Has Obama cut a deal with Lois Lerner ???

AOL.com Article - Lawmakers: IRS lost more emails in tea party probe
AOL
By Stephen Ohlemacher
WASHINGTON (AP) --
"The Internal Revenue Service has lost more emails connected to the tea party investigation, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
The IRS said last Friday it had lost an untold number of emails when Lois Lerner's computer crashed in 2011. Lerner used to head the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status.
On Tuesday, two key lawmakers said the IRS has also lost emails from six additional IRS workers whose computers crashed. Among them was Nikole Flax, who was chief of staff to Lerner's boss, then-deputy commissioner Steven Miller."

These people don't appear to care in the least bit how obviously ridiculous their excuses are_

Has anyone ever wondered why Lois Lerner has remained so loyal to Barack Obama with such insurmountable evidence continuously building against her every time she opens her mouth? :unsure13:

Presidential Pardon?

Maybe Congress should let this play out till after Obama leaves office?!

I don't know how to answer this without more information. That said, I'm really unsympathetic with people trying to apply for tax exemptions for political groups, while waving political motivations in the face of the IRS. So this scandal doesn't 'do it' for me.

Empirica said:

AOL.com Article - Lawmakers: IRS lost more emails in tea party probe
AOL
By Stephen Ohlemacher
WASHINGTON (AP) --
"The Internal Revenue Service has lost more emails connected to the tea party investigation, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
The IRS said last Friday it had lost an untold number of emails when Lois Lerner's computer crashed in 2011. Lerner used to head the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status.
On Tuesday, two key lawmakers said the IRS has also lost emails from six additional IRS workers whose computers crashed. Among them was Nikole Flax, who was chief of staff to Lerner's boss, then-deputy commissioner Steven Miller."

These people don't appear to care in the least bit how obviously ridiculous their excuses are_

Has anyone ever wondered why Lois Lerner has remained so loyal to Barack Obama with such insurmountable evidence continuously building against her every time she opens her mouth? :unsure13:

Presidential Pardon?

Maybe Congress should let this play out till after Obama leaves office?!

Click to expand...

Have you considered it could have been space aliens that came down and wiped out the computer?

I mean seriously, this is nothing more than a "What-if" scenario. They are fun to play, but completely useless in regards to facts.

The fact is, they are claiming the computer crashed. Now, in this day and age that is quite plausible with throw-away computers. The problem I have with the story is where are the server backups? And if this was done on a personal computer not connected with a server, why was this allowed to happen?

Those are legitimate questions that don't delve into "what-if" scenarios and are far more productive in nature.

TheNextEra said:

Have you considered it could have been space aliens that came down and wiped out the computer?

I mean seriously, this is nothing more than a "What-if" scenario. They are fun to play, but completely useless in regards to facts.

The fact is, they are claiming the computer crashed. Now, in this day and age that is quite plausible with throw-away computers. The problem I have with the story is where are the server backups? And if this was done on a personal computer not connected with a server, why was this allowed to happen?

Those are legitimate questions that don't delve into "what-if" scenarios and are far more productive in nature.

Click to expand...

Yeah, data is pretty hard to lose in this day and age. I was watching one of those detective shows where a criminal cut up a floppy disk with a pair of scissors. The data was recovered by piecing the disk together with scotch tape. That was like in the 1980s...

Amadeus said:

Yeah, data is pretty hard to lose in this day and age. I was watching one of those detective shows where a criminal cut up a floppy disk with a pair of scissors. The data was recovered by piecing the disk together with scotch tape. That was like in the 1980s...

Click to expand...

Well not sure that would work entirely in this day and age with the media, but still there should be servers with backups. The only way for a government worker to bypass a server would be to use a home computer which that is not allowed for official government business. So either way, if the computer was a government computer and crashed there should be backups and if she used a personal computer for this she was in the wrong there to. There really isn't going to be a way for the IRS to get out looking bad.

However, I will say the IRS is probably going to claim "incompetance" rather than claiming "illegal activity". Both are bad, but the former probably at worse will get someone fired while the latter would probably get jail time for someone.

The vote I would have cast, was not in the poll - "Maybe" - because it's very possible, and unfortunately, would be very legal for him to pardon her... but... the violation of 18 US Code § 371, which if provable, would be an impeachable offense, or would make Obama subject to regular legal prosecution after he leaves office.

Empirica said:

AOL.com Article - Lawmakers: IRS lost more emails in tea party probe
AOL
By Stephen Ohlemacher
WASHINGTON (AP) --
"The Internal Revenue Service has lost more emails connected to the tea party investigation, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
The IRS said last Friday it had lost an untold number of emails when Lois Lerner's computer crashed in 2011. Lerner used to head the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status.
On Tuesday, two key lawmakers said the IRS has also lost emails from six additional IRS workers whose computers crashed. Among them was Nikole Flax, who was chief of staff to Lerner's boss, then-deputy commissioner Steven Miller."

These people don't appear to care in the least bit how obviously ridiculous their excuses are_

Has anyone ever wondered why Lois Lerner has remained so loyal to Barack Obama with such insurmountable evidence continuously building against her every time she opens her mouth? :unsure13:

Presidential Pardon?

Maybe Congress should let this play out till after Obama leaves office?!

Click to expand...

Overwhelming evidence? I think you mean the LACK or evidence is overwhelming.

Amadeus said:

I don't know how to answer this without more information. That said, I'm really unsympathetic with people trying to apply for tax exemptions for political groups, while waving political motivations in the face of the IRS. So this scandal doesn't 'do it' for me.

Click to expand...

Why not? This is the IRS, the most powerful and dangerous of all government agencies. They can financially destroy anyone they want, and you can never escape their judgments. The possibility this Super Agency could be directed to attack law abiding citizens doesn't "do it" for you?

Remarkable.

Amadeus said:

I don't know how to answer this without more information. That said, I'm really unsympathetic with people trying to apply for tax exemptions for political groups, while waving political motivations in the face of the IRS. So this scandal doesn't 'do it' for me.

Click to expand...

There is substantial information establishing that a crime was indeed committed by the IRS_

Except of course for those who believe that astronomical odds of multiple coincidences are much more plausible_

The 7 Crashed Computers Coincidence???
AOL.com Article - Lawmakers: IRS lost more emails in tea party probe
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service has lost more emails connected to the tea party investigation, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
The IRS said last Friday it had lost an untold number of emails when Lois Lerner's computer crashed in 2011. Lerner used to head the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status.
On Tuesday, two key lawmakers said the IRS has also lost emails from six additional IRS workers whose computers crashed. Among them was Nikole Flax, who was chief of staff to Lerner's boss, then-deputy commissioner Steven Miller.

The two lawmakers called on the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS, something Attorney General Eric Holder has declined to do in the past.

The 292/6 Coincidence???
Blog: Treasury audit: IRS targeted 292 tea party groups; 6 progressive groups
After weeks of pushing back against charges that the IRS targeted conservative groups by saying that liberals were targeted too, the Treasury Department inspector general has released an audit showing that 292 tea party and other conservative groups were targeted while only 6 progressive groups were.

Not only that, every single conservative group came in for special treatment. Only 30% of progressive groups received additional scrutiny.

The BOLO List Coincidence???
Report finds IRS targeted conservative groups, delayed applications - CNN.com
The agency's top watchdog found that the criteria used to flag potential political applications resulted in substantial delays and the request of unnecessary information from the groups.
Among the criteria used by IRS officials to flag applications was a "Be On the Look Out" list, or a BOLO, which was discontinued in 2012, according to the report. The criteria on the BOLO included:
-- Whether "Tea Party," "Patriots" or "9/12 Project" was referenced in the case file.
-- Whether the issues outlined in the application included government spending, government debt or taxes.
-- Whether there was advocating or lobbying to "make America a better place to live."
-- Whether a statement in the case file criticized how the country is being run.
-- Whether it advocated education about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration was initiated after congressional complaints began to surface in the media in 2012 that the IRS was targeting conservative groups and holding up applications.

Rep. Elijah Cummings involved in this IRS scandal; yet is on the Oversite Committee; Coincidence???
New questions over Rep. Cummings' connection to IRS probe | Interviews | Fox News
KELLY: OK. So, just to advance the story, so you smell a rat. You say something is weird, that it seems like they are coordinating, which they should not be doing, right? That's your allegation.
MITCHELL: That's right.
KELLY: OK. So, you have the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee in February.
MITCHELL: That's right.
KELLY: And you raised the allegation of coordination. Let's watch it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCHELL: We wanna get to the bottom of how these coincidences happened and we're going to try to figure out whether any, whether there was any staff of this committee that might have been involved on putting True the Vote on a radar screen in some of these federal agencies.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, D-MD.: The gentleman yield.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CUMMINGS: I want to thank the gentleman for his courtesy, what she just said is absolutely incorrect and not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: So, he denies it. Now, your allegation there was very limited. You said to the staff of this committee put True the Vote on the radar screen. You know, is that -- could he be wiggling out this by saying, well, we didn't really put them on the radar screen for the IRS, they were already on the radar screen.
MITCHELL: Well, what we -- what that clip doesn't show is that what we did that day immediately following the hearing was we filed on behalf of True the Vote a complaint against Representative Cummings and his staff, asking the Office of Congressional Ethics of the House to investigate, to find out what they did and that's what he was reacting to because he saw the complaint. We attached it to our testimony. And --
(CROSSTALK)[/COLOR]

The True To Vote Coincidence???
Issa Accuses Cummings of Colluding with the IRS | National Review Online
E-mails unearthed in the course of Issa’s investigation into the IRS’s inappropriate targeting of right-leaning groups show that in January 2013, a member of Cummings’s staff contacted the IRS asking for any publicly available information on True the Vote.

The war between Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa and the committee’s ranking member, Elijah Cummings, rages on.

Issa on Wednesday accused the Maryland Democrat of colluding with the Internal Revenue Service in its targeting of the conservative nonprofit group True the Vote, whose founder, Catherine Engelbrecht, said she received multiple letters from Cummings in 2012 and personal visits from the IRS and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives. Engelbrecht’s True the Vote is one of the many conservative groups that claims to have been improperly targeted by the IRS while it scrutinized the applications of tea-party groups.

The Lois Lerner 5th Amendment Coincidence???
Issa, Cummings clash at hearing after ex-IRS official Lerner takes 5th | Fox News
"On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer that question,"

A House hearing on the IRS targeting scandal rapidly broke down into a heated and deeply personal argument between a top Democrat and Republican, moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner once again invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

The IRS doesn't appear to be in the least bit interested in explaining their actions to We The People__Coincidence???

All indicators point to guilty for Lerner and other IRS employees and probably even a couple members of Congress_

Wow, imagine the government of the United States of God Bless America lying to the citizens? Who would ever guess?

Removable Mind said:

Wow, imagine the government of the United States of God Bless America lying to the citizens? Who would ever guess?

Click to expand...

But, but, but Obama has the most "transparent" administration ever. Just ask him, that is what he promised.

TheNextEra said:

Have you considered it could have been space aliens that came down and wiped out the computer?

Click to expand...

Have you considered that it is exactly what it appears to be?!

An obvious lie by Lois Lerner and the IRS to cover up a scandalous crime and avoid prison?!

I mean seriously, this is nothing more than a "What-if" scenario. They are fun to play, but completely useless in regards to facts.

Click to expand...

This is far from being a "What if" scenario_

In fact; the poll question is extremely appropriate considering the course the IRS scandal has taken_

The poll simply asks people for their personal opinions based on news reports concerning the IRS scandal_

The fact is, they are claiming the computer crashed. Now, in this day and age that is quite plausible with throw-away computers. The problem I have with the story is where are the server backups? And if this was done on a personal computer not connected with a server, why was this allowed to happen?

Those are legitimate questions that don't delve into "what-if" scenarios and are far more productive in nature.

Click to expand...

You appear to know very little about what's been going on pertaining to this IRS scandal_

TheNextEra said:

Well not sure that would work entirely in this day and age with the media, but still there should be servers with backups. The only way for a government worker to bypass a server would be to use a home computer which that is not allowed for official government business. So either way, if the computer was a government computer and crashed there should be backups and if she used a personal computer for this she was in the wrong there to. There really isn't going to be a way for the IRS to get out looking bad.

Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge; all seven "crashed computers" were standard IRS equipment!

However, I will say the IRS is probably going to claim "incompetance" rather than claiming "illegal activity". Both are bad, but the former probably at worse will get someone fired while the latter would probably get jail time for someone.

Click to expand...

Yep; that does appear to be the story the IRS is running with_

Report finds IRS targeted conservative groups, delayed applications - CNN.com
In a written response included in the report, the IRS commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division said there was no criminal behavior behind the actions of the agents, but rather inefficient management.

Beaudreaux said:

The vote I would have cast, was not in the poll - "Maybe" - because it's very possible, and unfortunately, would be very legal for him to pardon her... but... the violation of 18 US Code § 371, which if provable, would be an impeachable offense, or would make Obama subject to regular legal prosecution after he leaves office.

Click to expand...

A rock solid witness would be required to convict the first black POTUS of an Oval Office related crime!

iguanaman said:

Overwhelming evidence? I think you mean the LACK or evidence is overwhelming.

Click to expand...

The circumstantial evidence is staggering and and the excuses and actions of those involved are more condemning than convincing_

There are Crips and Bloods in San Quentin that were convicted by circumstantial evidence far less remarkable than what the IRS faces_

ocean515 said:

Why not? This is the IRS, the most powerful and dangerous of all government agencies. They can financially destroy anyone they want, and you can never escape their judgments. The possibility this Super Agency could be directed to attack law abiding citizens doesn't "do it" for you?

Remarkable.

Click to expand...

Remarkable indeed__Obama supporters fail to see the danger in allowing this powerful government agency to be used as a political weapon_

But someday when the IRS turns on them (and it will) they will realize too late the monster they helped to create_

Lakeside said:

But, but, but Obama has the most "transparent" administration ever. Just ask him, that is what he promised.

Click to expand...

uh huh.....alrighty then.

Empirica said:

Have you considered that it is exactly what it appears to be?!

An obvious lie by Lois Lerner and the IRS to cover up a scandalous crime and avoid prison?!

This is far from being a "What if" scenario_

In fact; the poll question is extremely appropriate considering the course the IRS scandal has taken_

The poll simply asks people for their personal opinions based on news reports concerning the IRS scandal_

You appear to know very little about what's been going on pertaining to this IRS scandal_

To the best of my knowledge; all seven "crashed computers" were standard IRS equipment!

Yep; that does appear to be the story the IRS is running with_

Report finds IRS targeted conservative groups, delayed applications - CNN.com
In a written response included in the report, the IRS commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division said there was no criminal behavior behind the actions of the agents, but rather inefficient management.

A rock solid witness would be required to convict the first black POTUS of an Oval Office related crime!

The circumstantial evidence is staggering and and the excuses and actions of those involved are more condemning than convincing_

There are Crips and Bloods in San Quentin that were convicted by circumstantial evidence far less remarkable than what the IRS faces_

Remarkable indeed__Obama supporters fail to see the danger in allowing this powerful government agency to be used as a political weapon_

But someday when the IRS turns on them (and it will) they will realize too late the monster they helped to create_

Click to expand...

I think what many people fail to see is any evidence of harm or coordination any farther than the local office. Add that to a law that is impossibly ambiguous and mistakes happen. The truth is that none of those groups that were "delayed" and most that were not, deserved to get tax exempt status and they received it anyway. If anything it shows how the IRS has been hogtied by Congress into giving tax exempt status to groups that are anything but charitable. They are political action groups and nothing more. The law should be changed so they pay taxes on their income like the rest of us.

This whole scandal is going nowhere, and when Obama vacates the office this will be completely dead.

voyager1 said:

This whole scandal is going nowhere, and when Obama vacates the office this will be completely dead.

Click to expand...

It seems to me that a sensible course would be to wait until Obama's term has ended, and a new President and a new administration is in place, and then begin an earnest investigation, with an Attorney General who isn't loyal to Obama, and with a President who isn't going to simply hand out pardons to anyone who is implicated by that investigation.

The coverup itself is so blatant, at this point, that even if what is being covered up cannot be proven, it appears that a proper and unobstructed investigation will, at the very least, produce sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges and prison time against whomever can be proven to be complicit in the coverup itself—and this could very well include Ms. Lerner and even Mr Obama himself.

Bob Blaylock said:

It seems to me that a sensible course would be to wait until Obama's term has ended, and a new President and a new administration is in place, and then begin an earnest investigation, with an Attorney General who isn't loyal to Obama, and with a President who isn't going to simply hand out pardons to anyone who is implicated by that investigation.

The coverup itself is so blatant, at this point, that even if what is being covered up cannot be proven, it appears that a proper and unobstructed investigation will, at the very least, produce sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges and prison time against whomever can be proven to be complicit in the coverup itself—and this could very well include Ms. Lerner and even Mr Obama himself.

Click to expand...

There will be no investigation after Obama is gone. The GOP isn't dumb and doesn't want to start that as a precedent.

iguanaman said:

I think what many people fail to see is any evidence of harm or coordination any farther than the local office. Add that to a law that is impossibly ambiguous and mistakes happen. The truth is that none of those groups that were "delayed" and most that were not, deserved to get tax exempt status and they received it anyway. If anything it shows how the IRS has been hogtied by Congress into giving tax exempt status to groups that are anything but charitable. They are political action groups and nothing more. The law should be changed so they pay taxes on their income like the rest of us.

Click to expand...

Where in the world do you get your information?! They adhered to the same non-profit guidelines that Progressive groups used to apply_

One of the reasons they knew that they were being discriminated against was the obvious delay of their applications!

(another reason they knew they were being discriminated against was the harassment by multiple government agencies)

Report finds IRS targeted conservative groups, delayed applications - CNN.com
The report found that all of the applications that were sent to the Determinations Unit "experienced substantial delays in processing."

The report's findings indicate that of the 298 cases reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status: 72 contained the name "tea party," 11 contained "9/12" and 13 contained the word "patriots," according to the report. There were 202 cases that did not contain any such reference.
Of those applications still open for review, 160 cases were open from 206 days to more than three years -- through two election cycles.

The excerpt below confirms that while Conservative applications were delayed; their Progressive counterparts were quickly approved_

"Although the processing of some applications with potential significant political campaign intervention was started soon after receipt, no work was completed on the majority of these applications for 13 months," it said.

I absolutely cannot understand how you people can continue to make excuses for and even support such obvious corruption_

Unless of course you people subscribe to the notion that "the end justifies the means"!

TheNextEra said:

Have you considered it could have been space aliens that came down and wiped out the computer?

I mean seriously, this is nothing more than a "What-if" scenario. They are fun to play, but completely useless in regards to facts.

The fact is, they are claiming the computer crashed. Now, in this day and age that is quite plausible with throw-away computers. The problem I have with the story is where are the server backups? And if this was done on a personal computer not connected with a server, why was this allowed to happen?

Those are legitimate questions that don't delve into "what-if" scenarios and are far more productive in nature.

Click to expand...

Of course. Space aliens are the only logical conclusion!

Maenad said:

Of course. Space aliens are the only logical conclusion!

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I didn't say it was the ONLY conclusion, I simply stated playing "What-if" games like this are quite pointless. Nice try at deflection though, too bad it was lousy.

TheNextEra said:

I didn't say it was the ONLY conclusion, I simply stated playing "What-if" games like this are quite pointless. Nice try at deflection though, too bad it was lousy.

Click to expand...

Oh well, OK then. I thought I had Georgio Tsoukalous on the line here. Color me disappointed!

Empirica said:

Where in the world do you get your information?! They adhered to the same non-profit guidelines that Progressive groups used to apply_

One of the reasons they knew that they were being discriminated against was the obvious delay of their applications!

(another reason they knew they were being discriminated against was the harassment by multiple government agencies)

Report finds IRS targeted conservative groups, delayed applications - CNN.com
The report found that all of the applications that were sent to the Determinations Unit "experienced substantial delays in processing."

The report's findings indicate that of the 298 cases reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status: 72 contained the name "tea party," 11 contained "9/12" and 13 contained the word "patriots," according to the report. There were 202 cases that did not contain any such reference.
Of those applications still open for review, 160 cases were open from 206 days to more than three years -- through two election cycles.

The excerpt below confirms that while Conservative applications were delayed; their Progressive counterparts were quickly approved_

"Although the processing of some applications with potential significant political campaign intervention was started soon after receipt, no work was completed on the majority of these applications for 13 months," it said.

I absolutely cannot understand how you people can continue to make excuses for and even support such obvious corruption_

Unless of course you people subscribe to the notion that "the end justifies the means"!

Click to expand...

Of course you omit the fact that the "applications" were not even necessary. All the groups needed to do was claim the exemption on their taxes. Do you think political action committees of any persuasion are "non-profit" organizations that qualify for tax exemption? That is the "corruption" we need to address.

voyager1 said:

This whole scandal is going nowhere, and when Obama vacates the office this will be completely dead.

Click to expand...

If there were criminal charges, it will not go anywhere. It depends on how much can be found out and if there was a conspiracy which I gotta say, looks very likely given the amount of obfuscation and lies being told about these emails.

Ockham said:

If there were criminal charges, it will not go anywhere. It depends on how much can be found out and if there was a conspiracy which I gotta say, looks very likely given the amount of obfuscation and lies being told about these emails.

Click to expand...

Once Obama has his last day, this issue will fade away. The GOP isn't going to keep on this. There will be no actual gain.

voyager1 said:

Once Obama has his last day, this issue will fade away. The GOP isn't going to keep on this. There will be no actual gain.

Click to expand...

Gain or not, criminal charges do not go away. The question is will there be enough evidence of a conspiracy to file criminal charges. Whether or not Obama is in office or not is irrelevant.