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A set of 21 disks that had been transmitted to the FBI by the IRS under the direction of senior IRS official Lois Lerner, contains a 1.1 million page database of 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations, that includes legally protected taxpayer information that should not ever been sent to the FBI.
This is according to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrel Issa, who said in a media dispatch that this is a breach of federal law.
The dispatch says that after the Justice Department turned over the database to the Oversight Committee this month in response to a subpoena, the Justice Department says it was informed by IRS officials that it contains legally protected taxpayer information that should not have ever been sent to the FBI and it now plans to return the full database to the IRS.
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, write:
"...We are aghast to learn that the Justice Department worked with the IRS to assemble a massive database of nonprofit groups, and that this database included confidential taxpayer information that the Department is not authorized to possess ... The creation of such an illicit and comprehensive registry by federal law-enforcement officials is concerning in and of itself. Yet, the creation of a registry at the same time that the Department considered possible investigatory steps against nonprofit groups engaged in political speech is alarming. This evidence is a clear indication that the Justice Department took affirmative steps to examine nonprofit groups engaged in otherwise lawful political speech...”
The Congressmen point out in the letter to Holder that the Oversight Committee is "...aware of multiple conflicts of interest in the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into the targeting of conservatives at the IRS..." and that "... At this time, there are apparent conflicts of interest in the Public Integrity Division of the DOJ, the FBI as well as the Civil Division..." leading Issa and Jordan to reiterate their call for a special prosecutor.
Say Issa and Jordan:
"...Additionally, the revelation that the Justice Department worked with the IRS to compile a massive database of nonprofit information, including confidential taxpayer information, further undermines the integrity of the Department’s investigation of the IRS targeting. The Committee has already obtained information that the Civil Rights Division attorney leading the investigation has an apparent conflict of interest. Now we know that the other two Justice Department components involved in the investigation – the Public Integrity Section and the FBI – also have serious conflicts of interest stemming from their interaction with Lois Lerner in October 2010. For these reasons, we reiterate the overwhelmingly bipartisan position of the House of Representatives that the appointment of a special counsel is warranted to investigate potential criminal wrongdoing...”
Issa and Jordan state:
"...We are also concerned by the manner in which this information was transmitted from the IRS to the Justice Department. Section 6103 of the federal tax code protects confidential taxpayer information from unauthorized disclosure. Thus, the IRS transmittal of confidential information to the FBI in October of 2010 apparently violated federal law. In addition, the Department's disclosure that the information on he disks was protected by section 6103 occurred subsequent to a letter from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik in which he expressed the Department's 'understanding' that the 21 disks contained publicly available information..."
Now the Committee wants from the Justice Department:
1. All documents and communications between or among employees of the Department of Justice and employees of the Internal Revenue Service referring or relating to the 21 disks of nonprofit information transmitted from the Internal Revenue Service to the Justice Department on or around October 6, 2010;
2. All documents and communications between or among employees of the Department of Justice and employees of the Internal Revenue Service referring or relating to the production of the 21 disks of nonprofit information to the Committee on June 2, 2014; and
3. All documents and communications between or among employees of the Department of Justice and employees of the Internal Revenue Service referring or relating to the discovery of confidential taxpayer information protection by I.R.C. § 6103 on the 21 disks of nonprofit information produced to the Committee on June 2, 2014.
While the process of investigation has been slow, significant incriminating information has emerged from Congressional sleuthing, and as criminal wrongdoing is alleged, investigators face continual stonewalling and evasion from Obama administration department officials and personnel.
It is clear that Obama continues to use the power and force of government to attack his political opponents. All the more reason for patriots to continue to relentlessly expose the truth and take political action to effect much needed change.
Do you think the Justice Department will be forthcoming with the information requested by Issa and Jordan?
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