The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Another IRS Stonewall

Posted on | February 3, 2014 | 7 Comments

The old “ongoing investigation” trick:

The Justice Department has rebuffed a House Republican’s plan to hold an oversight hearing this Thursday featuring a key criminal investigator from the team reviewing mishandling of tax-exempt status applications by the Internal Revenue Service.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked Justice attorney Barbara Bosserman on Jan. 28 to testify “due to the administration’s failure to provide necessary information about its IRS investigation.” Bosserman, who is a leader in the Justice investigation into the IRS controversy, has donated money to President Obama’s political campaigns, which GOP lawmakers including Jordan believe represents a conflict of interest. Bosserman is a career attorney; career employees are allowed to donate money to political candidates.
The Feb. 6 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing is titled, “The IRS Targeting Investigation: What is the Administration Doing?”
But Bosserman will not appear, said Deputy Attorney General James Cole in a Jan. 30 reply to Jordan, as published in a tax-exempt organizations newsletter edited by attorney Paul Streckfus.
“The department’s longstanding policy, applied across administrations, is to decline to provide Congress with non-public information about ongoing criminal investigations,” Cole wrote.

(Hat-tip: Joe Schoffstall at Capitol City Project.)

This is predictable cover-up strategy:  Key witnesses plead the Fifth in congressional hearings and the “ongoing investigation” becomes an excuse for the administration to tell Congress nothing about the investigation which may or may not actually be “ongoing” in any meaningful sense. The administration is investigating itself, and if you think this kind of “investigation” will find any wrongdoing by anyone, you don’t understand how the game works.

RECENTLY:

Category: Scandal, Taxes

Comments

7 Responses to “Another IRS Stonewall”

  1. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 3rd, 2014 @ 9:10 pm

    Why we need the House and the Senate. Time to hold the President accountable.

  2. Another IRS Stonewall - DOJ wouldn't allow investigator of IRS scandal to testify in front of Congress
    February 3rd, 2014 @ 9:32 pm

    […] The Other McCain (via Government Executive): […]

  3. Bob Belvedere
    February 3rd, 2014 @ 9:54 pm

    What good will it do to have control of the House and Senate if the GOP is controlled by likes of Boehner and McConnell?

  4. Wombat_socho
    February 3rd, 2014 @ 10:11 pm

    All the more reason to push those two out of office and/or elect new representatives and senators committed to getting rid of them. First take back the GOP, then take back the country, because if you can’t accomplish the former, how in hell you going to do the latter?

  5. Adjoran
    February 4th, 2014 @ 2:23 am

    There is no longer an Independent Counsel statute, so any Special Prosecutor can only be appointed by the AG. Controlling the House and Senate would permit a Joint Select Committee to investigate, but the Administration and DOJ would still refuse to cooperate.

    Certain of the IRS actions do appear to have violated federal law, and would still have occured recently enough to be investigated and prosecuted under the next President – assuming Obama doesn’t issue everyone a blanket pardon on his way out the door.

    Impeachment isn’t an option; even if we had the facts to prefer an Article, it takes 67 Senate votes to remove, and no Democrats are going to vote to convict their first black President, even if you caught him in the act of eating babies.

    As unfortunate as it is, elections matter.

  6. NeoWayland
    February 4th, 2014 @ 6:52 am

    Impeachment will never happen. No Congresscritter wants anything to do with impeaching or trying the first black President. Political correctness saves Obama daily, just like it got him elected in the first place.

    Next is the time impeachment would take. Based on what happened with Clinton, I’d say two or three years at minimum.

    Third is Obama’s hole card. “President Joe Biden.” Think about that for a bit. I’m pretty sure that every Democrat in Congress has thought about it hard.

  7. There is a Water Shortage in California… | Regular Right Guy
    February 4th, 2014 @ 1:35 pm

    […] Another IRS Stonewall […]