JUSTICE: Feds pick Obama supporter to lead probe into IRS tea party targeting
The Washington Times
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
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The
Justice Department selected an avowed political supporter of President Obama to lead the criminal probe into the
IRS targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman
Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, and regulatory affairs subcommittee Chairman
Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, said they have discovered that the head of the investigation 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,”
Mr. Issa and
Mr. Jordan said in a letter sent Wednesday and reviewed by The Washington Times. “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
Internal Revenue Service’s internal auditor revealed in May that the agency had been inappropriately targeting and blocking applications for tax-exempt status from tea party and conservative-leaning groups. In the immediate aftermath, Mr. Obama promised that the
FBI and the
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 the
FBI and
Justice Department have stonewalled his efforts to find out what’s going on.
Ms. Bosserman didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
But the
Justice Department said it isn’t allowed to consider a career lawyer’s political leanings when doling out assignments and that it would violate an employee’s constitutional rights if he were penalized on the job for making legal political contributions.
“It is contrary to department policy and a prohibited personnel practice under federal law to consider the political affiliation of career employees or other non-merit factors in making personnel decisions,” said spokeswoman
Dena Iverson.
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, $2,000 to his campaign in 2012, and $500 to the separate
Obama Victory Fund in 2012.
The tea party scandal has faded from the headlines but the fallout continues. The
IRS is trying to come to terms with some of the conservative groups it delayed in approving tax-exempt status.
Meanwhile, the criminal investigation continues, according to an
FBI letter sent to
Mr. Issa late last month. 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,”
Stephen D. Kelly, assistant director of 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 … while the criminal investigation is active.”
The FBI didn’t say when it would complete the investigation.
Mr. Issa and
Mr. Jordan warned Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that the
FBI’s refusal to cooperate could rise “to the level of criminal obstruction” of Congress’ oversight responsibilities. The
Justice Department promised to at least brief congressional investigators on the status of the
FBI probe, but then backed out.
Mr. Kelly’s letter didn’t address the reason, but it did reply to another request from
Mr. Issa seeking information about the
FBI’s contacts with
King Street Patriots, one of the tea party groups that applied for tax-exempt status but was stonewalled.
Catherine Engelbrecht, a chief organizer of
King Street Patriots, said she felt the government was targeting her after the
FBI made repeated inquiries about someone who attended a
King Street Patriots meeting.
In its letter to
Mr. Issa, the
FBI said it contacted the
King Street Patriots after receiving a complaint in 2010 that a member of the group had said he wanted to start a revolution and had visited a firing range.
Mr. Kelly said
FBI agents checked with the group, which said the man attended a training session but was asked to leave.
Mr. Kelly said the group provided an address the man had given, but that address turned out to be false. When the
FBI ultimately tracked down the man, he “indicated that his remarks were made in jest.”
“The
King Street Patriots were questioned concerning their limited relationship with the individual in question,”
Mr. Kelly said in the
FBI letter.
But that doesn’t jibe with
Ms. Engelbrecht’s recollection, nor with the paper record that was released. In a heavily redacted copy of one of the
FBI’s contact reports, which
Ms. Engelbrecht obtained, the
FBI makes no mention of the individual
Mr. Kelly said the agency was investigating. Instead, the report lists the contact as part of “community outreach.”
Ms. Engelbrecht said the
FBI made a half-dozen inquiries over the course of a year. She said she also fielded inquiries at her business from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; faced an audit by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of Engelbrecht Manufacturing; and underwent an
IRS audit of her personal tax returns.
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Originally Posted by Brian4Liberty
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