-IRS Commissioner John Koskinen
Note well the smirk on the face of the IRS Commissioner during this hearing. That smirk was on display all hearing long especially when he said no apology was owed to anyone because, well, they have lost anything in the last few months.
Can we use that excuse during an audit?
Today’s hearing about the IRS scandal told us one thing for sure. The IRS and this Administration is hiding something.
The IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has long tried to do the “I know nutting!” song and dance by asserting that he only found out about the missing emails a few months ago. One question would be even if this was true why would it take him a few months to let the investigating committee’s know?
But it’s not true:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/-O8d2hXYPiw[/youtube]
“You already knew in March they were not retrievable,” [Rep. Kevin] Brady alleged. “A, you didn’t inform the congressional investigation. B, two months later you told us you would provide all the emails without limitations. And you knew you didn’t have them.”
“By March, I did not know they were irretrievable,” Koskinen countered. Brady interrupted and reminded the commissioner that he had just testified under oath that he was aware of the problems associated with the emails in March.
“Mr. Commissioner, why, at this point, why should anyone believe you?” Brady asked.
“The IRS denied for two years targeting of Americans based on their political beliefs. That wasn’t the truth. They said it was a few rogue agents in Cincinnati. That wasn’t the truth. You said you were targeting liberal organizations. That wasn’t the truth. Then you assured us you would provide us all the emails in May and that wasn’t the truth. And today, you are telling us out of thousands of IRS computers, the one that lost the emails was a person of interest in an ongoing congressional investigation. And that is not the truth either.”
Rep. Paul Ryan blasted Koskinen over the lies:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/hkTUjKhNFWw[/youtube]
Isn’t quite coincidental that this epidemic of hard-drive failures only occurred on computers that principal players in this scandal used?
The lies kept growing and growing as the hearing went on. Ways and Means chair Dave Camp told the Commissioner that he received notice from the White House that the Administration had been advised of the missing emails in April, long before the investigating committees were. He asked why that would be?
“The IRS knew in February, or maybe even in March, and Treasury and the White House knew at least in April — but Congress and the American people didn’t find out until June. Were you purposely not telling us?” House Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp (R-Mich.) asked Koskinen. “Were you purposely not revealing this to the American people?”
“No, as I told you…our original thought was to complete the Lois Lerner email production–complete the review of what other custodians (IRS employees) had a problem, and produce a report to you, laying it all out,” Koskinen said.
“So why did the IRS inform the Executive Branch agencies, the White House, the administration, but kept it secret from the Congress, who was conducting an investigation?” Camp asked.
The Commissioner’s excuse was that he reported it to his parent agency, Treasury, and that he has no communication with the White House. That’s odd seeing how his predecessor, Douglas Shulman, visiting the White House almost every week.
Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet.
But the new Commissioner now has NO communication with the White House at all but somehow they were informed of the “problem” in April.
This thing stinks to high heaven.
The closest insinuation between the IRS targeting scandal has been an unusual meeting between the IRS’ chief counsel, William Wilkins, and Obama on April 23, 2012. The chief counsel for the IRS would have no discernible reason for a private meeting with the president; his job would be to brief the IRS commissioner – at the time Douglas Shulman – who met with Obama the very next day.
The day after that, Wilkins sent a revised set of guidelines to Lois Lerner for the tax-exempt unit to use when applying extra scrutiny. To this day, no explanation for this meeting has been made public, even though records show that Wilkins spent hours at the White House with “POTUS” as his host.
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@Greg: “It makes the only difference, when you haven’t proved SQUAT with evidence”
Well, let’s just see here… the VAST majority of those investigated were conservative groups. ALL those audited were conservative groups. The names targeted were conservative themes. While conservatives were targeted, liberals were fast-tracked. Only conservative information was passed along to the Obama campaign, which in and of itself is illegal.
The IRS director meets with the President in the White House and with the White House consul and the targeting begins the NEXT DAY. There were over 150 meetings between the director and the White House. Whenever a liberal Congressperson directed Lerner to target, targeting happened.
Yeah, you leftists should be worried about appearances because that is all you have. You have no success, no progress, no help for the American people, you only have the APPEARANCE of the mean old Republicans picking on poor, innocent, hapless Democrats.
That is merely the evidence to spark suspicion, Greg. The hard evidence is being shredded, erased, destroyed and stonewalled. There are usually reasons for that kind of activity, Greg. It looks guilty because there is guilt. Celebrate the success of the cover up for now, but be prepared for that one tidbit that breaks it loose, for it will come. It’s always the cover up that gets the crooks… and this administration is rife with crooks.
Now, seven prominent players in this scandal ALL lose their emails SIMULTANIOUSLY and completely.
@Greg: Greggie Greggie Greggie the Republicans have 0-blamacare and it’s failure front and center for the 2014 election cycle. In 2010 they destroyed the Democrats on the potential failure of 0-blamacare and NOW they have REAL evidence of it’s failure! Hopefully the rest of the wacho liberal idiots will keep their heads in the sand like you. How are you coming at proving that Romney cheated on his taxes?? You accused him and I asked for proof!! Zero credibility on your part.
@Greg: Greggie Greggie, thankfully we live in a country where this doesn’t happen!! Cool down?? What about when Shillary yells “What difference does it make anyway”!! Issa is my representative and I am thankful that he is doing his job and revealing this IRS scandal!!
@obamarhhea: Poor Greggie just can’t understand that Slick lied to a grand jury!! He’s Slick and he can do whatever he wants and to hell with the rule of law!!
Greg
you won”t admit that all the faIlures are followed by burning the evidence,
at a HIGH cost taken from the pockets of the hard working people,
why do you think the THREE HEROS OF BENGUAZI WHERE TOLD TO STAND DOWN,
WHICH THEY PUT THEIR LIVES TO GO NO MATTER TO SAVE PEOPLE AND THE AMBASSADOR,
THE BURNING OF EVIDENCE OF COURSE, WHAT ELSE,
THAT IS AS FAR AS HE WENT TO WIN HIS ELECTION
IRS ARE GUILTY AS HELL, THEY HAD TO BURN THEIR EVIDENCE, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO WHERE ATTACK ARE STILL ALIVE AND TALKING, LOIS LERNER IS NOW A FELON, HER FUTURE IS BROKEN,
FOR THE WRONG SHE DID, AND MUCH MORE INTIMIDATION IN HER CAREER FOR SURE,
LIKE SHE DID TO OTHER, SHE IS NOT ALONE, OTHER COMPUTERS EMPTY BURN,
76% of Americans believe the IRS is involved in a major cover up….and the breakdown by party shows even 66% of democrats think the same way.
Greggie, it was Carney who indicated that there was an issue at IRS not the Republicans!! Do you agree with Carney??
Curt
Email address received.
Thanks
@Bill, #52:
Apparently republicans shouldn’t have cut the IRS’s budget to the point where they were stuck using such old and unreliable equipment.
@Greg:
If you are struggling that badly for excuses and explanations for the criminality of this administration, you should just give up. You are embarrassing yourself, Greg.
$1.8 billion in a tech budget for the IRS. That should cover the cost of a few computers, wouldn’t you think? Perhaps funneling some of that bonus money wasted on lying cheats that don’t do the job they are supposed to be doing would have been better spent on new equipment.
Bill
HI,
when a GOVERNMENT power is given;to an agency to target the good people and make them feell criminal, guilty
because they disagree with government actions, by which the people are targetted just for saving a president’s win
then it tell the whole CITIZENS THEY ARE CONTROLING EVERY MOVE, WHICH IS A DELIBERATE ATTACK ON FREEDOM,
THEN, THEY MUST BE INHIBILATED AT ONCE, BEFOE THEY GROW TO A BIGGER POWER,
THAt’S the cry for all to ask for a total dismembering to lead to a closing physicaly of that place,
which have broken their boundaries to a point of being feared BY ALL PEOPLE,
CLOSE THEM ALL AND INSTALL A FLAT TAX THAT VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE HAVE DEMANDED,
and that will save more money SPENT NOW to the point of no chance of recovery for the whole country,
and prevent such abuse on the good people, which none are able to escape that abuse if targetted,
TIME TO DEMOLISH THAT CRUMBLING AGENCY,
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL AMERICANS,
IF YOU HEAR ONE CANDIDAT SAY IT, THEN ELECT HIM AT ONCE,
@Bill, #61:
I’m struggling with nothing. Republicans, on the other hand, are struggling to prove all manner of speculative claims and accusations that they’ve made, which they have now elevated to the level of formal investigations. Thus far they haven’t come up with actual evidence for anything in connection with any of them.
Most Americans grasp the fact that you need real evidence to back up accusations of criminal conduct. Especially when you’ve made so many of them, and have repeatedly impaired the normal functions of the government that you’re supposed to be a useful part of while you’re doing it. Republicans are soon going to be struggling to justify their own dysfunctional behavior to the voters.
@Greg: 75% think the IRS is lying. Over 70% want the committees to get to the bottom of it. In other words, the vast majority think this administration, with a long-standing reputation for lying… is lying.
@Bill, #64:
That’s a measure of the effectiveness of a propaganda campaign, not an indication of whether there’s actually anything to get to the bottom of. As I’ve opined many times before, republicans in lynch-mob mode aren’t really about discovering the truth. They’re about rumor mongering and rabble rousing and holding the spotlight, in hope of winning elections by heaping manure on their opponents. This is a distraction from the fact that they’ve been worse than useless lately, and that their own platform won’t win enough people over to return them to the driver’s seat.
Their investigations have yet to clearly establish a single instance of criminal intent or action. Not a single one. Someone should total up what they’ve cost in terms of impeding the legitimate functions of government, doing the people’s business, and what they’ve cost the taxpayers’ in actual dollars and cents. Then we could take a poll to see how the public feels about that.
Commissioner Koskinen:
Q: How much has Issa’s politically motivated dog and pony show cost the IRS (that is, American taxpayers) thus far?
A: About $14 million, as explained in this letter.
Greg
after so many years of the IRS freedom to intimidate the AMERICANS they have targetted,
14 million is a piece of cake to finaly expose their evil targetting on the good PEOPLE, FOR ALL THESES YEARS, TRASHING PEOPLE’S LIVES AND PROFILE INSTEAD F DOING THEIR JOB TO HELP THE CITIZENS NOT PROCECUTE THEM AS IF THEY ARE LIARS AND CRIMINALS,THEIR JOB DID NOT EXTEND TO DO THAT,THEY KNEW THEIR POWER TO PUSH OVER THEIR LIMIT WAS NOT TO BE FOUND, AND THEY USED IT AT WILL, MORE WHEN OBAMA WAS ELECTED, WITH HIS ATTITUDE, OF BULLY THE OTHER, AND COLLECT MONEY,
HE STARTED THE ERA OF INTIMIDATION HIMSELF AND THE CROUD WORKING IN THE GOVERNMENT FELL IN THAT NOOSE, IT PROGRESS OVER THE YEARS TO A VISIBLE NEGATIVE AND DANGEROUS SPLIT OF A NATION, WHO THEN WHERE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER GROUP THEY HAD DIVIDED, WITHOUT EVEN REALIZED IT, THE ERA OF CRIME AND ANARCHY GREW TO CRIMES ON THE OPEN, BECAUSE OF THE
GOVERNMENT PROJECTED IMAGE, THAT IT’S OKAY, I’M HERE TO PROTECT YOU,WHO EVER IS ON HIS SIDE, THEY THOUGHT THAT NOBODY WAS LOOKING, THAT NEFARIOUS BEHAVIOR WAS IMITATED,
AND THEY WHERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT WRONG IS OKAY IF IT SERVE OBAMA,
BUT HAVING THEM IN THE EYES OF ALL IS EXPOSING THOSE YEARS,
this will prevent that anarchy on the people to continue, BUT GIVE THEM TIME AND THEY WILL DO IT AGAIN, BECAUSE THEY HAD A BIG KICK DOING IT AND SHARE IT TOGETHER AS AN EVIL FUN GAME, AND THEY WHERE LED TO HATE THE OTHER ON OTHER PARTY, ANY ONE GROUP WAS NAME TO ALL SO TO GET A NEGATIVE MINDSET ON THEM,
THEY THAN START TO BE ADVISE TO PLAY THE POLITIC GAME
so much that they would mistakenly send thousands of money abroad to non AMERICANS, ERRORS THAT WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE BY SUCH AN AGENCY HAVING THOUSAND OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES WELL PAID WITH ALL THE BENEFITS,
ALL PAID BY THE PEOPLE, WHICH THEY INTIMIDATE, TO GET PAY OR TO NOT HAVING TO REDUCE THEIR TAX, WHICH WAS JUSTIFIED, BY THE TAX PAYERS, THEY WHERE ADVISE BY HIGHER
RANKS TO COLLECT AS MUCH AS THEY COULD FOR THE GOVERNMENT ‘S POCKETS
YES THE CRASH OF COMPUTERS WAS SAVING THEM A LOT OF SHAME AND MAYBE EVEN PROSECUTION,
LEADING TO PRISON TERM, AND ONE DAY IT WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT THEM,