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Feds pick Obama supporter to lead probe of IRS tea party targeting
The Washington Times
Stephen Dinan
1/8/2014
Excerpt:
The Justice Department put an avowed political supporter of President Obama in charge of the criminal probe into the IRS’s targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan said they’ve discovered the head of the probe is Barbara Kay Bosserman, a trial lawyer in the Justice Department who donated more than $6,000 to Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as well as several hundred dollars to the national Democratic Party.
“The department has created a startling conflict of interest,” House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a letter, reviewed by The Washington Times, which was sent Wednesday. “It is unbelievable that the department would choose such an individual to examine the federal government’s systematic targeting and harassment of organizations opposed to the president’s policies.”
The IRS’s internal auditor revealed last May that the agency had been inappropriately targeting and blocking applications for tax-exempt status from tea party and conservative-leaning groups, and in the immediate aftermath Mr. Obama promised the FBI and Justice Department would investigate whether the IRS broke any laws.
Eight months later, the investigation has not produced any public findings, and Mr. Issa says they have stonewalled his efforts to find out what’s going on.
Ms. Bosserman didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. The Justice Department’s press office said it was looking into the letter.
According to campaign finance records, Ms. Bosserman donated $400 to the Democratic National Committee in 2004 and $250 in 2008. She gave $3,600 to Mr. Obama’s campaign in 2008, another $2,000 to his campaign in 2012, and also donated $500 to the separate Obama Victory Fund in 2012.
The tea party scandal has faded from the headlines but the fallout is still continuing. The IRS is still trying to come to terms with some of the conservative groups that it delayed in approving tax-exempt status.
Meanwhile, the criminal investigation is still continuing, according to an FBI letter to Mr. Issa late last month.
In fact, the FBI says it’s because of that investigation that the agency will not release any of its documents to Mr. Issa.
“We would request that the committee permit the investigators to complete their investigation and consult with federal prosecutors, as appropriate, to determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any statutes within our jurisdiction,” Stephen D. Kelly, assistant director for the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs, said in a Dec. 31 letter to Mr. Issa. “As a result, we cannot provide the documents requested at this time while the criminal investigation is active and ongoing.”
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View the complete article at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...a-party-probe/
The Washington Times
Stephen Dinan
1/8/2014
Excerpt:
The Justice Department put an avowed political supporter of President Obama in charge of the criminal probe into the IRS’s targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan said they’ve discovered the head of the probe is Barbara Kay Bosserman, a trial lawyer in the Justice Department who donated more than $6,000 to Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as well as several hundred dollars to the national Democratic Party.
“The department has created a startling conflict of interest,” House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a letter, reviewed by The Washington Times, which was sent Wednesday. “It is unbelievable that the department would choose such an individual to examine the federal government’s systematic targeting and harassment of organizations opposed to the president’s policies.”
The IRS’s internal auditor revealed last May that the agency had been inappropriately targeting and blocking applications for tax-exempt status from tea party and conservative-leaning groups, and in the immediate aftermath Mr. Obama promised the FBI and Justice Department would investigate whether the IRS broke any laws.
Eight months later, the investigation has not produced any public findings, and Mr. Issa says they have stonewalled his efforts to find out what’s going on.
Ms. Bosserman didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. The Justice Department’s press office said it was looking into the letter.
According to campaign finance records, Ms. Bosserman donated $400 to the Democratic National Committee in 2004 and $250 in 2008. She gave $3,600 to Mr. Obama’s campaign in 2008, another $2,000 to his campaign in 2012, and also donated $500 to the separate Obama Victory Fund in 2012.
The tea party scandal has faded from the headlines but the fallout is still continuing. The IRS is still trying to come to terms with some of the conservative groups that it delayed in approving tax-exempt status.
Meanwhile, the criminal investigation is still continuing, according to an FBI letter to Mr. Issa late last month.
In fact, the FBI says it’s because of that investigation that the agency will not release any of its documents to Mr. Issa.
“We would request that the committee permit the investigators to complete their investigation and consult with federal prosecutors, as appropriate, to determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any statutes within our jurisdiction,” Stephen D. Kelly, assistant director for the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs, said in a Dec. 31 letter to Mr. Issa. “As a result, we cannot provide the documents requested at this time while the criminal investigation is active and ongoing.”
.................................................. ..
View the complete article at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...a-party-probe/
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