IRS timeline

I am not here to incite or indict.  Today I am here to inform.  Below are are the facts in the IRS case.  (Please note:  I have attempted to be as brief but comprehensive as possible, sorting through hundreds of facts and weeding out opinion.  Also note:  that isn’t easy.)  Below is what I believe we should know…

 

Feb. 2009:  A FEC Enforcement Division attorney asks the IRS for information about the tax-exempt status of 2 conservative groups (including the American Future Fund).  Then IRS Director of Exempt Organizations Division, Lois Lerner, asks via email, “What can we do to help the FEC here?”

Jan. 2010:  In Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court rules that government cannot restrict campaign spending by corporations or labor unions.  Pres. Obama denounces the decision.

March 2010:  The IRS Determinations Unit starts “searching for other requests for tax exemption involving the Tea Party, Patriots, 9/12, and…501(c)(4) applications involving political sounding names, e.g., ‘We the People’ or ‘Take Back the Country.’”

July 2010 – Sept. 2013:  The conservative “True the Vote” applies for tax-exempt status, after which the group’s founder faces multiple IRS audits, investigations by OSHA, the ATF, and FBI for domestic terrorism.

Aug. – Oct. 2010:  Obama and staffers, David Axelrod and Austan Goolsbee, speak repeatedly, publicly about “groups with harmless sounding names” possibly funded by “foreign-controlled companies” that are a “threat to our democracy.”  Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, was specifically mentioned multiple times.

Feb. 2011:  Lerner emails her senior staff:  “Tea Party Matter [is] very dangerous.  This could be the vehicle to go to court on the issue of whether Citizen’s United (sic) overturning the ban on corporate spending applies to tax exempt rules.”

June 2011:  House Ways & Means Comm. Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) sends a letter to then IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman questioning the IRS’s investigations into conservative groups and donors, demanding answers and information.

March 2012:  In congressional testimony, Commissioner Shulman says IRS did not increase difficulty for politically active groups to get tax-exempt status.  The New York Times also reports the IRS was scrutinizing “dozens” of Tea Party organizations.

July 2012:  Then deputy commissioner Steven Miller testifies without mentioning the added scrutiny.  When asked about harassment complaints, Miller said the IRS “group[ed] those organizations” for “consistency” and “quality.” He never mentions the Tea Party or conservatives.

April 2013:  The White House counsel’s office received Inspector General’s reports acknowledging IRS targeting applications with “tea party,” “patriot,” and “9/12 project.” Press Sec. Jay Carney said later the Chief of Staff was informed but not Obama.

May 2013:  Lerner admits to scrutiny of conservative groups’ tax-exempt applications, though she said high level employees didn’t know.  The Inspector General refuted this information.  Lerner later appears before Congress but refuses to answer any questions.  There is also an email exchange between Lerner and the Dept. of Justice in regard to whether tax exempt groups could be criminally prosecuted for “lying” about political activity.

July 2013:  National Review Online reports that the House Ways and Means Comm. has correspondence between Lerner and the FEC possibly detailing illegal sharing of tax information regarding the American Future Fund, the conservative group.

Jan. 2014:  The Dept. of Justice appoints Barbara Kay Bosserman to lead the investigation of the IRS.  Bosserman donated near $7,000 to Obama’s presidential campaigns.

Feb.  2014:  In his annual Super Bowl interview, Obama stated “not even a smidgeon of corruption” was involved in the IRS scandal.

March 2014:  Lerner again refuses to testify before Congress.  Her attorney, however, reveals that Lerner has “given a lengthy interview” to the DOJ within the last six months.

April 2014:  The assertion that the IRS also targeted liberal groups is reportedly debunked by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  According to Politifact, “Some progressive groups did have their tax-exempt status applications flagged as the IRS reviewed whether nonprofit groups were engaging in political activities.  But it wasn’t to the same degree as Tea Party and other conservative groups, nor did it result in the same actions.”

May 2014:  The IRS finally says they will turn over all of Lerner’s emails to Congress.

Then this month…  After agreeing to turn over the emails a year after asked, the IRS informs Congress that they’ve lost Lois Lerner’s emails from January of 2009 through April of 2011 due to a computer crashing.  Four days later, the IRS says they’ve lost emails from 6 other investigated IRS employees, as well.  They then added that Lerner’s hard drive was also destroyed.

Then yesterday… When asked how he found out about the lost emails as he appeared before Congress, current commissioner John Koskinen said, “I don’t remember.”  Note that according to FEC records, Koskinen donated over $7000 to Obama’s presidential campaigns.

Conspiracy?  Cover up?  Valid questions.  Concerned?  Based on the facts, absolutely.

Respectfully…

AR

 

[Note:  Information for this timeline was extracted from CBS, the Center for Competitive Politics, Media Matters, New York Times, Politico, PolitiFact, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, and the Office of the White House Press Secretary.]