IRS: a Weapon in the Hands of the Left

Politico's exclusive report on its sympathetic interview of former IRS official Lois Lerner two days ago has been widely and justifiably criticized. The Washington Free Beacon dubbed it an "epic fail" in journalism. David Harsanyi, in "Sorry, Politico, But Lois Lerner is Not a Victim," pointed out, among other things, that Lois Lerner is already guilty of targeting conservative groups by her own admission and apology.

Lerner told Politico's interviewer:

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Lerner said in her first press interview since the scandal broke 16 months ago. “I’m proud of my career and the job I did for this country.”

In an fair and unbiased world, this claim would be astounding, knowing what we now know of Lerner's acts and misdeeds.

But what if Lerner's world wasn't fair and unbiased?  What if the Internal Revenue Service where she worked for so long no longer treated all taxpayers equally, fairly or just?  What if Lerner is really saying, quite honestly, "I didn't do anything wrong" according to my coworkers in the heavily politicized left-leaning culture that now exists in the IRS?

Cleta Mitchell, who represents several conservative organizations targeted by the IRS, discusses why she believes that the IRS has become too corrupt to be saved and how it has become a bully of an agency and a weapon in the hands of the Democratic Party.


Ms. Mitchell's full remarks and rationale can be viewed here.

Mitchell: What FBI Investigation of IRS?

"Let's all be very clear," writes DC attorney Cleta Mitchell, who has represented dozens of groups before the IRS over the years. "The FBI did not conduct an 'investigation' into the IRS scandal. Not unless there are new protocols for investigating potential unlawful activities which discard the quaint notion of speaking to the victims."

• What did the FBI do in terms of investigating the obvious lies to Congress in 2012 by assorted IRS officials who claimed there was 'no targeting' of conservative organizations? Last time I checked, it is a felony to lie to Congress (ask Roger Clemens).
• Did the FBI investigate why Catherine Engelbrecht in Houston was visited by the FBI seven times, was audited by the IRS both personally and in her family business, was visited by OSHA and ATF (twice), all within 18 months of her filing exempt organization applications with the IRS for two conservative groups?
• Did the FBI investigate whether there were illegal political considerations related to the audits of conservative organizations and donors nationwide — and the correlation of that widespread abuse of conservative citizens to the targeting of the conservative organizations?

In short, how can there be any semblance of legitimacy to an investigation when none of the victims were even interviewed?

Cleta Mitchell, pictured above with Institute president Michelle Easton (L), was the Institute's 2013 Woman of the Year.

Thank you, Cleta Mitchell!

One of the heroes in identifying and exposing IRS abuses is attorney Cleta Mitchell, who is also a featured speaker at our How to Excel at Your DC Internship seminar on June 14.

In a piece entitled "Cleta Mitchell: How to Investigate the IRS," WSJ editorial page editor James Freeman writes:

The woman who helped expose IRS abuse of conservative activists has more news to share: The abuse continues, and she sees no evidence that the White House, the IRS or the Justice Department is doing anything to end it. "This is not in the past tense. This is still going on," says Cleta Mitchell, perhaps the country's pre-eminent expert on campaign-finance and political tax law.

In 2012, Ms. Mitchell worked to persuade members of Congress that reports of IRS harassment of conservative groups were credible. GOP lawmakers demanded information from the IRS and triggered the internal audit that finally forced the agency last month to acknowledge abuses it had previously denied. Now Ms. Mitchell is determined to end the abuse and identify the culprits.

Don't bet against her. A partner at elite international law firm Foley and Lardner, Ms. Mitchell is sketching out a road map to uncover the truth and force reform—whether or not the Obama administration cooperates...

Among Ms. Mitchell's IRS-abused clients is True the Vote (more here).