America's #1 Online Cigar Auction
first, best, biggest!

Last post 5 years ago by delta1. 28 replies replies.
Good ol' McShame
ZRX1200 Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
Judicial Watch Obtains IRS Documents Revealing McCain’s Subcommittee Staff Director Urged IRS to Engage in “Financially Ruinous” Targeting
JUNE 21, 2018

McCain minority staff director Henry Kerner to IRS official Lois Lerner and other IRS

officials: “the solution is to audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous”

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released newly obtained internal IRS documents, including material revealing that Sen. John McCain’s former staff director and chief counsel on the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee, Henry Kerner, urged top IRS officials, including then-director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner, to “audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous.” Kerner was appointed by President Trump as Special Counsel for the United States Office of Special Counsel.

The explosive exchange was contained in notes taken by IRS employees at an April 30, 2013, meeting between Kerner, Lerner, and other high-ranking IRS officials. Just ten days following the meeting, former IRS director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS had a policy of improperly and deliberately delaying applications for tax-exempt status from conservative non-profit groups.

Lerner and other IRS officials met with select top staffers from the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in a “marathon” meeting to discuss concerns raised by both Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that the IRS was not reining in political advocacy groups in response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Senator McCain had been the chief sponsor of the McCain-Feingold Act and called the Citizens United decision, which overturned portions of the Act, one of the “worst decisions I have ever seen.”

In the full notes of an April 30 meeting, McCain’s high-ranking staffer Kerner recommends harassing non-profit groups until they are unable to continue operating. Kerner tells Lerner, Steve Miller, then chief of staff to IRS commissioner, Nikole Flax, and other IRS officials, “Maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous.” In response, Lerner responded that “it is her job to oversee it all:”

Henry Kerner asked how to get to the abuse of organizations claiming section 501 (c)(4) but designed to be primarily political. Lois Lerner said the system works, but not in real time. Henry Kerner noted that these organizations don’t disclose donors. Lois Lerner said that if they don’t meet the requirements, we can come in and revoke, but it doesn’t happen timely. Nan Marks said if the concern is that organizations engaging in this activity don’t disclose donors, then the system doesn’t work. Henry Kerner said that maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous. Nikole noted that we have budget constraints. Elise Bean suggested using the list of organizations that made independent expenditures. Lois Lerner said that it is her job to oversee it all, not just political campaign activity.

Judicial Watch previously reported on the 2013 meeting. Senator McCain then issued a statement decrying “false reports claiming that his office was somehow involved in IRS targeting of conservative groups.” The IRS previously blacked out the notes of the meeting but Judicial Watch found the notes among subsequent documents released by the agency.

Judicial Watch separately uncovered that Lerner was under significant pressure from both Democrats in Congress and the Obama DOJ and FBI to prosecute and jail the groups the IRS was already improperly targeting. In discussing pressure from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat-Rhode Island) to prosecute these “political groups,” Lerner admitted, “it is ALL about 501(c)(4) orgs and political activity.”

The April 30, 2013 meeting came just under two weeks prior to Lerner’s admission during an ABA meeting that the IRS had “inappropriately” targeted conservative groups. In her May 2013 answer to a planted question, in which she admitted to the “absolutely incorrect, insensitive, and inappropriate” targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups, Lerner suggested the IRS targeting occurred due to an “uptick” in 501 (c)(4) applications to the IRS but in actuality, there had been a decrease in such applications in 2010.

On May 14, 2013, a report by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed: “Early in Calendar Year 2010, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status” (e.g., lists of past and future donors). The illegal IRS reviews continued “for more than 18 months” and “delayed processing of targeted groups’ applications” in advance of the 2012 presidential election.

All these documents were forced out of the IRS as a result of an October 2013 Judicial Watch Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the IRS after it failed to respond adequately to four FOIA requests sent in May 2013 (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Internal Revenue Service (No. 1:13-cv-01559)). Judicial Watch is seeking:

All records related to the number of applications received or related to communications between the IRS and members of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4);
All records concerning communications between the IRS and the Executive Branch or any other government agency regarding the review process for organizations applying for tax exempt status under 501(c)(4);
Copies of any questionnaires and all records related to the preparation of questionnaires sent to organizations applying for 501(c)(4) tax exempt status.
All records related to Lois Lerner’s communication with other IRS employees, as well as government or private entity outside the IRS regarding the review and approval process for 501 (c)(4) applicant organizations.
“The Obama IRS scandal is bipartisan – McCain and Democrats who wanted to regulate political speech lost at the Supreme Court, so they sought to use the IRS to harass innocent Americans,”
DrafterX Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,506
Those Bassards.. Mad
opelmanta1900 Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 01-10-2012
Posts: 13,954
I thought this was gonna be about that feeling you get after you eat a mcmuffin... this is bad too though...
DrafterX Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,506
I like egg McMuffins... Mellow
opelmanta1900 Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 01-10-2012
Posts: 13,954
Mcshameful...
RMAN4443 Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 09-29-2016
Posts: 7,683
DrafterX wrote:
I like egg McMuffins... Mellow

I like mine with ketchup...Anxious
opelmanta1900 Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 01-10-2012
Posts: 13,954
McEvenMoreShameful!
delta1 Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
He was right about Citizen's United...it has made a mockery of our democratic process, which was already slanted dangerously away from the average citizen in favor of the rich...

The section of the IRS code regarding non-profits/exempt organizations that is at the center of this has been twisted beyond its original intent.

We now have infusions of money from unidentified non-profits in states where the goal is not to affect local issues, but to buy seats for Congressional voting numbers.

US is sliding dangerously close to becoming an oligarchy...
DrafterX Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,506
Are we spreading fear again..?? Hillary mighta gotten away with the oligarch thing cause she the DOJ in her pocket.
Especially with a Supreme Court pick... But it'll never actually happen... Not talking
delta1 Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
DrafterX wrote:
Are we spreading fear again..?? Hillary mighta gotten away with the oligarch thing cause she the DOJ in her pocket.
Especially with a Supreme Court pick... But it'll never actually happen... Not talking


So... you aren't afraid of unidentified and anonymous sources of huge amounts of money that is affecting our elections...you trust all those filthy rich dudes to make life better for all Americans...or just rich Americans...or just themselves...
DrafterX Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,506
Like Soros..?? Huh
ZRX1200 Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
But it's OK that government officials abuse powers misusing agencies to punish citizens. But hey as long as you agree with it right?

I hear goose stepping.
Speyside Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
Judicial Watch is a conservative American activist group. So they are bashing John, meh. Report back when a real news agency confirms this.
ZRX1200 Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
I hear it again.
Speyside Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
It seems you hear a lot of things. Some might even be real! I hear crickets right now. But do keep us informed on make believe stories the alt right spins. BTW, what are the voices saying today?
DrafterX Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,506
I'm not allowed to tell... Unsure
delta1 Offline
#17 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
ZRX1200 wrote:
But it's OK that government officials abuse powers misusing agencies to punish citizens. But hey as long as you agree with it right?

I hear goose stepping.


No not OK, but if the agency is misinterpreting the intent of a law, a law maker has a duty to try to change the law. This kind of stuff seems to happen with all administrations...growing up, Nixon was known for this...

Kinda like how Trump is using the law on border security in ways not intended...ways that really look like goose stepping...
ZRX1200 Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
^ I agree Al, and I don't like it from either side. I think in your cited example that's more to do with pushing congress to do their job. And leverage for his wall funding.
dstieger Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
Considering his life's body of work, I'm still a McCain fan. But, why is he still a Senator???? Is AZ purple enough that he's afraid a D will succeed him? If so, is the risk of a possible +1 on the dem side worse than the ongoing minus 1 on the R side???
ZRX1200 Offline
#20 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
He's married to a flaming leftist.

You know, the lady he was cheating on his dying first wife with before he left her to die alone. He's a classy guy.
Gene363 Online
#21 Posted:
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 30,660
McCain can go straight to hell and take that other RINO twerp Lindsay Graham with him.

As for those equivocating about Judicial Watch, it is not about an article they wrote, it's about the evidence they got from the IRS.

I do find it ironic to see previously anti neocons defending McCain. horse
ZRX1200 Offline
#22 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
Yup.
Speyside Offline
#23 Posted:
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
So I was able to find Lerners response. Definatly wrong doing occurred. Does anyone have a link to McCain's staffers emails, I cannot find those. I would actually like to read them as opposed to the Judicial Watch summary.
ZRX1200 Offline
#24 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,473
It was just released FOIA.......to judicial watch......maybe if your trusted news sources cared to know they would have released it.
Gene363 Online
#25 Posted:
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 30,660
ZRX1200 wrote:
It was just released FOIA.......to judicial watch......maybe if your trusted news sources cared to know they would have released it.


Rimshot!
Speyside Offline
#26 Posted:
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
I have no trusted news sources. Without multiple sources as stated previously I think, I don't trust summaries. In all honesty I like to see something from the left and the right. While they have different spins, I think it is likely truth is in there somewhere.
Speyside Offline
#27 Posted:
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
BTW, I looked on Judicial Watch and could only find a summary. What I was hoping for was a link to Judicial Watch that had the actual emails.
delta1 Offline
#28 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
IRS Code 501c 4 has been abused by political action committees to avoid paying taxes by claiming an exemption under the code.

Exempt organizations must meet this criteria. "To be operated exclusively to promote social welfare, an organization must operate primarily to further the common good and general welfare of the people of the community (such as by bringing about civic betterment and social improvements).""The promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However, a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization may engage in some political activities, so long as that is not its primary activity."

Many wealthy businesses and individuals also use this section to make their contributions to these tax-exempt organizations tax deductible.

This is not what the code, as written, intended. As interpreted, it allowed a huge infusion of tax-deductible money to flow into the election process. Numbers show many more conservative organizations applying for exemptions and many more wealthy, supposedly conservative, donors taking a deduction.

This subversion allows a bunch of tax-free money to shape the political process in your favor...
Users browsing this topic
Guest