WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Democrat investigating U.S. Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative groups on Tuesday said interviews with 15 agency employees had found no hint of White House involvement, challenging Republicans on a lingering controversy.
Moving to reframe an affair that first rocked the tax-collecting agency in May, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued a 36-page memo that quoted IRS officials interviewed by panel investigators and internal IRS documents. So far, 15 employees have been interviewed and more are expected."None of these witnesses reported any political motivation or White House involvement," Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings said in releasing the memo.More than two months ago, an IRS official publicly apologized for the IRS giving extra scrutiny to conservative political groups seeking tax-exempt status, including using key words like "Tea Party" and "Patriot" to flag applications.One IRS official quoted in Cummings' memo is described as a Republican IRS tax law specialist working in Washington.Asked by congressional investigators if there was any evidence of political targeting by President Barack Obama, the official said, "That's kind of laughable that people think that ... unfortunately, Cincinnati didn't have enough guidance.
remember the republican grand inquisitor ignored it and went on to say basically yes the WH was involved and he's going to prove it", the only think he's done is shown himself to be a crazed conspiracy theorist with delusions of "finding something".
of the things he wants to find they are all on his side of the fence when he turns his head 180 degrees he'll spot all the fraud, skulduggery, he can handle right behind him.
this is the same mindset that Zimmerman has "he's Black he's got to be up to something"
Processing of applications for tax-exempt status from non-profit groups is centralized in an IRS office in Cincinnati.Most Republicans, including oversight panel Chairman Darrell Issa, early on in the controversy said the targeting of conservative groups showed political bias within the IRS under the Obama administration.A spokesman for Issa could not be reached for comment.Partisan sparks are likely to fly on Thursday when two mid-level IRS workers and the Treasury inspector general for tax administration are scheduled to testify before the committee.Cummings on Friday released a May 3, 2013, email between George and his deputy for investigations. In those documents, the deputy concluded after a search of 5,500 IRS emails that there was no sign of political motives in Tea Party searches."There isn't an obvious answer of how to treat these groups, so you have a hot potato," said Gene Steuerle, a top tax Treasury official for Republican President George H.W. Bush.
look for Issa to have a major breakdown on the floor when it finally hits him he's a fanatic and all his accusations are unfounded and he now is the capitol hill crazy guy whose crazy assumptions have made a fool out of him and his party, and wasted millions, they should never again be allowed tospeak about gov't waste.
