OBAMA'S IRS ATTACK DOGS BLASTED FOR 'DERELICTION OF DUTY'
Bob Unruh/WND
A lawyer who has been representing conservative nonprofit organizations in court – who charge that the Internal Revenue Service was harassing them and delaying their applications for tax-exempt status for political reasons – says it’s time for the federal agency to go.
“I’ve often said that the IRS is institutionally incapable of self-correcting, but this goes beyond that. This is willful negligence – a dereliction of duty – breaking a sacred trust with the American people,” wrote Jay Sekulow on the website of his American Center for Law and Justice.
“Now that that trust is broken, there is no mending it. The IRS cannot be reformed. It must be completely replaced.”
His comments came in response to what he described as a “bombshell” report from the General Accounting Office revealing that the IRS “is still targeting conservative groups based on ‘religious’ and ‘political views.'”
The report said the “control deficiencies increase the risk of selecting organizations for audit in an unfair manner – for example, based on an organization’s religious, educational, political, or other views.”
Referring to the process to select targets for audits, the GAO report said the “absence of a fully documented selection process may make it difficult for [the IRS division] to defend against accusations that it is now appropriately following its processes and procedures.”
And it said the agency’s “code of conduct” “does not specifically address audit selection.”
The report said: “Management should define program objectives that align with an entity’s mission, strategic plan, goals, and requirements of applicable laws and regulations. Clearly defined objectives can enhance program effectiveness and efficiency.”
It warned the IRS “has not clearly defined, documented, or communicated key terms. For example, while the concepts of ‘fairness’ and integrity’ are highlighted in IRS’s mission and policy statements … [it] has not defined or documented fairness and integrity.
“More importantly, IRS lacks clearly defined and documented program-level objectives, performance measures, indicators, and definitions of key concepts such as fairness, reducing the assurance that [IRS] employees are treating taxpayers equally.”
Explained Sekulow, “The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report requested by members of Congress reveals further proof of what we’ve been arguing at the ACLJ for years – the IRS continues to unconstitutionally target grassroots conservative organizations.”
The report revelations, he said, fly in the face “of everything the Obama administration and its politically motivated IRS has promised the American people for years.’
“They said the targeting had ended. False. They said it would never happen again. And now we know that’s not true, either,” Sekulow said.
“Every day Americans passionate about their communities, faith, and family continue to be victims of our unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy,” he said.
The Washington Free Beacon explained the GAO discovered “the IRS does not have strong internal controls and did not have consistent procedures for documenting audit selection decisions, which increases the risk of unfair audit selection.”
The Washington Times reported, “The IRS said it demands fairness in its mission statement, but declined the GAO’s suggestion that the agency come up with a firm definition of what that means.”
The report quoted John Dalrymple, a deputy commissioner for the IRS: “We believe the current audit selection process, existing internal controls and enhancement planned for implementation in 2016 provide more than reasonable assurance that audit selections are fair and are made with integrity.”
Continued Sekulow, “Yet the malfeasance doesn’t stop there, a separate report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently revealed that the IRS ‘mistakenly’ rehired around 300 employees that had been previously fired or asked to leave for employment issues ranging from fraud and falsification of documents to unauthorized access to taxpayer information.”
He continued: “Enough is enough. The bureaucratic incompetency and corruption must end now. The IRS has clearly shown it cannot clean up its own act. The only way to protect the American people from this IRS is to abolish it. Until then, the only way to establish some controls on the IRS is through aggressive outside pressure, legal action, and litigation.”
His organization had sued the IRS on behalf of individuals and organizations when the targeting first came to light.
He had argued that an independent prosecutor should handle the case.
The ACLJ case, involving 41 groups from 22 states, was dismissed by a district judge. However, an appeal followed, and of the 39 groups remaining in the case, 29 eventually and belatedly got their requested tax-exempt status.
Seven other groups withdrew their applications “because of the frustration with the IRS process,” the ACLJ reported.
IRS Inspector General Timothy Camus at one point told the House Oversight Committee investigating the IRS that “there is potential criminal activity.”
The organizations targeted around the time of the 2012 election were almost exclusively organizations that advocated policy positions contrary to President Obama’s.
In 2013, the IG admitted the IRS repeatedly delayed action on the pending applications, asked intrusive questions of some groups, including about the content of their prayers, and even demanded in one case that members promise not to protest against abortion businesses.
The controversy erupted in May 2013 when the agency admitted during a news conference that groups with “tea party” or “patriots” in their names were flagged specifically for extra IRS review.
Copyright 2016 WND
Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com
URL to article: http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/obamas-irs-attack-dogs-blasted-for-dereliction-of-duty/