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An arrogant and lawless IRS
Washington Post ^ | June 23, 2014 | Michael Gerson

Posted on 06/23/2014 9:17:40 PM PDT by Second Amendment First

Noted management expert and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen was apparently called out of retirement — like the Ted Williams of evasive, unapologetic bureaucrats — to destroy what is left of his agency’s credibility.

At immediate issue is two years of subpoenaed e-mails from former IRS official Lois Lerner to outside agencies, lost in a convenient computer crash. The possible involvement of other agencies is one focus of a congressional investigation into the heightened IRS scrutiny of conservative nonprofit groups before the 2012 election.

In recent congressional testimony, Koskinen admitted that the e-mails were irretrievably gone; that the “backup tapes” had been erased; and that Lerner’s hard drive was apparently destroyed in an aggressive act of recycling. With that settled, Koskinen expressed his “hope that the investigations  can be concluded in the very near future.”

It is a mix of arrogance and delusion that seems designed to incense Republicans. Koskinen had delayed informing Congress of the lost e-mails for months, even while assuring members they would be provided. “It was my decision that we complete the investigation,” he said, “so we could fully advise you as to what the situation was.” Translation from management-speak: We wanted to get our story straight before we advised you of anything. Koskinen complained about the breadth of subpoenas and the “piecemealing out” of information. Translation: We will provide you what we want when we want. “Every e-mail,” Koskinen assured the House Ways and Means Committee, “has been preserved that we have.” Except the ones they don’t have — and somehow snuffed out, tied to an anvil and thrown into the ocean.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: irs; teaparty
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1 posted on 06/23/2014 9:17:40 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
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To: Second Amendment First

I guess they deserve to be arrogant. They can erase evidence in the most obviously guilty way possible and they won’t even get their hands slapped.


2 posted on 06/23/2014 9:19:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Second Amendment First

Funny. This was no big deal to the WaPo back in 2012. What has changed?


3 posted on 06/23/2014 9:21:48 PM PDT by Hoodat (Democrats - Opposing Equal Protection since 1828)
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To: Second Amendment First

This is the leftish Washington Post, too. Clearly they are getting concerned.


4 posted on 06/23/2014 9:22:02 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Second Amendment First

Apparently the Post missed the memo King Obama is protecting the IRS and the Post had better back the hell off.


5 posted on 06/23/2014 9:22:12 PM PDT by Kenny
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To: Second Amendment First

I’m hoping that there are things going on that we don’t know about, in an effort to get to the bottom of this. The IRS is pretty much done at this point. Anyone that has a case with them, should automatically ask for a trial instead of playing their game.

But, I can’t for the life of me understand why subpoenas aren’t being sent to the FBI, DOJ, FEC, etc etc etc, all of which got emails from her. They can’t all be stupid enough to say that all of their computers crashed. But with this bunch who knows. There are so many other ways to get her emails without computer forensic people, as nice as that would be.


6 posted on 06/23/2014 9:22:15 PM PDT by qaz123
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To: Hoodat

Their dear Democrats are embarrassing them.


7 posted on 06/23/2014 9:22:24 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: nickcarraway

And how about their data backup contract firm... if it hasn’t gotten the Mafia treatment? They boasted the capability, back in 2011, of being able to lose a whole PC and still get the employee humming in record time.


8 posted on 06/23/2014 9:23:58 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Second Amendment First

9 posted on 06/23/2014 9:24:10 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: Second Amendment First

Trey Gowdy said: “It is time for Special Council, Mister Chairman.”

If Chairman Issa does not also call for Special Council, then what would Issa be trying to cover up?


10 posted on 06/23/2014 9:24:55 PM PDT by Graewoulf (Democrats' Obamacare Socialist Health Insur. Tax violates U.S. Constitution AND Anti-Trust Law.)
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To: Second Amendment First

History will record that Obama was corrupt, arrogant and ineffective. Sadly the legacy of the first African American elected President of the United States will be that he was an incompetent, closeted homosexual narcissist that led a country he bitterly despised into an era of neo pagan decadence and decline.


11 posted on 06/23/2014 9:25:00 PM PDT by allendale
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To: Second Amendment First

Geez! When the WaPo starts taking the side of the Republicans, you know the excrement is about to hit the oscillating air mover on the scale of political Armageddon!


12 posted on 06/23/2014 9:25:31 PM PDT by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: Vendome
John Koskinen answers to the House Oversight Committee. | AP Photo

13 posted on 06/23/2014 9:28:05 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
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To: allendale

Sometimes letting hellish ideas reap hellish results is how God gets people to wise up.


14 posted on 06/23/2014 9:28:37 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Graewoulf

Let’s not get into a self-devouring accusation fest here.


15 posted on 06/23/2014 9:29:34 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Second Amendment First

Is there a mechanism for getting a special prosecutor without involving the DOJ?


16 posted on 06/23/2014 9:29:41 PM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: Second Amendment First

Koskinen said her emails were on tape but it was too complicated to retrieve them, and they didn’t bother tying to retrieve them - at least not to his knowledge.

Jazon Chaffetz starts at about 1:50:00.

http://www.c-span.org/video/?320097-1/irs-targeting-investigation


17 posted on 06/23/2014 9:32:50 PM PDT by Ray76 (True change requires true change - A Second Party ...or else it's more of the same...)
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To: nickcarraway

http://youtu.be/eJukZTtJxFo


18 posted on 06/23/2014 9:34:23 PM PDT by laplata (Liberals don't get it .... their minds are diseased.)
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To: Kenny

The way the Dems are protecting the IRS is what gives them away.

Then there’s this: “So that’s Jay Carney and the president both inserting themselves into the IRS scandal,” Gowdy said. “And you want to blame us for bringing the White house into it?”


19 posted on 06/23/2014 9:36:05 PM PDT by Ray76 (True change requires true change - A Second Party ...or else it's more of the same...)
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To: Second Amendment First

Loathsome Obama lackey!


20 posted on 06/23/2014 9:41:23 PM PDT by originalbuckeye (Moderation in temper is always a virtue; moderation in principle is always a vice. Paine)
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