House Refers Lois Lerner for Criminal Charges in IRS Scandal

Posted by Tina

Today the House Oversight Committee announced referral of criminal charges against Lois Lerner to the Justice Department after releasing emails between Democrat Minority Leader Elijah Cummings and the IRS that detail efforts to gather non-public information about True the Vote supporters.

Breitbart Texas has the details:

Five days after Cummings contacted True the Vote seeking “copies of all training materials used for volunteers, affiliates, or other entities,” the IRS sent True the Vote a letter requesting True the Vote provide “a copy of [True the Vote’s] volunteer registration form,” “…the process you use to assign volunteers,” “how you keep your volunteers in teams,” and “how your volunteers are deployed … following the training they receive by you.”

Redacted emails also demonstrate a working relationship between Rep. Cummings and embattled IRS official Lois Lerner. Lerner’s staff later supplied copies of True the Vote’s IRS Form 990 prior to TTV’s approval as a designated 501(c)(3) organization.

A statement was released to the press by True the Vote President Cathryn Engelbrecht:

“Today’s committee action reveals what we knew all along,” Engelbrecht said. “Elijah Cummings has blocked the IRS abuse investigation all along. We now see clearly that two branches of government have colluded to target and silence private citizens.”

So far most major networks are ignoring this story; FOX is carrying it. The public is left to rely on conservative blogs for details and on themselves for the hype to outrage.

House Republicans say they are not ruling out arresting Lerner if the Justice Department fails to do it’s duty:

Among those tools is the House’s “inherent contempt” authority under the Constitution, which was initially exercised in 1795 during the First Congress and on multiple occasions thereafter. Lerner could be held until January 2015 when a new Congress is seated, which could issue another subpoena and throw her in the clink again if she still balks at testifying.

“I think we’ll deal with that, should that occur, but I think this too is an ongoing investigation, and, frankly, for the attorney general to turn a blind eye to this evidence would discredit him greatly,” Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, a Ways and Means Committee member, told the Washington Examiner when asked if the House would take that step if Holder refused to take the case.

“This is a very thorough, deliberate investigation,” he said. “This congressional referral is commonplace when we find evidence of wrongdoing from the legislative branch.”

As if on cue a similar, semi-related story, arrives in the inbox:

A customer service representative at the IRS who repeatedly greeted taxpayers calling a help-line with a chant urging President Barack Obama’s re-election in 2012 could now be facing significant disciplinary action, according to the Office of Special Counsel.

OSC, which enforces the law prohibiting federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity in the workplace — the Hatch Act — has filed a complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board seeking disciplinary action against the employee.

It’s one of three cases of improper political activity at the agency recently uncovered by OSC, according to a April 9 press release.

Under a settlement agreement with OSC, another IRS employee, a tax-advisory specialist in Kentucky, will serve a 14-day suspension for promoting partisan political views to a taxpayer she assisted during the 2012 Presidential campaign season. According to a recorded conversation received by OSC, the IRS employee told the taxpayer she supported Democrats and that “Republicans already (sic) trying to cap my pension and … they’re going to take women back 40 years.”

Later, the employe e told the caller, “I’m not supposed to voice my opinion, so you didn’t hear me saying that.”

Can we describe all of this partisan activity the result of a culture of corruption established by those in leadership and authority?

Yes…yes we can!