Posted by Tina
It’s becoming all too familiar. A high government official is caught red-handed in scandalous malfeasance and the people never see justice done because another powerful official refuses to take action. As of today it’s official, Lois Lerner, the political pariah of the IRS, the fifth amendment skating harasser of citizens will never see a day in court. This decision is bad news for every American. This decision puts an official stamp on the notion that in this free nation the individual is nothing and the state is everything. Every agency of government has been provided cover for accusations of misdeeds. Whistle blowers need not come forward. I’m disgusted.
The finding of the Justice Department investigation was that Ms Lerner was guilty only of “mismanagement,” an outrageous evaluation. In typical legalese (weenie wording) they said, and I quote, “We found no evidence…” blah blah blah:
The probe found “substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment and institutional inertia leading to the belief by many tax-exempt applicants that the IRS targeted them based on their political viewpoints. But poor management is not a crime.”
“We found no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt, or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution.”
They didn’t look for it.
The most egregious example of evidence not found is the Catherine Engelbrecht case:
Catherine Engelbrecht’s tale has all the markings of a classic conspiracy theory: She says she thinks that because of her peaceful political activity, she and her family were targeted for scrutiny by hostile federal agencies. Yet as news emerges that the Internal Revenue Service wielded its power to obstruct conservative groups, Catherine’s story becomes credible — and chilling. It also raises questions about whether other federal agencies have used their executive powers to target those deemed political enemies.
The application process included hundreds of questions that are not part of the normal application process.
She was personally audited as was her business. She received phone calls from the FBI. Her business was audited by the ATF.
Her business was audited by OSHA resulting in a fine of $25,000.00 although “the agent found only ‘little Mickey Mouse stuff, like, ‘You have safety glasses on, but not the right kind; the forklift has a seat belt, but not the right kind.'” The fine was later reduced to $17,500.00, still a ridiculous burden for petty infractions.
She was then scrutinized (harassed) by members of Congress, Barbara Boxer and Elijah Cummings who, WITHOUT EVIDENCE, decided that her organization, True the Vote, was a voter intimidation group:
In September, Senator Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) wrote to Thomas Perez, then the assistant attorney general of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice (who has now been nominated for labor secretary). “As you know, an organization called ‘True the Vote,’ which is an offshoot of the Tea Party, is leading a voter suppression campaign in many states,” Boxer wrote, adding that “this type of intimidation must stop. I don’t believe this is ‘True the Vote.’ I believe it’s ‘Stop the Vote.'” And in October, Representative Elijah Cummings (D., Md.), the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, attacked True the Vote in a letter. He wrote that “some have suggested that your true goal is not voter integrity, but voter suppression against thousands of legitimate voters who traditionally vote for Democratic candidates.” He added that: “If these efforts are intentional, politically motivated, and widespread across multiple states, they could amount to a criminal conspiracy to deny legitimate voters their constitutional rights.” He also decried True the Vote on MSNBC and CNN
A month after hearing from Boxer and Cummings the Engelbrechts were visited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Safety for an unscheduled audit. (Are you kidding me!) The agency said they had received a “complaint” but wouldn’t elaborate. this visit resulted in the necessity of a $2000.00 a year permit.
After this visit they were notified again twice by the IRS with additional questions. Another unscheduled ATF audit followed.
THE ELECTION PERIOD IS, OF COURSE, OVER AT THIS POINT!
Today the Engelbrecht’s have received the final blow in a very long and extended case of injustice and intimidation by our government. They have not even been given the courtesy of their day in court.
I no longer recognize our country.
Wouldn’t it be refreshing to find that bureaucrat miscreants were fired for malfeasance?
But not EVER in the Obumble admin. NOBODY there is ever held accountable!
And that’s a huge reason why voters are favoring “outsiders” rather than the business-as-usual political hacks. GO OUTSIDERS!!!!!
J. Soden, I live for the day that some bureaucrat in high office will get fired!!!! Seems no matter how bad they screw up nothing ever happens. Lois Lerner – IRS, Hillary and Benghazi, Obama for lying about Benghazi and other things, the FBI agents that fumbled to key lead in 9/11, the CA power crisis that was caused by gov., the housing implosion and banking fraud, nobody has been punished for anything.
I wonder if or when ever a free speech blog ,say like PS that encourages voters to learn about candidates and their past voting history verse their campaign blather.
To review and study the media bias, and Wake Up to the realization that current politics are dividing America , no make that destroying America.
Once more, someone like Liberal hypocrite “check bouncer Boxer” and Pelosi tool only has to write another form of “fictitious document” and get a the current Democratic pit bull Cunningham to sit up and bark , then unleash him without sufficient facts of any substance. Yep we are in trouble
I agree with you Tina , I also do not recognize a free America any longer
As to Lois Learner, just more of the same from the Liberals practicing preservation of their species with catch and release(your own)politics. I am sure that was part of the deal most likely underwritten by the DNC treasure chest to CYA Leaner. However that’s just my opinion, and as long as it lasts, I am entitled to it.
Lois Lerner lost her job, which is not much of a punishment since she was close to retirement anyway and will still receive a very generous pension and benefits. See here.
Ms Lerner is another government employee whose emails were magically destroyed…twice…once because of her “crashed hard drive” and the other when back up tapes were reported to have been destroyed. What do you suppose the odds are that two people in positions of power in different agencies would be involved in alleged illegal activities and have their emails “lost” because of a crashed hard drive? No one should be suspicious, right? This sort of thing happens all the time.
But this isn’t just about destroying evidence, obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and the American people, or a Justice Department that shields officials from the long arm of the law.
This isn’t just about Catherine Engelbrecht or Chris Stevens. It is about every single one of us. These cases represent abuses of power that offend every citizen’s rights under the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights is filled with language that places restrictions on those who serve the people: “Congress shall make no law,” “shall not be infringed,” “shall not be violated.” Government officials are supposed to be servants of the people; they are not supposed to use power against or over the people.
I’m appalled that ordinary citizens in this nation do not realize the seriousness of these matters and are so easily convinced that these cases are just political theater.
Democrats should be demanding more of their leaders.
As some of you may know, NewsBusters is a website dedicated to “exposing and combatting liberal media bias.”
This story broke late on Friday, included in what they call a “media dump.” The administration hopes no one will notice. As of tonight no one did:
Pathetic.