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Christine O’Donnell a victim of IRS abuse?
Hotair ^ | 07/18/2013 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 07/18/2013 8:41:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

State officials can access IRS computer systems through a “back door” intended to allow for better communication in investigations, but with so little accountability that the process can easily be abused for political purposes. That appears to have happened already — and the target was a Tea Party candidate for Senate. According to the Washington Times, an official in state government illegally accessed Christine O’Donnell’s tax records on the day she announced her candidacy — and the same day the IRS slapped an erroneous tax lien on a property O’Donnell no longer owned:

On March 9, 2010, the day she revealed her plan to run for the Senate in a press release, a tax lien was placed on a house purported to be hers and publicized. The problem was she no longer owned the house. The IRS eventually blamed the lien on a computer glitch and withdrew it.

Now Mr. Martel, a criminal investigator for the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration, was telling her that an official in Delaware state government had improperly accessed her records on that very same day. …

Investigators for Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, an influential Republican who serves on the Finance and Judiciary committees, have uncovered one key issue: a backdoor system in which state officials can access Americans’ private tax records in the name of investigating with little oversight or accountability.

The Treasury Department’s tax watchdog has informed Mr. Grassley that at least four politicians or political donors have had their personal tax records improperly accessed through that system since 2006, including one case in which a willful violation of federal law was identified.

O’Donnell’s case appears to be among those noted earlier this week in the IRS scandal. This explanation still has a few gaps, too. The state official may have illegally accessed O’Donnell’s records; what happened to the information? Did it get sent to one of her competitors in the race? How exactly does this relate to the IRS lien on the property O’Donnell no longer owned? The investigation into this abuse should have found all of these answers, right?

Oh, wait — the DoJ isn’t interested in pursuing abuses when the victims are Tea Party activists:

But the Justice Department has declined to prosecute any of the offenders. Treasury officials have refused to give Mr. Grassley any specifics on the cases or to describe the disposition of Ms. O’Donnell’s case, claiming even people who improperly access tax records have an assumption of privacy under federal tax laws.

Mr. Grassley scoffs at that explanation and is demanding answers from the Treasury and Justice departments.

As Glenn Reynolds notes:

Seems like a lot of the “bad luck” that affected some Tea Party candidates wasn’t bad luck at all.

Glenn also points out that the House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing today to look into some of the other abuses at the IRS. The hearing starts at 11 am.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Delaware
KEYWORDS: bloggers; christineodonnell; irs

1 posted on 07/18/2013 8:41:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

How can Holder pursue this OR the increasing
Black on White attacks against innocent American
men, women and children across the USA?

Any real investigation would lead back to him.


2 posted on 07/18/2013 8:46:11 AM PDT by Diogenesis
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To: SeekAndFind

I recently (two weeks ago) got slammed by the IRS. A $14.00 bank error cost me $493.00. I kid you not.

It must have been because I signed Allen West’s Original Election Papers, back in 2010.


3 posted on 07/18/2013 8:47:11 AM PDT by left that other site (You Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Set You Free...John 8:32)
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To: SeekAndFind

Then we need to investigate the possible involvement of the RINOS, and in particular Karl Rove (who reportedly pulled out all stops to try and get her out of the race)


4 posted on 07/18/2013 8:50:02 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: SeekAndFind

Makes you wonder how many people this has happened to and at what cost to the future of the country.


5 posted on 07/18/2013 8:51:34 AM PDT by WilliamRobert
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To: SeekAndFind
christine odonnell photo: Odonnell Christine-ODonnell-1.jpg
6 posted on 07/18/2013 8:56:35 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: Snickering Hound

?????????????????


7 posted on 07/18/2013 9:02:22 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ("To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"- Voltaire)
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To: left that other site

Yeah. Got my $500 bill from the IRS. On a standard form.


8 posted on 07/18/2013 9:14:17 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf and dumb to thoe tumbril wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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To: autumnraine

They’ve got a little list.

And we are on it.


9 posted on 07/18/2013 9:18:27 AM PDT by left that other site (You Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Set You Free...John 8:32)
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To: SeekAndFind

So George Orwell got the year wrong. He described the government perfectly.


10 posted on 07/18/2013 9:48:35 AM PDT by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

The Global Party of R&D Rats will broach no competition. We will not have truly free elections until this changes.
BTW FU Karl Rove, little bastid I’d like to punch!


11 posted on 07/18/2013 12:38:24 PM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
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To: SeekAndFind

my question is why did it take CO more than two mojnths to tell anyone about this??


12 posted on 07/18/2013 12:39:35 PM PDT by q_an_a (the more laws the less justice)
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