Issa: DoJ Called My Aides Looking to Minimize IRS Scandal, Apparently Thinking He Was Talking to Democrats
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 [DoJ] officials could comment on them “before the majority” did.
Apparently the Holder flack was “audibly shaken” after the Issa staffer said that the Oversight Committee would have to look at documents first. He put the call on hold, came back, and said there had been a “change in plans.” Why, no documents were going to get released! He was just calling to say, hey guys! Can’t we all just get along? Stop hatin’ so much!
It almost sounds — I say almost sounds — as if DoJ isn’t really interested in investigating the IRS for reals. It’s almost — almost, I tell you! — as if they are just playing the role of partisan hack.
Speaking of which . . .
Breitbart News says IRS targeted company for audit
The company that runs the conservative Breitbart.com news site says the IRS has selected the network for an audit, in a move company executives suggest is politically motivated.
Breitbart News Network, a California-based company which runs several conservative websites, says the IRS recently audited its 2012 financial information.
“The Obama administration’s timing on this is exquisite, but try as they might through various methods to silence us, we will only get more emboldened,” Stephen K. Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News Network, said in a written statement.
You know, everybody always talks big at the beginning of an episode where a legal process is being dishonestly invoked to squelch dissent. The real measure is what happens a year from now, after the full weight of the government has been brought to bear.
Don’t worry, Breitbart.com! If the IRS gets carried away, you can count on DoJ to come to your rescue collude with Democrats to spin the evidence.