groups?

Nope, not that one. I'm talking about the IRS targeting "scandal" where

... out of the 20 groups applying for tax-exempt status whose names contained "progress" or "progressive", 6 had been chosen for more scrutiny as compared to all of the 292 groups applying for tax-exempt status whose names contained "tea party", "patriot", or "9/12".

The talking point progressives have is that the words "progress" and "progressive" appeared on more BOLO lists in total, not that more groups were flagged, let alone referred for greater scrutiny.

 

[RandFan]

I think the actions by the IRS were unarguably wrong. I don't know see a grand conspiracy here coordinated by the White House. This doesn't seem to me to have the weight of simple partisanship like the targeting of Democrats by Monica (I know I crossed aline) Goodling. FTR: Democrats who often beat the drums for the Democrats have rightly criticized those who abused their power.

• MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said: “There is a reasonable fear by all of us, by any of us, that the kind of power the IRS has could be misused,” she further said that this scrutiny of Tea Party groups was “not fair.” [118]

• Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart stated that the scandal had taken “the last arrow in your pro-governance quiver,” he further said that this threw doubt on President Obama’s “managerial competence” and had proven correct “conspiracy theorists,” moving the burden of proof onto federal authorities. [119]

• NBC’s White House correspondent Chuck Todd: “It didn’t seem like they had a sense of urgency about it, a real sense of outrage,” and further; “This is outrageous no matter what political party you are.” [121]

I suspect that this was largely the IRS simply going after what it percieved of was low hanging fruit. As for the ratio of Dems to Republicans, no one inlvolved to date, AFAIK has, said that there was an order to focus primarily on Right leaning groups. Though the loss of the Lerner emails is clearly troubling. I'm in favor of a special prosecutor with subpoena power.

But let's keep in mind that there is as yet no actionable information (again, AFAIK).

Senate Probe Of IRS Scandal Finds Liberals Targeted Too

"A review of nearly 800,000 pages of documents and the conduct of nearly two dozen IRS and TIGTA employee interviews produced no evidence of political bias by the IRS against conservative groups that filed 501(c)(4) [tax-exempt] applications, a finding which is consistent with TIGTA’s June 2014 letter stating that the TIGTA audit 'found no evidence of political bias,'" the latest report says.

 

[theprestige]

Out of a movie? You mean the screw up of calling the wrong person right?

Because the controlled leaking of information to the press is a time honored tradition in Washington. Let's see the Republican's try to say otherwise.

No, I'm pretty sure that the Justice Department--a federal agency--coordinating PR with the Democratic Party--a political party--over an investigation into improper IRS activity is not something that can be so easily excused.

 

[eeyore1954]

Out of a movie? You mean the screw up of calling the wrong person right?

Because the controlled leaking of information to the press is a time honored tradition in Washington. Let's see the Republican's try to say otherwise.

Does that make it ok somehow?

 

[Spindrift]

Does that make it ok somehow?

Yes.

 

[marplots]

No, I'm pretty sure that the Justice Department--a federal agency--coordinating PR with the Democratic Party--a political party--over an investigation into improper IRS activity is not something that can be so easily excused.

Is that what happened?

 

[jhunter1163]

No, I'm pretty sure that the Justice Department--a federal agency--coordinating PR with the Democratic Party--a political party--over an investigation into improper IRS activity is not something that can be so easily excused.

There's no evidence that there actually was any improper IRS activity.

 

[DDWW]

There's no evidence that there actually was any improper IRS activity.

Maybe because requested emails were "mistakenly destroyed"?

 

[jj]

Maybe because requested emails were "mistakenly destroyed"?

Hardly, the illusion of impropriety was feloniously created by Darryl Issa and his cohorts, who gave a deliberately skewed mission to the original investigation. The results show conclusively that no political persuasion was targeted more than any other, and all claims otherwise are lies told in order to undermine the government of the USA.

It really is that simple.

 

[sunmaster14]

There's no evidence that there actually was any improper IRS activity.

Wait, what? IRS officials up and down the chain have already admitted there was improper IRS activity. In fact, the first time the public got wind of the improper activity was when Lois Lerner preemptively apologized (by planting a question at the end of her speech at a conference).

I realize that Democratic politicians have since developed amnesia about this point, but I would have expected people here to have better memories.

 

[jhunter1163]

Wait, what? IRS officials up and down the chain have already admitted there was improper IRS activity. In fact, the first time the public got wind of the improper activity was when Lois Lerner preemptively apologized (by planting a question at the end of her speech at a conference).

I realize that Democratic politicians have since developed amnesia about this point, but I would have expected people here to have better memories.

Did you not read RandFan's post 10 above? Especially the part about "no evidence of political bias"? There was incompetence, yes, but the so-called "scandal" was manufactured by the Republicans.

 

[jj]

Wait, what? IRS officials up and down the chain have already admitted there was improper IRS activity.

You're spinning their "admissions" and begging the question to boot. The "admission" was that they shouldn't have targeted a variety of people that was not in any fashion slanted to the disadvantage of the crybaby, dishonestly misrepresented "right wing victims".

The "scandal" was fully and completely created by LIES told by Issa and company, for the sole and only purpose of undermining the government of the USA.