IRS Exempt Organization Unit Chief Officer Violated U.S. Laws

[From article]
When Lois Lerner, the former IRS chief of the Exempt Organization unit and figure at the center of the targeting scandal, transferred 1.25 million IRS documents to the Justice Department in October of 2010, she almost certainly broke the law, according to new documents unearthed by the group Cause of Action in a FOIA suit.
The documents contained tax returns and other private tax information from non-profit groups. The transfer was done in advance of a meeting between IRS and Justice Department officials to discuss prosecuting non-profits for illegal political activity.
But federal law prohibits the transfer of tax returns to any agency without following set procedures. Lerner's transfer was thus highly illegal.
[. . .]



Documents suggest that Lerner’s massive document transfer to the DOJ didn’t meet any of those exceptions, including one that allows the agency to disclose returns for use in criminal investigations — if they’ve been requested in relation to “an actual investigation about a person to whom the investigation is related,” says O’Connor. Both Lerner and the DOJ were interested in figuring out how to prosecute non-profit groups they believed were engaging in improper political activity, and Lerner sent the documents over to the department days before an October 8 meeting with several of her IRS colleagues, an FBI agent, and attorneys from the DOJ’s public-integrity section.
[. . .]
A lawful transfer of the documents would have required a formal request from the DOJ to the IRS, but DOJ trial attorney Stephanie Sasarak told Cause of Action in a March 9, 2016, letter that the department did not make any requests to the IRS for the documents it received. Alternatively, the secretary of the Treasury could have turned the documents over to the DOJ. In either case, section 6103 requires the Treasury secretary to disclose the transfer to the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, which releases publicly a list of disclosures each year. But the Joint Committee on Taxation’s 2010 disclosure report does not show a transfer to the Department of Justice that matches the one Lerner sent in October of that year.
[. . .]



Thousands of non-profit groups had their tax returns transferred illegally, while the IRS and Justice deliberately kept Congress in the dark.
The FBI closed its investigation of the Tea Party targeting scandal in October of 2015 without indicting anyone.
It doesn't get any clearer than this. Procedures set down by law on how taxpayer info can be disclosed were discarded, and a cover-up of the transfer to DoJ was initiated. What's worrisome is, if they are covering up disclosure violations like this, how many more taxpayers are in the cross hairs of the IRS and DoJ without knowing it, and is there any way to find out?

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/06/new_docs_show_irss_lois_lerner_broke_the_law.html

June 30, 2016
New docs show IRS's Lois Lerner broke the law
By Rick Moran

IRS Reveals List of Targeted Conservative Groups. Commissioner Remains Defiant, Indicating Contempt

Photo by: Andrew Harnik
Congressional Republicans say IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who was brought in by President Obama to clean up the agency after the targeting scandal, has failed — and even misled Congress during the investigation. 

(Associated Press)

Government malfeasance will continue as long as public officials remain unaccountable. Even if damages from liability are found and abuses of power, taxpayers will pay for the wrongdoing of these miscreants. The individuals must pay penalties for their abuses of power, and political misuse of power contrary to law. The IRS is out of control along with the Department of Justice and the bloated, useless, misguided Department of Homeland Security. They lead the nation toward tyranny.

[From article]
More than three years after it admitted to targeting tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny, the IRS has finally released a near-complete list of the organizations it snagged in a political dragnet.
The tax agency filed the list last month as part of a court case after a series of federal judges, fed up with what they said was the agency’s stonewalling, ordered it to get a move on. The case is a class-action lawsuit, so the list of names is critical to knowing the scope of those who would have a claim against the IRS.
But even as it answers some questions, the list raises others, including exactly when the targeting stopped, and how broadly the tax agency drew its net when it went after nonprofits for unusual scrutiny.
The government released names of 426 organizations. Another 40 were not released as part of the list because they had already opted out of being part of the class-action suit.
That total is much higher than the 298 groups the IRS‘ inspector general identified back in May 2013, when investigators first revealed the agency had been subjecting applications to long — potentially illegal — delays, and forcing them to answer intrusive questions about their activities. Tea party and conservative groups said they was the target of unusually heavy investigations and longer delays,
Edward D. Greim, the lawyer who’s pursuing the case on behalf of NorCal Tea Party Patriots and other members of the class, said the list also could have ballooned toward the end of the targeting as the IRS, once it knew it was being investigated, snagged more liberal groups in its operations to try to soften perceptions of political bias.
“As we have identified in our filings in this case, important questions still exist regarding changes to the IRS‘ case listings that occurred after the IRS learned that the [inspector general] and congressional investigations had begun,” he said. “Based on these changes, which to date remain unexplained, a very real possibility — if not probability — exists that the IRS modified its targeting in light of the investigations, packing its own internal lists of targeted groups to support its preferred narrative, including by adding ideologically diverse groups.”
He said if that did happen, it would have “tainted” the list the IRS has now released.
The IRS declined to comment, saying its filing spoke for itself.
A series of investigations found the IRS did ask intrusive questions and did delay applications for years, in violation of policy. But so far no investigation has found any order from the White House to conduct the targeting.
[. . .]
Sixty of the groups on the list released last month have the word “tea” in their name, 33 have “patriot,” eight refer to the Constitution, and 13 have “912” in their name — which is the monicker of a movement started by conservatives. Another 26 group names refer to “liberty,” though that list does include some groups that are not discernibly conservative in orientation.
Among the groups that appear to trend liberal are three with the word “occupy” in their name.
And then there are some surprising names, including three state or local chapters of the League of Women Voters — a group with a long history of nonprofit work.
[. . .]
Congressional Republicans say IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who was brought in by President Obama to clean up the agency after the targeting scandal, has failed — and even misled Congress during the investigation. Some Republicans are even pursuing impeachment against Mr. Koskinen, accusing him of defying a subpoena for former senior IRS executive Lois G. Lerner’s emails by allowing computer backup tapes to be destroyed.
Even outside of impeachment, the House GOP has proposed a new round of budget cuts for the IRS, aimed at trying to deliver a message that Mr. Koskinen’s tenure has been unacceptable.
And the tax agency is still defending itself in a series of court cases. In addition to the NorCal class action case, the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., is currently considering an appeal by tea party groups who argue the targeting is still going on.
[. . .]
“One thing remains clear: Continued litigation is the only way to force the IRS‘ hand in order to expose its targeting scheme that was coordinated with the help of the DOJ and other federal agencies so that we can obtain justice for those patriotic Americans who were unconstitutionally targeted by their own government,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing some of the plaintiffs in the appeals case.
In yet another case, the conservative group Cause of Action has been pursuing the IRS to turn over documents the group believed would show White House officials requesting secret taxpayer information on conservatives.
But in a filing Friday, the IRS said it has conducted a final search and can’t find any evidence that the White House either asked for or received protected information.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/5/irs-reveals-list-of-tea-party-groups-targeted-for-/

IRS finally reveals list of tea party groups targeted for extra scrutiny
By Stephen Dinan

The Washington Times

Sunday, June 5, 2016

IRS Can Revoke Passport For Tax Bill, But Terror Candidates Can Travel Freely

[From article]
It is an interesting commentary on our priorities that the IRS now has the authority to revoke the passports of Americans who are in arrears by more than $50,000, but Americans travelling overseas to fight with ISIS can return safely home with passports in hand. As USA Today notes, the new provision was included in the FAST Act highway transportation bill signed by President Obama on Dec.4:
A new enforcement provision passed by Congress and signed into law earlier this month allows the government to revoke the passports of seriously delinquent tax scofflaws -- people who owe more than $50,000 to Uncle Sam.
[. . .]
We have entered a new era in the war on terror -- one of home grown and legal terrorists who with a wave of that document can cross borders freely, receive training and support, then return home to further recruit or actually commit terrorist acts.
[. . .]
presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz attempted in September 2014 to fast track his bill to revoke the passports of those Americans, to coin a phrase, found to be fraternizing with our terrorist enemy. He attempted to rush the bill to the floor, bypassing committee consideration, but his unanimous consent request was blocked by a Democratic colleague.
[. . .]
The revocation of citizenship for terrorist association overseas has been said by some to be both unworkable and unconstitutional. Yet seemingly we can revoke the passports of those trying to steal from our government without objection but not from those in effect making war on us and our government.
In October 2014, FBI Director James Comey told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that a “dozen or so” Americans had traveled to Syria to fight with ISIS and that they were entitled to come back unless their passports were revoked

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/taxes_not_terrorism_can_get_your_passport_revoked.html

December 26, 2015
Taxes, not Terrorism, can get your Passport Revoked
By Daniel John Sobieski

If IRS Can Scare 200 Million Taxpayers, US Government Can Rid The Country of 12 Million Illegal Aliens

[From article]
Every year the 89,000 employees of the Internal Revenue Service attempt to enforce the tax laws for well over 200 million taxpayers. Obviously this is impossible and taxpayers could ignore the law with near impunity. Yet, they don’t. Somehow the IRS persuades the vast majority of the taxpayers to pay up.
If the IRS said that it would be inhumane to prosecute tax scofflaws because they have children that need to eat and that most tax scofflaws are good people who have run into hard times, what would happen? What would happen is that the population of tax scofflaws would explode. The tax scofflaws would become shrouded in moral legitimacy. Any attempt by the IRS to step up enforcement would be seen as brutal oppression against good people.
[. . .]



The IRS has tyrannical powers that are probably constitutional only because judges depend on the U.S. Treasury to pay their salaries.
[. . .]
If the IRS feels free to intimidate 200 million taxpayers by outrageous methods why should we be reluctant to use some of the same methods on the illegals?
[. . .]
The government does not have to prosecute everyone; just make public examples of a small number of cases. Many measures can be framed as taxes, for example, a $100 a day tax for each day a visitor overstays his visa. Taxes are easier to enforce than criminal sanctions.
[. . .]
The sanctuary city movement can be defanged by directing substantial revenue to cities that enforce immigration laws. For example, fines paid by illegals that are caught by local authorities can be paid to cities that do not welcome illegals.
The story that it is somehow difficult to deport 12 million people is a self-serving myth propagated by the political alliance that wants the illegals here.
[. . .]
There are also the employees of many non-profit operations devoted to aiding illegal immigrants. The losers are American workers, those at the bottom of the economic heap that are displaced and impoverished by 12 million competitors for their jobs. The losers are not nearly as well organized, as are the promoters of illegal immigration.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/_yes_we_can_deport_12_million.html

December 17, 2015
Yes, We Can Deport 12 Million
By Norman Rogers

Secret Service Joins IRS, Justice Department Abusing Its Power For Political Purposes, Malfeasance Everywhere

[From article]
An award-winning investigative journalist at The Washington Post, Carol Leonnig, broke the story about what can be described as a Secret Service “plot” to leak confidential documents in an attempt to embarrass Congressman Jason Chaffetz, an outspoken critic of the Service. Over a dozen officials at the Secret Service knew about the plot but failed to report this illegal activity.
Instead of focusing on the unlawful leak intended to humiliate Chaffetz, government officials issued judge-less warrants for the telephone records of the “good cop” who spoke with Leonnig when his colleagues failed to follow the law.
[. . .]



The Star Chamber authorized searches and seizures of books and papers to silence critics of the Crown and religious dissidents. Judge-less administrative subpoenas “are impossible to reconcile with the Fourth Amendment,” which was written as paramount law governing government to prohibit such abuses.
Privacy advocates have been very vocal criticizing the NSA’s collection of telephone metadata, which, while violating the Fourth Amendment’s requirements of probable cause and individualized suspicion, has not been used to harass individuals, businesses, or nonprofit organizations – to my knowledge, at least.
[. . .]



[A] so-called Email Privacy Act being pushed by Google expressly acknowledges the proper Fourth Amendment process that only judges may issue warrants for federal officials to obtain private emails. The bill, however, would only protect Google and other email storage services, while actually encouraging federal and state bureaucrats to seize private emails directly from us or our businesses through judge-less administrative warrants.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/10/judgeless_warrants_for_phone_records_and_money_in_the_bank_for_lawyers.html

October 6, 2015
Judge-less warrants for phone records (and money in the bank for lawyers)
By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

Harvard Crimson Shows Support For Troubled Law School Ethics Professor's Presidential Campaign

Good citation of credentials certifying that Professor of Ethics "On Leave" Lessig is a bona fide member of the beautiful elite people. That provides him with an exemption from inconvenient laws, and from rectitude. Harvard University, his employer, enjoys property and income tax exemptions, from the City of Cambridge, the state of Massachusetts and the United States government. Prof. Lessig wants to be President so he can as Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires, the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” He asserts his motivation is to end campaign finance corruption of elections or something. The IRS tax code and US Department of the Treasury laws strictly prohibit tax exempt corporations from conducting political activity using its not for profit corporate status. Professor of Ethics at the Safra Center, Mr. Lessig, uses his office for his campaign, an example of "political activity," as defined in the laws. State and city exemptions follow US standards, which means he may be violating those exemption criteria too. 



Not to worry, Harvard University, a tax exempt corporation (charity, Ahem!) operating as a not for profit educational institution, has an endowment of $37 billion. Whatchu gonna do about it? Huh? The IRS selectively enforces laws against conservative not for profits. Harvard University a vigorous promoter of academics who approve of violence against white people, a vigorous supporter of diversity has no need to worry. The IRS will overlook any of their violations. So too will the Cambridge City government, which is in awe of the university. Likewise for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, which is likely run by a Harvard University alumni, like the current and previous governors. If you are one of the beautiful people, and are largely endowed you too can ignore laws if they are a bother. Cheers.



http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/24/lessig-2016-scrut/



Lessig 2016
Harvard Law School professor Larry Lessig is an unlikely presidential contender. But his sudden leap into the 2016 race means that he’s serious about it.
BY MEG P. BERNHARD,

Harvard Crimson STAFF WRITER
SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Harvard Law School Professor of Ethics, and Campaign Finance Corruption Fighter, Ignores IRS Laws

"Campaign finance reform," blah, blah, blah. "democracy has been 'bought' by big campaign donors" You mean like Harvard University ($36 billion endowment), who allows Prof. "on leave" Lessig to use the University's not for profit incorporation status for his campaign in violation of IRS, Treasury Department, city and state tax laws?



[From article]
his commitment to campaign finance reform and equalizing voting rights.
[. . .]
Lessig repeated that America’s democracy has been “bought” by big campaign donors and that “this is not a democracy anymore.”
[. . .]
[sounds like more of the fairy dust used at the White House]
his one-policy plan: to pass a referendum aimed at reforming campaign finance and then immediately give up his presidential powers to his vice president.



http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/10/lessig-campaign-new-hampshire/

Lessig Kicks Off Presidential Campaign in New Hampshire
By MEG P. BERNHARD,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
September 10, 2015

Origins of Identity Politics

[From article]
Shattered Consensus: The Rise and Decline of America's Postwar Political Order by James Pierson may be one of the best books ever written on American political history. It traces the evolution of both political parties from the aftermath of World War I to the present.
[. . .]
Out of the tumultuous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Democratic Party institutionalized identity politics based on grievance along with anti-Americanism – that is, the United States was and still is responsible for all of the problems in the world both at home and abroad.
[. . .]
The IRS scandal of targeting conservative groups represents how they've taken another step in weaponizing the machinery of government for political purposes.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/09/the_origins_of_extreme_political_polarization_and_who_is_responsible.html

September 6, 2015
The origins of extreme political polarization, and who is responsible
By Tim Jones

IRS, NY and CA Attorneys General, Target National Marriage Non Profit, Criminal Violations

[From article]
The National Organization for Marriage, whose donor names were leaked by the IRS to hostile blogs, and nationally recognized conservative nonprofit organizations such as Media Research Center, Concerned Women for America, Citizens United, Family Research Council, Faith & Freedom Coalition, the Weyrich Lunch, Leadership Institute, and Project Veritas are among the 58 organizations on the brief.



The brief describes how Ms. Harris is using extortionate demands to intimidate and censor nonprofit advocacy organizations and charities by requiring they file with her a confidential tax return schedule showing their top donors. Those demands are worse than what the Alabama attorney general tried because they violate federal law protecting confidential tax return information. The New York attorney general is doing the same as Ms. Harris.
[. . .]
Here is a clip from part IV of the brief describing Ms. Harris’ clear violations of federal law, which, by the way, is supposed to impose criminal penalties on government officials who intentionally violate this law. The entire brief may be read here.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/09/political_elites_violating_tax_return_confidentiality_laws_in_ways_that_would_land_citizens_in_jail.html

September 2, 2015
Political elites violating tax return confidentiality laws in ways that would land citizens in jail
By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

US Judge Threatens to Hold IRS Attorneys and Commissioner, and Justice Department Attorneys in Contempt

U.S District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan today [July 29, 2015] threatened to hold the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department attorneys in contempt of court after the IRS failed to produce status reports and newly recovered emails of Lois Lerner, former director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the IRS, as he had ordered on July 1, 2015.

The way that the Obama-Holder doctrine works is that inconvenient laws may be ignored. It appears that this unaware US Court judge did not read the memo. In addition in Washington DC, as in Cambridge MA laws are optional. So in case the judge follows through with his threats and does detain the mendacious, deceptive abusive of power attorneys, the White House will have to act and issue pardons for all of his fellow elitist, morally superior lawyers. Then it is likely the Judge will be impeached by the civil rights division of the Department of Justice for discrimination against these attorneys who are unable to comply with the laws, due to their predisposition to commit crime. It is an ethnic problem which gives the lawyers standing to file with the Civil Rights Division.

[From article]
Judicial Watch announced that U.S District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan today threatened to hold the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department attorneys in contempt of court after the IRS failed to produce status reports and newly recovered emails of Lois Lerner, former director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the IRS, as he had ordered on July 1, 2015.
During the a status hearing today, Sullivan warned that the failure to follow his order was serious and the IRS and Justice Department’s excuses for not following his July 1 order were “indefensible, ridiculous, and absurd.” He asked the IRS’ Justice Department lawyer Geoffrey Klimas, “Why didn’t the IRS comply” with his court order and “why shouldn’t the Court hold the Commissioner of the IRS in contempt.” Judge Sullivan referenced his contempt findings against Justice Department prosecutors in the prosecution of late Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and reminded the Justice Department attorney he had the ability to detain him for contempt. Warning he would tolerate no further disregard of his orders, Judge Sullivan said, “I will haul into court the IRS Commissioner to hold him personally into contempt.”
[. . .]
“In a dramatic court hearing today, Judge Sullivan made it clear he would personally hold accountable the IRS Commissioner Koskinen and Justice Department attorneys for any further contempt of his court orders in Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The missing and-then-not missing Lois Lerner saga is a stark example of the Obama administration’s contempt for a federal court and the rule of law. That Obama administration officials would risk jail rather than disclose these Lerner documents shows that the IRS scandal has just gotten a whole lot worse.”

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/federal-judge-threatens-to-hold-irs-commissioner-doj-lawyers-in-contempt-of-court-over-lerner/

Federal Judge Threatens To Hold IRS Commissioner, DOJ Lawyers in Contempt of Court over Lerner
JULY 29, 2015

Judicial Watch

More Chicanery, Obstruction By IRS and Lois Lerner

Lois Lerner takes the oath. 

[From article]
The IRS used a “wholly separate” instant messaging system that automatically deleted office communications, according to documentation released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday. The system appears to have been purposefully used by agency officials responsible for the targeting of conservative non-profits, in order to evade public scrutiny.
The system, known as “Office Communication Server” or OCS was used by IRS officials, including many in the Exempt Organizations (EO) Unit, which was headed by Lois Lerner.
As the Oversight Committee report states, the instant messaging system did not archive any communications, so it is not possible to know what employees of the EO unit discussed on it.
However, in an email uncovered by the Committee Lerner warns her colleagues about evading Congressional oversight:
“I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails – so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails.”
Lerner then asks whether OCS is automatically archived. When informed it was not, Lerner responded “Perfect.”

http://www.atr.org/irs-used-instant-messaging-system-hide-internal-communications

IRS Used Instant Messaging System to Hide Internal Communications
Posted by Alexander Hendrie

Tuesday, July 28th, 2015, 11:20 AM

Evidence of IRS Abuse of Power

[From article]
The emails, which were produced in response to a 2013 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, highlight the extent to which the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofit groups was directed by the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, and was carried out under pressure from Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.):
[. . .]
The emails, which were produced in response to a 2013 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, highlight the extent to which the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofit groups was directed by the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, and was carried out under pressure from Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.):
[. . .]
Earlier this year, Obama declared that there was not “even a smidgen of corruption” behind the IRS targeting.

http://freebeacon.com/blog/washington-deeply-involved-in-irs-targeting-new-emails-show/

Washington Deeply Involved in IRS Targeting, New Emails Show
BY: Andrew Stiles
May 15, 2014 2:20 pm

IRS Used Teams of Lawyers To Hide Evidence Of Malfeasance

[From article]
It’s been a very bad week for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – which translates into a very bad week for the American people.
First, it was revealed the IRS failed to implement critical upgrades to its computer systems which made it much easier for Russian hackers to steal information from more than 100,000 taxpayers. Then, if Russian hackers weren’t enough, an IRS employee in Missouri pleaded guilty to stealing more than $325,000 by filing fraudulent tax returns – stealing the identities of American taxpayers.
Now, we learn that as Congress began its investigation into the unlawful scheme targeting conservative and Tea Party groups the IRS used “hundreds of attorneys” to hide critical information from Congress.
According to new bombshell testimony, the IRS set up a previously unknown “special project team” comprised of “hundreds of attorneys,” including the IRS Chief Counsel (one of only two politically appointed positions at the IRS).
The IRS’s director of privacy, governmental liaison, and disclosure division, Mary Howard, testified that soon after the IRS targeting scandal was revealed, the IRS “amassed hundreds of attorneys to go through the documents [requested by Congress] and redact them.” She told Congress that once the “special project team” was created and operational, she never saw requests for information.
Members of Congress have long complained that many of the documents produced by the IRS have been “redacted to the point of absurdity.” Now we know why.
Her testimony is clear: As soon as the IRS targeting scandal broke, the IRS set up a special team of hundreds of attorneys, including President Obama’s political head of the Chief Counsel’s office, to keep requests for publicly available information away from the person who would normally review those documents and turn them over to Congress and the public. That “special” team then overly redacted, delayed, and determined which documents it wanted Congress to see.
After setting up a special “group” to target and delay applications by Tea Party groups for tax-exempt status, the IRS set up a new “special project team” to delay and redact information from Congress about that targeting. Talk about a cover-up.
When asked about these revelations and the ongoing investigation by Congress into the IRS and former top IRS official Lois Lerner’s involvement, Howard testified, “I think that Lois Lerner was the tip of the iceberg.”

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/06/04/more-irs-outrage-agency-used-hundreds-lawyers-to-hide-information-from-congress.html

More IRS outrage: Agency used 'hundreds of lawyers' to hide information from Congress

By Jay Sekulow

Published June 04, 2015

FoxNews.com

IRS Records Hacked, 100,000 Taxpayers At Risk

IRS is getting hacked. Consider the government's forcing medical records being placed online as part of the new health insurance law. That enables theft of medical information which can be more threatening, to the health and lives of the patients. Minimal concerns expressed by politicians, medical professionals and patient advocates. Is there anything imposed by the White House that benefits ordinary American taxpayers and voters? 

[From article]

Sophisticated criminals used an online service run by the IRS to access personal tax information from more than 100,000 taxpayers, part an elaborate scheme to steal identities and claim fraudulent tax refunds, the IRS said Tuesday.
The thieves accessed a system called "Get Transcript," where taxpayers can get tax returns and other filings from previous years. In order to access the information, the thieves cleared a security screen that required knowledge about the taxpayer, including Social Security number, date of birth, tax filing status and street address, the IRS said."We're confident that these are not amateurs," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "These actually are organized crime syndicates that not only we but everybody in the financial industry are dealing with."
Koskinen wouldn't say whether investigators believe the criminals are based overseas — or where they obtained enough personal information about the taxpayers to access their returns. The IRS has launched a criminal investigation. The agency's inspector general is also investigating.
Identity thieves, both foreign and domestic, have stepped up their efforts in recent years to claim fraudulent tax refunds. The agency estimates it paid out $5.8 billion in fraudulent refunds to identity thieves in 2013.
"Eighty percent of the of the identity theft we're dealing with and refund fraud is related to organized crime here and around the world," Koskinen said. "These are extremely sophisticated criminals with access to a tremendous amount of data."
[. . .]



Thieves can also use the information to claim fraudulent tax refunds in the future.
[. . .]
Tax returns can include a host of personal information that can help someone steal an identity, including Social Security numbers and birthdates of dependents and spouses. The IRS said the thieves appeared to already have a lot of personal information about the victims.
The IRS said it is notifying taxpayers whose information was accessed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/apnewsbreak-irs-thieves-stole-tax-info-100000-31317464

APNewsBreak: IRS Says Thieves Stole Tax Info From 100,000
WASHINGTON

May 26, 2015, 5:59 PM ET
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

Associated Press

Bibi Wins, Barry Loses, More Lawlessness From White House

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands next to his wife Sara after voting at a polling station in Jerusalem March 17, 2015.
CREDIT: REUTERS/SEBASTIAN SCHEINER/POOL

[From article]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's election after exit polls showed he had erased his center-left rivals' lead with a hard rightward shift in which he abandoned a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
Difficult coalition talks still lie ahead. Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu's chief opponent and head of the center-left Zionist Union, said "everything is still open" and that he already had spoken to party leaders about forming a government.
But after days in which Zionist Union appeared poised to defeat Netanyahu's Likud, the exit polls late on Tuesday put the two parties in a dead heat. Netanyahu could have the easier path to forming a cabinet, which would put him on course to becoming Israel's longest serving leader.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/17/us-israel-election-idUSKBN0MC2G620150317

Netanyahu claims victory in Israel election after hard right shift
BY JEFFREY HELLER AND DAN WILLIAMS
JERUSALEM
Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:05pm EDT

* * *

[From article]
The American nonprofit OneVoice Movement – under scrutiny by a U.S. Senate panel over possible links to a campaign to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – quietly filed paperwork that would allow it to engage in political activism after two leading Republican lawmakers questioned its use of government funds, FoxNews.com has learned.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., sent a letter Jan. 29 to Secretary of State John Kerry asking whether the group ­– as a recipient of almost $350,000 in recent grants from the Obama administration’s State Department – had violated its tax-exempt status when it began backing the virulently anti-Netanyahu Victory 15 campaign in Israel earlier that month.
Cruz also publicly asked whether Obama – who’s had a well-documented adversarial relationship with Netanyahu – had “launched a political campaign against” the Israeli leader in the run-up to the election which was held on Tuesday.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/17/obama-linked-nonprofit-filed-for-new-irs-status-after-accusation-meddling-in/

Obama-linked nonprofit filed for new IRS status after accusation of meddling in Israeli election
By Steven Edwards
Published March 17, 2015
FoxNews.com

Fake IRS Agents Work Phone Scam

[From article]
Fake IRS agents have targeted more than 366,000 people with harassing phone calls demanding payments and threatening jail as part of a huge nationwide tax scam that has cost taxpayers $15.5 million.
More than 3,000 people have fallen for the ruse since 2013, Timothy Camus, a Treasury deputy inspector general for tax administration, said Thursday.
The scam has claimed victims in almost every state, Camus said. One unidentified victim lost more than $500,000.
"The criminals do not discriminate. They are calling people everywhere, of all income levels and backgrounds," Camus told the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing. "The number of complaints we have received about this scam make it the largest, most pervasive impersonation scam in the history of our agency."
The scam is so widespread that investigators believe there is more than one group of perpetrators, including some overseas.
[. . .]
As part of the scam, fake IRS agents call taxpayers, claim they owe taxes, and demand payment using a prepaid debit card or a wire transfer. Those who refuse are threatened with arrest, deportation or loss of a business or driver's license, Camus said.
The callers might even know the last four digits of the taxpayer's Social Security number, Camus said.
They request prepaid debit cards because they are harder to trace than bank cards. Prepaid debit cards are different from bank cards because they are not connected to a bank account.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150312/us-irs-tax-scams-c02910afd9.html

Fake IRS agents target more than 366,000 in huge tax scam
Mar 12, 11:04 AM (ET)
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

White House Withholds IRS Documents

[From article]
The Obama administration is refusing to publicly release more than 500 documents on the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups.
Twenty months after the IRS scandal broke, there are still many unanswered questions about who was spearheading the agency’s scrutiny of conservative-leaning organizations.
[. . .]
It also claimed it cannot release relevant documents “when interference with the law enforcement proceedings can be reasonably expected.”
Yet, congressional Republicans say there is no evidence of any prosecution in the works, and media outlets have indicated that the Department of Justice and the FBI have already determined that no charges will be filed.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) notes that eight months after Lerner was held in contempt of Congress for not testifying at two hearings, the matter has not yet been referred to a grand jury. The contempt citation is in the hands of Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who was appointed by President Obama.
[. . .]
Judicial Watch, another group that has sued the Obama administration on FOIA, said in December that the DOJ withheld 832 documents pertaining to meetings between the IRS and the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Election Crimes Division.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/232249-feds-wont-release-irs-targeting-documents

Obama administration won’t release IRS targeting documents
By Bob Cusack

02/10/15 06:00 AM EST

IRS Refuses To Allow 94-Year-Old Veteran To File Tax Return, Says He's Dead

Siegfried Meinstein, 94, is reportedly trying to prove to the IRS that he is still alive. 

(COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER/COLUMBUS DISPATCH)
[From article]
There is a 94-year-old World War II vet in Ohio who just wants to pay his taxes but can't because the IRS says he’s dead.
Siegfried Meinstein has been unable to convince the IRS he is alive, living in an assisted living facility near Columbus, Ohio. The IRS has told the nonagenarian it can’t process his tax return because their records indicate he is deceased.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/25/4-year-old-vet-cant-file-tax-return-because-irs-says-dead/

94-year-old vet can't file tax return because IRS says he's dead
Published January 25, 2015

FoxNews.com

IRS Unlawfully Delayed For Five Years, Non Profit Application For Tea Party Group

[From article]
Before there were the lost Lerner emails, the congressional hearings and the retaliatory budget cuts, there was the Albuquerque Tea Party, a group of politically minded folks in New Mexico who wanted to get together and share ideas for taking back their country. The IRS had other ideas about them.
Five years after the Albuquerque Tea Party applied for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, they remain in limbo — their application apparently no closer to being approved or denied than it was the day they mailed it to the IRS on Dec. 29, 2009.
[. . .]
It’s unclear what triggered the IRS to approve the group after years of waiting. Ms. McCarty said the most recent reply to the IRS included nearly 600 pages of documents submitted a year and a half ago.
“All the back and forth questions were just stall tactics,” she said in an email. “I mean, come on — they’ve been targeting us for four years.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/12/irs-keeps-albuquerque-tea-party-in-limbo-5-years-a/

IRS keeps Albuquerque Tea Party in limbo 5 years after tax-exempt status application
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Monday, January 12, 2015

Evidence of IRS Abuse of Power Selective Enforcement

[From article]
Top IRS officials specifically targeted tea party groups and misled the public about its secret political targeting program led by ex-official Lois Lerner, according to a bombshell new congressional report.
The Daily Caller has obtained an advance copy of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report set to be released Tuesday morning that definitively proves malicious intent by the IRS to improperly block conservative groups that an IRS adviser deemed “icky.” (That’s right. “Icky.”)

http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/22/bombshell-report-irs-targeted-icky-conservative-groups/

BOMBSHELL REPORT: IRS Targeted ‘Icky’ Conservative Groups
7:56 PM 12/22/2014
PATRICK HOWLEY