by: Sean Brown
There’s no questions at all whether or not leaders in Washington D.C. were a part of the IRS scandal that targeted conservative groups to put them under. However recently revealed emails show that Eric Holder’s Department of Justice also played a key role in the scandal. Not only did the Justice Department know about the targeting and not do anything to stop it from happening, but it also tried to assist in what was happening by arresting known conservative leaders on bogus charges. According to the Washington Examiner, Darrel Issa, who’s been leading the investigation into the IRS, is looking for more answers from the Obama administration regarding an email between an official with the DOJ and the former IRS official Lois Lerner. The email discussed potentially prosecuting conservative groups that had applied for tax-exempt status. The email from Richard Pilger, who’s the director of the Election Crimes Branch of the DOJ, said to Lerner “When you have a moment, will you call me? I’ve been asked to run something by you.”
According to the article, Pilger never actually said who had asked him to talk to Lerner, however “he wanted to know who at the IRS ‘DOJ folks could talk to’ about ways to target 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups that are heavily involved in politics and may be pushing the boundaries of the law with their political activity.” Issa believes that the email shows that the DOJ wanted to prosecute conservative groups that were engaging in perfectly legal activities as 501(c)(4) nonprofits, which was engaging in political speech. He has fired off a letter to Eric Holder asking him to provide any and all relevant documents pertaining to such prosecutions when the IRS was already targeting the groups, as well as allowing the House Oversight Committee to interview Pilger about the matter. Issa believes the timing is far too convenient for the type of communications Pilger was having with Lerner. “They show that the IRS and the Justice Department were actively considering efforts to target tax-exempt organizations just two days before Ms. Lerner’s public apology for the targeting.” Such information greatly diminishes the sincerity in Lerner’s apology and really calls to question Holder’s outrage when news first broke about the targeting, Issa also said. “These comments ring hollow in light of evidence that your subordinates apparently colluded with the IRS to target nonprofit groups less than a week before.”
As expected Peter Carr, a spokesman from the DOJ vehemently denied the allegations and said that the phone call between Lerner and Pilger took place after the “alleged misconduct” by the IRS. They also argued that there was no wrongdoing since the DOJ never actually pursued any charges. However an email from Lerner to Nikole Flax, who was the chief of staff to the acting commissioner of the IRS at the time, explained the context of her communications with Pilger and implicated a Democrat Senator as well. She said that Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) suggested that the DOJ “could piece together false statement cases about applicants who ‘lied’ on their 1024s – saying they weren’t planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures.” So the question isn’t so much if the DOJ was involved or if the IRS targeted conservative groups, it’s when is Eric Holder going to be removed from his position, when is Lois Lerner going to jail, and when are heads going to start to roll for this and the many other scandals the most crooked administration in history is responsible for? The manner in which these people have brazenly disregarded our rights and abused their positions of authority should be enough to make anybody sick to their stomachs. Regardless if you’re liberal or conservative, such actions are deplorable and we all need to demand that everyone involved is held accountable, anything else is an injustice to our nation and its people. It’s apparent that these people could care less about their oaths they swore to uphold and protect our constitution. This is what happens when an inexperienced Chicago Senator gets elected president.
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