More Fun IRS Scandal Stories: Low-Level Employees Just Doing Bosses’ Bidding, Plus, The Curious Case of the Conservative Name Change
STORY ONE: Those low-level employees apparently say they were doing what their bosses asked them to do:
Prior to his resignation, Steven Miller called the two Cincinnati employees ‘rogue’ and ‘off the reservation’, adding that they were ‘overly aggressive’ in handling the requests from those conservative groups over the past two years.
Miller also added that those two employees have already been ‘disciplined’ by the agency.
However, despite the claim of just two employees being involved, FOX19 has exclusively learned from two separate sources that there could be at least four Cincinnati employees involved.
Those four employees — whose names we have chosen to withhold until they have been officially confirmed — [h]ave each worked in the IRS Exempt Organizations Department.
. . . .
One of FOX19’s two sources went on say that these four IRS workers claim “they simply did what their bosses ordered.”
You don’t say.
STORY TWO: This is a fun story that (potentially) illustrates how ridiculous this all is:
In May 2011, Drew Ryun, a conservative activist and former Republican National Committee staffer, began filling out the Internal Revenue Service application to achieve nonprofit status for a new conservative watchdog group.
He submitted the paperwork to the IRS in July 2011 for a research site called Media Trackers, which calls itself a “non-partisan investigative watchdog dedicated to promoting accountability in the media and government.” Although the site has investigated Republicans like Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the site’s organizers are unapologetically conservative.
. . . .
When September 2012 arrived with still no word from the IRS, Ryun determined that Media Trackers would likely never obtain standalone nonprofit status, and he tried a new approach: He applied for permanent nonprofit status for a separate group called Greenhouse Solutions, a pre-existing organization that was reaching the end of its determination period.
The IRS approved Greenhouse Solutions’ request for permanent nonprofit status in three weeks.
The story says there could be another reason besides the name change having to do with Greenhouse Solutions already having papers on file. Let them prove it, I say. I’m not at the point where I am accepting innocent explanations easily.
so the fox news propaganda sluts are waiting for our trustworthy fascist whore government’s confirmation of facts before they run with the story?
it’s very oniony kind of where you want to put a toasted baguette slice on top and sprinkle on some gruyere and nuke it for 25 seconds or so
happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/15/2013 @ 10:12 pmSometimes even a low level employee can get an idea and it can spread like wild fire, for example to 10 IRS offices in Washington and a few others in California in almost nothing flat, just because it is such a good idea and the government is there to help people and maintain our laws with no partisan bias.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:04 ami don’t think there is an innocent explanation to be found anywhere in Ear Leader’s regime.
redc1c4 (403dff) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:17 amRep. Nunes told Hewitt yesterday the phone taps including Congress. Anyone really surprised, presuming it’s accurate AND true.
cedarhill (faaebc) — 5/16/2013 @ 3:28 amLike the FCC furloughs at Reagan International Airport, House Republicans won’t act until it directly inconveniences them.
Now we have illegal wiretapping of House Republicans, Nixon-style.
Are you boys in the House finally ready to impeach Obamee now?
Lightwave (1bc6df) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:11 am#3… they are on teh same wavelength, daley…
Colonel Haiku (9a081e) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:14 amIt is funny how they are trying to maintain that it was just a couple rogue employees in Cincy, when there was a DC taskforce, and these inquiries generated out of multiple offices.
JD (b63a52) — 5/16/2013 @ 5:19 amWhy don’t we have names, beyond Mr. or Ms. Rogue?
We know the names of the private donors to conservative organizations. We know who made the movie that didn’t inspire the attack on Benghazi.
If these were conservative rogues, their names would be on the front page of the NYT.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/16/2013 @ 5:20 amWho directed the conservative applications to these rogues, for years?
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 5/16/2013 @ 5:22 amAmphipolis – were it the other way around, we would have their tax records, divorce records, etc
JD (ee8414) — 5/16/2013 @ 5:45 amThere are no phone taps. They subpoenaed phone records.
Patterico (9c670f) — 5/16/2013 @ 6:34 amThey subpoenaed the House of Representatives records?! Really?!
JD (ee8414) — 5/16/2013 @ 6:41 am==Sometimes even a low level employee can get an idea and it can spread like wild fire, for example to 10 IRS offices in Washington and a few others in California in almost nothing flat, just because it is such a good idea and the government is there to help people and maintain our laws with no partisan bias.== (daleyrocks)
And like wildfire also because this particular good idea was so easy to implement and was so obviously representative of, and in comportment with, the agency’s sworn mission statement that those exceptionally creative low levels were almost sure to get big promotions or raises out of it, I’ll bet.
elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 6:49 amOh come on. They weren’t “rogues” and the policy is to block persons and ideas that get in the way of Obama’s policy agenda (stated or hidden.) Moreover it’s to find new avenues of intimidation.
From the information demanded it’s clear they would not only gather information about family memebers, children, associates – they would seek lines of suppressive fire from, for example, the High schools and Colleges the IRS demanded of some applicants, to be named.
SarahW (b0e533) — 5/16/2013 @ 6:55 amI trust Holder to get to the bottom of this.
JD (ee8414) — 5/16/2013 @ 7:15 amGreen Tea Patriots ??
Neo (d1c681) — 5/16/2013 @ 7:55 amIf they were smart, the GOP would have a press conference with all these IRS victims.
Patricia (be0117) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:30 amIt turns out that this type of heightened scrutiny of conservative groups began at least 6 months before the claimed dramatic uptick in applications. Shocking, huh?
JD (b63a52) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:48 amThey asked a pro-life group to pledge under penalty of perjury that they would not protest Planned Parenthood.
JD (b63a52) — 5/16/2013 @ 8:48 am“Independent prosecutor” anyone?
Put these low-level employees on trial, but give them a chance to name the superiors who gave the orders. Iterate.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:05 amLook, it’s really simple: GOP grassroots (aka the TEA Party) won a landslide in 2010 by being well-organized. Obama and his cabal decided to use all the levers they had to hobble and disrupt the opposition’s grassroots for the 2012 election.
This strategy worked, as they narrowly won due to poor turnout from the GOP’s base and a disorganized TEA Party.
The main difference between this and what Nixon tried to do wrt McGovern is that 1) it was necessary, and 2) that it was successful.
In short, Obama was re-elected SOLELY because he used criminal means to disable his opponents. If that is not cause for impeachment, then Nixon was unfairly hounded out of office.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:13 amI think it was mostly the intimidation factor against individuals; IRS audits, business disruptions caused by EPA DHS and other agencies, and fear of other things such as losing jobs or threats to family security that “disabled” the vocal right for 2012. The tea party was still new and not all that organized in 2010. But for that election they had passion and still believed there was freedom of speech in this country. They soon learned otherwise.
elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 9:28 amSomehow these “lone rogues” got their director to sign some of the letters.
Rob Crawford (e6f27f) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:34 amThey subpoenaed phone records.
Isn’t that a Separation of Powers issue that was decided in the aftermath of the FBI raid on William Jefferson’s (D-LA) office on Capitol Hill?
askeptic (b8ab92) — 5/16/2013 @ 10:48 amNote to Kim Jong Un: This would be a bad week to rattle your nukes.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:24 amJust some rogues from the Cincinatti office, and this akward situation;
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/embattled-irs-official-lois-lerners-husbands-law-firm-hosted-an-obama-campaign-organizing-meeting/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:39 amBefore ‘The One’ became President, a low-level bureaucrat would show up at your door and say, “Hi ! I’m with the government, and I’m here to help you !”
But now that we’ve been given hope ‘n change, a low-level bureaucrat will show up at your door and say, “Hi ! I’m with the government, and I’m here to audit you !”
Elephant Stone (65a34b) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:40 amMaybe now we know why the Democrats’ ground game was so much better in the last election: the Democrats’ grassroots organizations could fund-raise much more effectively than Republicans’ due to favorable treatment by the IRS.
Forget the “Maybe…”! I don’t think there is any doubt about it. The IRS had a big fat finget on the scales of justice, it was pushing on the democrats’ side, and the White House and Dem caucuses were in on it. Then there’s the little matter of Tea Party complaints being stonewalled and covered up with the help of the media.
Ray Van Dune (9a0f2b) — 5/16/2013 @ 11:53 amThis Obama person certainly is audacious.
Elephant Stone (65a34b) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:10 pmSuch audacity, I tell you !
Obama finally found a dangerous scenario for which he felt it necessary to call in the Marines.
Apparently, he was being attacked by rain during his press conference today, so he had a Marine walk over to his podium and stand there with an umbrella while he continued to lecture.
In other words, the Marine was asked to stand still, rather than stand down.
Elephant Stone (65a34b) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:31 pmI had even better luck – Our office prepared and filed the initial Application for tax exempt status, Form 1023 for a (c)(3) on Sept 6, 2012 and received the letter of acceptance dated Sept 26, 2012. The approval came in 20 days, surprising since the organizational documents had a provision missing that would under normal circumstances been fatal to the application.
Joe (debac0) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:31 pmMedia Trackers is a propaganda mill funded by The Bradley Foundation and McIver Institute, as well as American Majority, an organization for pro-Scott Walker activists.
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/127152603.html
Just like Media Matters or MoveOn should never be tax exempt, we have seen “non profits” with no other aim other than political propaganda bastardize the tax exemption regulations.
Just like we openly allow pay-for-play on a daily basis through our bastardized campaign finance rules, we have allowed the idea of tax exempt “social welfare” to now include smearing candidates and issues-based articles designed (but failing) to look like objective journalism.
We have also granted tax exempt status to SuperPACs run by both sides, a total bastardization of the intent of the law. Karl Rove spent (wasted?) hundreds of millions in the last election, claiming his attack-ad factory was “educational”, even though fact checking proved it to be highly deceptive.
If this dust-up is at all helpful, it will go far beyond punishing the partisans who stalled tea party applications, it will lead to a discussion that makes America realize that political speech is not “social welfare”.
I’m surprised that an anti-socialism crowd like this one has no problem committing tax dollars to fake news bureaus like Media Trackers. I thought you guys always call for self-sufficiency, not leeching off others, being a maker not a taker. You all suddenly endorse making every tax payer subsidize right biased PR outlets? Stunning hypocrisy.
Mahalia Cab (947359) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:43 pmMedia Trackers is a propaganda mill
oh please. they’re wee lil pikers compared to the fascist propaganda sluts at the AP or CNN
happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:45 pmWell as long, as they are keeping an eye on the right folks;
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/16/great-news-us-has-misplaced-two-former-witness-protection-program-participants-known-or-suspected-as-terrorists/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:50 pmMahalia Cab is still feeling the tingle up his leg ! Sexxxy times !
All teasing aside, tax reform of exempting criteria, as you are suggesting we should consider, is a completely different conversation than the fact that the Obama Treasury Dept broke the existing law by targeting the President’s publicly acknowledged enemies.
See, Mister Mahalia, we prosecute people for breaking the law that currently exists—not the laws that you fantasize about it in your Saul Alinsky wet dreams.
Elephant Stone (65a34b) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:52 pmWell ao much for that;
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/16/data-on-nonprofit-applications-debunks-irss-rationale-for-scrutinizing-tea-partiers/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/16/2013 @ 12:56 pmMahalia Cab hates free speech.
There is no “bastardization” of non profit status in these cases, it is exactly what that section of IRC 501 was created for. Advocacy.
Mahalia Cab is just full of hate for ideas she does not agree with. Like all Progressives – full of hate and no real answers to competing ideas.
Mahalia Cab celebrates the thuggish oppression by government of people she disagrees with. Because that’s what Progressives do – when they aren’t rounding up enemies for concentration camps.
SPQR (768505) — 5/16/2013 @ 1:00 pmMahalia@32, You are “surprised” are you? Well, if you bothered to check in here on days other than the ones when you draw “the assignment” you would already know that many who post here advocate massive changes in the tax code and/or eliminating most tax exempt status situations entirely.
But until that happens and becomes law there needs to be equity in how the applications for 501 organizations are handled and processed by the IRS as Elephant Stone said so well. Do you have a problem with that? If so, why?
elissa (04d91b) — 5/16/2013 @ 1:27 pmDialing to eleven, is not a media strategy;
http://www.mediaite.com/online/defending-the-irs-msnbc%E2%80%99s-support-of-obama-once-an-asset-now-puts-network-in-a-losing-position/
narciso (3fec35) — 5/16/2013 @ 1:36 pmMahalia – did you get a tingle up your leg?
JD (ee8414) — 5/16/2013 @ 1:45 pmWhich is only a defense if the orders are lawful.
Michael Ejercito (e545b1) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:16 pmIndeed. I hope these folks get a day in court. Unlike the people they persecuted, I hope they get a fair trial and their rights are honored.
BTW, just read about the group that was ordered to promise not to protest Planned Parenthood if it wanted tax exempt approval.
How many more of these things have happened, undocumented? How many more people were chilled from even trying to assemble?
Dustin (2da3a2) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:26 pmThey wage political warfare, the GOP by and large looks upon like a game of squash;
http://minx.cc/?post=340071
narciso (3fec35) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:35 pmlittle Ms. Behar
Colonel Haiku (4cc820) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:35 pmbuilt like a damn cattle car
throw teh dog a bone?
“Which is only a defense if the orders are lawful.”
Michael – Which is only a defense if the employees did not know the orders were unlawful?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/16/2013 @ 4:45 pmAre we not presumed to know what the law is?
Michael Ejercito (2e0217) — 5/17/2013 @ 7:57 am“Are we not presumed to know what the law is?”
Michael Ejercito – Do you seriously want to try that argument with the Internal Revenue Code? How does the employee know his instructions are illegal even if he/she asks questions and the superior falsely assures them they are not?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/17/2013 @ 11:06 am