<\/p>\n
Two Michigan representatives are at center stage in the IRSgate investigation, but only one apparently wants justice done. House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Democrat Sander Levin \u2013 co-top cop of the IRS hearings with Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Michigan \u2013 last week dropped a bombshell that \u201cprogressive\u201d (read: liberal) groups has also been targeted by the IRS.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaims there was a White House enemies list or evidence of a culture of corruption \u2014 there\u2019s zero evidence that there was any political involvement, and indeed the IG said that in his report,\u201d said Levin, waving his letter to IRS Inspector General Russell George asking why he had not revealed that the target list was bipartisan. \u201cThis new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way.\u201d Nothing to see here, folks. Please move on.<\/p>\n
Trouble is, Levin\u2019s revelation was untrue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence only shows conservatives being systematically targeted by the IRS, not just flagged, but actually targeted. The IG has confirmed that, and the investigation by the Ways and Means and Oversight and Government Reform Committees also confirms that fact,\u201d shot back Camp in his own press release just 24 hours later, publicizing George\u2019s letter that contradicted Levin\u2019s wild claim.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found no indication in any of these other materials that \u2018Progressives\u2019 was a term used to refer cases for scrutiny for political campaign intervention,\u201d wrote George, reaffirming that only tea party groups were specifically targeted by the IRS. \u201c[O]ur audit found that 100 percent of the tax-exempt applications with Tea Party, Patriots, or 9\/12 in their names were processed as potential political cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why the confusion? Levin\u2019s office had deliberately twisted an IRS spread sheet asking agents to flag numerous organizations, including left-wing groups. But only conservative groups were comprehensively targeted and harassed by the IRS.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmericans deserve better than to fear whether the IRS will unfairly target them,\u201d added Camp in his rebuke of his Michigan colleague. Camp has been relentless in getting to the bottom of an egregious misuse of a government agency for partisan ends.<\/p>\n
It is a single-mindedness that Levin once claimed to share. But his actions speak louder than words.<\/p>\n
Along with Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, Levin appears more interested in performing public relations work for the Obama administration than in getting to the facts.<\/p>\n
Levin\u2019s diversion came just two weeks after Cummings, who sits on the House Oversight Committee\u2019s parallel investigation of the IRS scandal, cranked up his own fog machine to help the bad guys get away.<\/p>\n
Over the objections of Committee Chair Darrell Issa, R-California, Cummings released a full, 205-page transcript of a committee interview with Cincinnati IRS agent John Shafer that, Cummings said, proved \u2013 another bombshell! \u2013 the committee investigation was a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d because no Washington link to tea party targeting could be found. Case closed. Please move on.<\/p>\n
Except that Cummings revelation was also a fabrication.<\/p>\n
The House committee investigation \u2013 and gumshoe work by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal \u2013 have uncovered substantial evidence that the targeting of conservative groups was orchestrated from Washington , including powerful testimony from Cincinnati field agents Gary Muthert and Elizabeth Hofacre.<\/p>\n
Levin and Cummings show a disturbing pattern of Democrat investigators using their positions to complicate fact-finding. Yet their desperation only creates more suspicion. What are they afraid of?<\/p>\n
Chairman Camp, meanwhile, continues to pick at the IRS\u2019s culture of corruption. \u201c(Your report) fails to deliver the accountability the American people deserve,\u201d he told IRS principal deputy commissioner Daniel Werfel last week after Werfel failed the basic task of indentifying the D.C. source of the anti-tea party scheme.<\/p>\n
Too bad Camp isn\u2019t getting more help from his Michigan co-chair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Michigan representatives are at center stage in the IRSgate investigation, but only one apparently wants justice done. House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Democrat Sander Levin \u2013 co-top cop of the IRS hearings with Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Michigan \u2013 last week dropped a bombshell that \u201cprogressive\u201d (read: liberal) groups has also been targeted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13200,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13199\/revisions\/13200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}