By Willie Deutsch
Sunday, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, made news when he declared on State of the Union “Based upon everything I’ve seen the case is solved. If it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on to be frank with you.” Candy Crowley was astonished since she has yet to find the person who wrote the be on the lookout (BOLO) to target tea party groups.
Really Rep. Cummings, this case is settled? This sounds like a prosecutor declaring an investigation over without even a suspect.
While Rep. Cummings thinks the case is solved, it is important to remember what the “non-political” IRS was doing before this story broke.
Illegal leak of IRS Investigation into Marco Rubio in 2010:
On the eve of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision to bolt the Republican Party and run for the U.S. Senate as an “independent” – headlines in the Sunshine State screamed of another curiously-timed scandal. Citing “sources familiar (with) the probe,” the anonymous allegation was made that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was investigating Rubio.
While Rubio denied any wrongdoing, the smears damaged his campaign. In a few weeks he went from up by seven to down by four percent.
Interestingly, Internal Revenue Code prohibits the disclosure of confidential tax information or releasing details of an ongoing investigation – not only by the IRS but by any government employee at any agency, including the President. In fact, it’s a felony punishable by a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison. Was illegally releasing the contents of an ongoing investigation at a crucial political moment, politically motivated? The source of this leak was never determined. Does Rep. Cummings believe this is another solved IRS scandal?
Harry Reid Accesses Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns:
During the 2012 presidential elections, Harry Reid grabbed national headlines when he took to the floor of the senate to accuse Mitt Romney of not paying taxes for almost a decade. A political leader having access to the previously unreleased tax records of an opposing party’s nominee, raises grave concerns. The recent IRS scandal raises concerns about where Harry Reid got Romney’s tax returns from. Sen. Reid never answered that question. Did the IRS show them to Harry Reid? If not, where did he get such sensitive information? We don’t know. This is yet another part of the “solved” IRS Scandal.
Did the IRS Target Romney Donors?:
In 2011, Idaho businessman, Frank VanderSloot, gave over a million dollars to a Mitt Romney Super Pac. He later became a Romney Campaign Co-Chair. In April of 2012, he was identified on an Obama campaign website along with seven other businessmen in a list of “wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records.” Two months later he was the target of an IRS audit.
In an interview, Vandersloot stated, “It seems coincidental, but who knows. The problem is the president made the list, and 61 days later I get the first letter. One has to ask: Is the fact I’m being shot at the result of having a target on my back? … Was the list made with that intent?”
Later he stated that he was not the only major Romney donor audited by the IRS. Anecdotal evidence from other places back up this claim. It is also part of the reason why Mitt Romney called for a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS. Are these Republicans making things up? Were all of these audits mere coincidence? The more stories that surface of the IRS targeting people for political reasons, the more credible they all become.
These are just a few of the stories that were floating around of the IRS targeting people for political reasons before the IRS admitted to doing so. None of these stories have been fully explained. Someone ordered the targeting of conservatives in the IRS. The IRS sure seems to have been involved in other political targeting. Rep. Cummings however, believes that all of these unanswered questions equal a solved case.
This sounds as believable as Barack Obama’s response to the PRISM scandal.
“If people can’t trust not only the executive branch but also don’t trust Congress, and don’t trust federal judges, to make sure that we’re abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we’re going to have some problems here.”
Willie Deutsch is Editor-in-Chief for NetRightDaily.com, and Social Media Director for Americans for Limited Government. You can follow him on twitter @williedeutsch.
