Posted on 07/18/2013 6:40:25 AM PDT by don-o
House Republicans plan to ratchet up scrutiny of the IRS during a hearing Thursday morning where agency workers are expected to discuss the involvement of high-level officials in slowing down applications from Tea Party groups.
For the first time, the House oversight committee has invited two key agency officials to testify. Republican leaders of the committee claimed Wednesday that one of them recently revealed that the IRS chief counsel's office -- led by a political appointee -- played a role, along with embattled IRS official Lois Lerner, in scrutinizing conservative groups.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the committee, told Fox News that agency officials in Cincinnati were taking their orders from Washington, and that the investigation needs to look next at both Lerner and the counsel's office.
"As a part of this ongoing investigation, the committees have learned that the IRS Chief Counsel's office in Washington, D.C. has been closely involved in some of the applications," Issa and other Republicans wrote in a letter to IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
” Did Issa drop the ball?”
Ugh....may have. It is rather despairing how Repubs always underestimate the depths of leftists’ depravity.
Rats are cornered, striking out at the black republican white racist, Mr. George.
Despairing is the perfect word...lol. We are getting too use to it unfortunately. This whole administration is out of control and lawless and no one in power seems able to do a thing. Hard not to feel hopeless.
Today, Mr. George is Emmanuel Goldstein.
During today’s IRS hearing before the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) took a detour that she may regret. Holmes Norton lauded the IRS officials who were testifying before the committee, which at that point were Carter Hull and Elizabeth Hofacre.
Hull and Hofacre are among the IRS agents who were involved in scrutinizing Tea Party and conservative groups. Both testified that they were acting on orders from their superiors in Washington.
Hofacre worked in the Cincinnati office that IRS Washington official Lois Lerner blamed for the abuse. Lerner broke the story in a conference call in May, while blaming “rogue employees.” Hofacre would have been one of those so-called “rogue employees,” as would Hull. Lerner had blamed them, without directly naming them, for the abuse.
Hofacre testified before the committee that Lerner’s statement hit her and her office like a “nuclear strike.” It was devastating, because the IRS officials in Cincinnati have said all along that they were only doing what their superiors in Washington were telling them to do.
During her inquiry time, after lauding Hull and Hofacre, Norton said, “I don’t see any rogue employees.” She said that she saw before her American civil servants who were just doing their job.
That is pretty much the point that the Tea Party groups and the Republicans on the committee have been making all along. The Cincinnati IRS office had not gone rogue, but was acting under orders from Washington. Hull’s testimony put the blame squarely in the office of the IRS chief counsel, William Wilkins.
Norton, accidentally, agreed with that assessment.
From whose testimony, Hulls? If so who did he name?
This lady is really going after the IG’s.
Where were the complaints from the progressive groups, if they were being targeted?
This is a complete waste time. The discussion is now simply about the coverup of allllllllllll the progressive groups that were targeted. Just infuriatingly typical. Eff the American people, lets argue over semantics, search terms, words, little boy in the cookie jar, and all to protect a POS.
What is wrong wit this broad? The IG was charged with looking for that smoking gun with one of those 4 terms.
Pure obsfucation.
They want their groups targeted........lol.
She just repeated the lie that the targeting followed the influx of Tea Party applications, but Issa is schooling her on it.
4 keywords used for search.
tea
patriots
912
C4
Dem says it’s as if you only want to find tea party cases. Why didn’t you look for progressive or occupy.
George was told there was a smoking gun email -— an email that existed but could not find.
They are obfuscating the point, aren’t they? George was looking for the smoking gun email that someone told him existed.
Am I missing the point? Who told George there was a smoking gun email?
She sure has her knee pads on for Obama....lol
“They want their groups targeted........lol.”
Let’s hope a conservative administration can oblige her!
LOL! I’m literally watching his last hole.
Wory McIwoy bogied too.
Issa trying to educate her.
Rory “struggled” just a bit today. :)
He stated that one of his staff members informed him of a possible smoking gun email but did not name the person.
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