IRS
Wall Street Journal: Former IRS Official Lerner Gave Interview to DOJ
By John D. McKinnon
A former Internal Revenue Service official who declined to answer questions at a congressional hearing, citing the Fifth Amendment, gave a full interview to the Justice Department, her lawyer said.
That’s raising questions among Republican lawmakers, who wonder whether her choice to talk to Justice reflects a lack of concern about the DOJ probe. They also question the propriety of letting her avoid questions by lawmakers when she is answering DOJ’s.
The comments by Lois Lerner‘s attorney “cast further doubt on the seriousness of the Justice Department’s so-called investigation of IRS targeting, as well as the legal basis of Ms. Lerner’s refusal to testify before Congress,” said Frederick Hill, a spokesman for committee Republicans. “There is a clear contradiction between refusing to testify based on a supposed fear of prosecution and talking to the prosecutors.”
Politico: GOP: Emails show IRS staff obsessed with Citizens United
By Rachel Bade
House Republicans investigating the IRS tea party targeting scandal think they’ve established a motive: the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling — and, they say, top IRS officials’ attempt to limit its impact.
Former IRS official Lois Lerner and her colleagues mired in the debacle seemed concerned that the 2010 ruling striking caps on corporate political donations would influence the political activities of nonprofits, according to emails in a draft of a new Oversight and Government Reform Republican report, obtained by POLITICO.
Republicans take it one step further, suggesting the woman who would become the face of the scandal wanted to use the IRS to limit the influence of Republican donors.
National Review: The IRS: The Government’s Most Pathetic Agency
By David French
As Lois “Not Even a Smidgen of Corruption” Lerner asserts her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination yet again, it’s useful to take a bit broader look at the corruption, partisanship, maliciousness, and utter incompetence of our nation’s tax-collecting agency. Let’s break this down:
Corruption: Not only did the IRS target conservative tax-exempt applications for delays and excessive, unconstitutional scrutiny, it also flagged already-approved conservative groups for excessive surveillance, exclusively audited conservative nonprofits, leaked conservatives’ confidential documents to a liberal media outlet, and engaged in potentially improper coordination and communication with the Federal Election Commission. Taken together, this level of corruption may have had a material influence on the outcome of the 2012 election.
Partisanship: With a partisan Democratic IRS represented by a partisan union, it’s hardly surprising that the IRS has taken it upon itself to respond to specifically Democratic complaints and work to effectively reject the First Amendment and do all it can to overturn the Supreme Court of the United States’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission – even to the point of going “off-plan” to draft draconian new speech-restrictive regulations. Is it the IRS’s role to restrict free speech?
Disclosure
National Journal: A Cheat Sheet to the Conservative Money Machine
By Alex Seitz-Wald
A Democratic group is hoping to shine a light into an opaque corner of the conservative money machine, with a new searchable database of hundreds of right-leaning nonprofit groups, foundations, business leagues, wealthy individuals, and other political players whose actions are difficult to scrutinize.
While super PACs have gotten the most attention in the post-Citizens United world, the area that troubles many campaign finance watchdogs the most are “dark money” groups, which are not required to disclose their donors or much else to the public.
Read more…
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
CPI: Lawyer selected for Czech ambassadorship also major Obama fundraiser
By Michael Beckel
The White House’s announcement Thursday night follows repeated admonishments of Obama for nominating several people with Democratic fundraising pedigrees but little experience with, or knowledge of, the countries where they may soon represent U.S. interests.
Nominees for posts in Argentina, Iceland and Norway admitted before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February that they had never visited the countries.
FEC
Washington Free Beacon: Democrat Sean Eldridge Accused of Taking Illegal Contribution
According to the complaint, Eldridge, the husband of New Republic editor and Facebook “poke” button pioneer Chris Hughes, ran afoul of federal election laws by failing to report as an in-kind contribution b-roll video footage created by the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation and used in an Eldridge campaign ad.
State and Local
California –– LA Times: Campaign funding violations by state Sen. Berryhill sustained
By Patrick McGreevy
SACRAMENTO — A scheme by state Sen. Tom Berryhill (R-Modesto) to launder $40,000 in campaign funds through two county GOP committees to his brother Bill’s 2008 Assembly campaign was a “serious and deliberate” violation of state regulations, an administrative law judge concluded in a report released Wednesday.
Judge Jonathan Lew recommended administrative fines of up to $40,000 against those accused of participating in the scheme, including maximum penalties totalling $35,000 against state Sen. Berryhill.
