The Other McCain

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

Call Implausible IRS Lie About ‘Lost’ Emails What It Is: Obstruction of Justice

Posted on | June 17, 2014 | 49 Comments

Democrats lie routinely and habitually, and are accustomed to having their lies accepted without question by the media. It is therefore significant that the media are openly mocking the preposterous claim that Lois Lerner’s emails have been “lost”:

Last Friday afternoon, the Internal Revenue Service claimed that Lois Lerner, a former executive tasked with overseeing tax-exemption applications, lost thousands of emails after her computer crashed. Many of those emails, the tax collection agency claimed, could not be recovered.
This convenient excuse for failing to comply with a request from House investigators is not sitting well with some in the journalistic community.
“Do you believe in the Easter Bunny?” CNN’s John King asked his panel of political reporters on Monday. “Do you believe in Santa Claus? Do you believe that Lois Lerner’s emails suddenly went ‘poof?’” . . .
In a sardonic segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday, hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough ruthlessly mocked the notion that a hardware crash could eliminate files stored on remote servers.
“Mika, even you have to admit this is pretty ridiculous,” Scarborough probed.
“Pretty ridiculous,” Brzezinski replied. “Those emails exist.”
Perhaps made uncomfortable by the implications surrounding this admission, Brzezinski quickly changed topics.

Of course, Democrats want to change topics, because “the implications surrounding this admission” are logically obvious: If we know the administration is lying about the “lost” emails, why are they lying?

The only logical explanation: Lois Lerner’s emails, subpoenaed by congressional investigators, must include evidence that the IRS targeting of conservative groups was approved by the White House.

This is what the “lost” email lie is intended to conceal. It can have no other purpose. For the past year, Democrats and their media allies have insisted that this is a “phony scandal,” even while evidence and testimony disproved a series of excuses offered by the administration, e.g., that the targeting was the work of a few “rogue” employees in the Cincinnati IRS office. The so-called “investigation” by the Justice Department is part of the cover-up, a whitewash designed to hide the truth of the scandal.

Ever since this scandal first became public, congressional investigators have believed (although they would never say so, on the record) that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups because of political pressure from the White House and congressional Democrats. If the IRS has deliberately destroyed (or attempted to conceal) relevant evidence, we need not wonder why. Cleta Mitchell is not deceived:

Federal courts have held, in the context of trial, that the bad faith destruction of evidence relevant to proof of an issue gives rise to an inference that production of the evidence would have been unfavorable to the party responsible for its destruction. . . . The fact that the IRS is statutorily required to preserve these records yet nevertheless publicly claimed that they have been “lost” appears to evidence bad faith.

It’s time to call this what it so obviously is: Obstruction of justice.

 

Category: Barack Obama, Scandal, Taxes

Comments

49 Responses to “Call Implausible IRS Lie About ‘Lost’ Emails What It Is: Obstruction of Justice”

  1. scarymatt
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:18 am

    It could have one other purpose. They might be trying to make the email reveal anticlimactic. If this is the case, when they eventually find the emails (probably in a box sitting somewhere in the White House residence) only some of them will have been found, and these will have been found to be innocent. And then we’re all crazy conspiracy nuts without a smidgen of shame.

    This wouldn’t have to be intentional, either. They really might not have thought that they’d get called on the ridiculousness of the claim, but are certainly capable of a cover-up audible.

  2. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:27 am

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUtDFDU4kMk

    These words will haunt him…

  3. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:34 am

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-isdBbQ6G7-E/U5xyekayBaI/AAAAAAAAip8/-LiwfpOcwNA/s1600/lois-lerner-something-to-hide.jpg

  4. TheOtherAndrewB
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:35 am

    It is times such as these that I envy my liberal friends. They truly, deeply, sincerely do not care that the federal government is conspiring to punish ideas with which they disagree. Now, if a Republican president had done it, this would be the Crime of the Century. But no, a (D) after your name means that any and all behavior is not merely permitted, but applauded. Such a world view must be relaxing–never having to consider topics like law, ethics, morality or Constitutionality.

  5. Did the Obama Administration obstruct justice in the IRS scandal investigation? | Batshit Crazy News
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:38 am

    […] words are going to haunt him… TOM: Call Implausible IRS Lie About ‘Lost’ Emails What It Is: Obstruction of JusticePrior EBL Posts: Questions for the IRS and Obama Lois Lerner’s Defective Hard […]

  6. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:48 am

    I think the word for it is “Shameless”

  7. G Joubert
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:54 am

    Me, I don’t think they’re that clever. Bill Clinton may be, but not Obama.

  8. Garym
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:58 am

    Here is an update for you RSM:
    via Drudge

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/380576/irs-has-lost-more-e-mails-eliana-johnson

  9. Gahrie
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:00 pm

    It got worse today…now the IRS is saying it lost the emails of six other employees also……

  10. JeffS
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:17 pm

    There’s an unwritten agreement (or “tradition”, if you prefer) in America (at least at the Federal level) about not prosecuting the members of administrations that were just thrown out of office by the electorate. It has to do with not providing an excuse to persecute political opponents.

    But I think it’s time that we ignore that tradition. This isn’t just corruption, this is the imposition of tyranny, and tyrants need to be thrown down hard. Jail time is the least they should expect. This concept is known as “justice”.

    Assuming, of course, that we get an administration in 2017 that really cares about justice.

  11. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:24 pm

    Last time I checked most of them are still in office…

  12. M. Thompson
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:24 pm

    Nixon resigned for destruction of evidence. It’s time to start expecting the same from these people.

  13. Dana
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:31 pm

    All we have to do is subpoena the NSA’s backups . . . .

    A computer crash could lose one day’s worth of e-mails, but when the e-mail servers are backed up nightly, one day is all that could be lost. And when even CNN and MSNBC don’t believe the Administration, you know they are obviously lying.

    Not that it matters: if President Obama could run again, and we had video of Lois Lerner and him setting a match to the missing files, he’d still win.

  14. Dana
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:32 pm

    Can we audit the IRS?

  15. Quartermaster
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:39 pm

    This sort of stuff is commonplace for the DimoKKKraps. One thing people seem to forget is that Slick Willie was not impeached for sex with Lewinski, but for obstruction of justice and perjury. So, where is the House GOP leadership? Cowards are what they are.

  16. JeffWeimer
    June 17th, 2014 @ 12:46 pm

    Take it away, Boromir:

  17. PCachu
    June 17th, 2014 @ 1:15 pm

    I’ll admit that the phrase “President Biden” doesn’t carry the sort of mitigating effect it used to have…

  18. NeoWayland
    June 17th, 2014 @ 2:01 pm

    But it could never be done to them.

    That is why they don’t care.

  19. Lemuel Vargas
    June 17th, 2014 @ 2:05 pm

    What the WH is doing is to start a Big Lie (again…)

    They are really trying to master this Nazi doctrine of propaganda.

    Tell an outrageous lie so that a majority of people will be shocked and wonder how the left could tell such outrageous lies and then repeat them over and over again until those same people will not be shocked anymore and thus perceive the lie to be the truth.

  20. You Think You Have It Bad? Try a Day in Michelle O’s Shoes… | Regular Right Guy
    June 17th, 2014 @ 2:17 pm

    […] Call Implausible IRS Lie About ‘Lost’ Emails What It Is: Obstruction of Justice […]

  21. NeoWayland
    June 17th, 2014 @ 2:40 pm

    The question isn’t that the IRS abused it’s power on the orders of this administration.

    The question is why does the IRS exist when it is so obviously a threat to people’s freedom?

    Your bank and your employer must report all your financial activity under penalty of law. The IRS has it’s own court system and isn’t bound by the same rules of evidence. And with 9/11 (pre-Obama), the U.S. has muscled nearly every other nation into complying with the U.S. tax code when it comes to American citizens.

    And then there is the “progressive” tax rate, carefully calculated to maximize revenue while not hitting the majority of people hard enough to spark a revolution. “Equal under the law” is deliberately broken so you don’t object when your neighbor is hit with a higher tax rate. At least it didn’t happen to you.

    Yet…

  22. M. Thompson
    June 17th, 2014 @ 3:13 pm

    Impeachment is a POLITICAL solution that requires a broad consensus in the body politic to be effective (i.e. Removal from Office), and at this point, that does not exist.

    I hope there is one in January 2015.

  23. laura_PH
    June 17th, 2014 @ 4:09 pm

    “It’s time to call this what it so obviously is: Obstruction of justice.”

    If the GOP had ANY testicular fortitude they’d be trampling anyone who got between them and a camera and giving some seriously juicy soundbites, with heavy emphasis on words like “Nixonian,” “illegal,” “felonious,” “brazen destruction of incriminating evidence,” “hiding the truth,” etc. But Democrats can rest easy, because the GOP is FAR more interested in taking down the TEA party than they are in calling the Democrats to account.

  24. laura_PH
    June 17th, 2014 @ 4:11 pm

    No point in impeaching while Democrats control the Senate; they’ll never convict. But what they could be doing is preparing the battlespace so that when the GOP takes over next January, a conviction is possible. Plus, it would certainly help with the elections to show just how corrupt the Dems are. But it’ll never happen.

  25. laura_PH
    June 17th, 2014 @ 4:45 pm

    Heh. Maybe they just got a small testosterone injection. This isn’t much, but it’s a move in the right direction.
    http://washingtonexaminer.com/house-budget-punishes-irs-with-15-cut-halts-obamacare-enforcement/article/2549830

  26. Adjoran
    June 17th, 2014 @ 5:54 pm

    Hang them all along the banks of the Potomac, and leave the bodies there as a warning to others.

    After fair and impartial trials, of course.

  27. Adjoran
    June 17th, 2014 @ 5:57 pm

    It is a huge request to ask lower-level tech guys to all tell the same lie and risk prison for Lerner, Shulman, and Obama.

    Shulman is forgotten lately. He was the IRS boss who visited White House over 112 times in 15 months or so, almost twice a week on average, but claims he can’t remember who he saw or what was discussed on any of them.

    Hand him over to Jack Bauer and listen to him sing.

  28. Adjoran
    June 17th, 2014 @ 5:58 pm

    Nope. He’s moved on.

    As Jim Geraghty observed in 2007: “All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiration date. ALL of them.”

  29. Adjoran
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:00 pm

    Well, if the LA Times had the video, no one would ever see it. They still won’t release the tape of Obama at the dinner for the Palestinian hero from 2006.

  30. JeffS
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:19 pm

    Of course.

  31. Quartermaster
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:53 pm

    It might be off key, but the lyrics would prolly be rather interesting.

  32. Quartermaster
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:54 pm

    About 10 seconds after they’re made it seems.

  33. Quartermaster
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:55 pm

    You forget the word “yet” at the end of your first sentence. Eventually, they will end up with a Stalin and they will be made to care, but much too late for them.

  34. Quartermaster
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:58 pm

    I’ll believe it when I see it. We don’t have rule of law, so why should they care what Congress pops out of the hopper, even if Zer0 signs it?

  35. Quartermaster
    June 17th, 2014 @ 6:59 pm

    Or, in the immortal words of Rooster Cogburn, A fair trial and a fine hangin.”

  36. PCachu
    June 17th, 2014 @ 7:16 pm

    Don’t forget to use the phrasing as popularized by Candide: “Pour encourager les autres”.

    Helps keep the nuance-based crowd in line, don’cha know.

  37. DavidD
    June 17th, 2014 @ 7:55 pm

    “[I]f President Obama could run again…”?

    Honestly, who’s to stop him when he tries?

  38. Bob Belvedere
    June 17th, 2014 @ 8:28 pm

    I can assure you of one thing: there will be no Democratic Barry Goldwater.

  39. Bob Belvedere
    June 17th, 2014 @ 8:28 pm

    I can assure you of one thing: there will be no Democratic Barry Goldwater.

  40. NeoWayland
    June 17th, 2014 @ 8:31 pm

    Saved the “yet” bit for my mini-rant against the IRS below.

    Don’t get too complacent. The same thing happens when any group is “in charge” and believes itself beyond criticism.

    Competition keeps us honest. Limiting the size of government keeps damage to a minimum.

  41. The Daley Gator | We really ought to be more honest and to the point about those “lost” Emails
    June 17th, 2014 @ 8:33 pm

    […] Or, as The Other McCain puts it Can you say obstruction of justice? […]

  42. NeoWayland
    June 17th, 2014 @ 8:36 pm

    Now that was an interesting man!

    I met him a couple of times before I really took much interest in politics. My stepdad was an amateur radio operator too. You should hear the stories some of the older Navajo tell about Goldwater.

    I think you’re right. I don’t think any in the GOP leadership can fill his shoes either.

  43. Bob Belvedere
    June 17th, 2014 @ 9:48 pm

    -A man I wish I had met.

    -He went to The White House and told President Nixon it was time to go.

  44. Adjoran
    June 17th, 2014 @ 11:09 pm

    Actually, Nixon resigned because Hugh Scott, Barry Goldwater, and few other Senate Republicans informed him they could not deliver the 34 votes in the Senate he needed to avoid conviction after the missing tape recordings and Saturday Night Massacre, etc.

    Clinton was saved because Democrats care more for power and party than for law and country, and their party is even more corrupt today than it was then, so Obama is safe, too.

  45. Sherry
    June 18th, 2014 @ 6:56 am

    What’s the phrase…I’ve heard it before…oh yes, this would require “the wiling suspension of disbelief.” Yeah. That pretty much covers it.

  46. NeoWayland
    June 18th, 2014 @ 9:04 am

    I wish I could relay some great words of wisdom, but I was just a kid. I really didn’t start appreciating him until much later. His photography first, his philosophy much later.

  47. Art Deco
    June 18th, 2014 @ 9:53 am

    Nicholas von Hoffman has long maintained that what vexed the general public about Nixon was that he cheated on some of the tax returns he filed over the period running from 1969 to 1974 by back dating donations and such. (Inneresting that his confidential tax returns were made public). The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives voted down an article of impeachment with this complaint, however.

    —

    The Articles of Impeachment actually approved are here.

    http://watergate.info/impeachment/articles-of-impeachment

    One does concern non-compliance with subpoenas. The others concern the activities of the off-the-books espionage platoon that Gordon Liddy ran at the Committee to Re-elect the President and the one Egil Krogh ran at the White House with much the same personnel, along with the efforts of Nixon and various others to keep prosecutors from finding out much about it. It also concerns abortive efforts to sic the IRS on people and drawing-board plans for domestic surveillance not implemented.

  48. cmdr358
    June 19th, 2014 @ 11:50 pm

    I think that everyone’s waiting until these upcoming midterms are through.

    By this time next year I believe impeachment proceedings will be well on their way.

  49. M. Thompson
    June 20th, 2014 @ 12:21 am

    Your lips to God’s ears.