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CST: Scathing report on IRS finally may see daylight -- Dems can't squash this IRS exposé
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | May 5, 2005 | ROBERT NOVAK

Posted on 05/05/2005 5:43:53 AM PDT by OESY

A Senate rider inserted in an emergency appropriations bill in the dead of the night which would close a rare window into political foul play at the Internal Revenue Service was quietly removed Tuesday in Senate-House negotiations. That offers full disclosure of a major scandal that has been percolating for a decade.

The rider would have de-funded the investigation begun in 1995 of then-Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros by Independent Counsel David Barrett. The amendment was sponsored by three highly influential Democrats, purportedly to stop leakage of federal money in a run-on program and end persecution of a no-longer-prominent Democratic politician. In fact, Barrett's investigation is the first independent probe, with subpoena power, of the IRS.

Passage of the amendment probably would have meant Barrett's voluminous report on the Cisneros case never would see the light of day. The document has been inspected by attorneys for prominent Democrats mentioned in it. That inspection was followed by belated efforts from Senate Democratic leaders to terminate Barrett, raising suspicions.

Democrats and their friends in the news media complain with sudden new urgency that Barrett has squandered $21 million over 10 years on a case in which Cisneros admitted in 1999 to lying to an FBI background investigation about his payments to a former mistress to keep her quiet. He was fined $10,000 and then pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001. Cisneros' bigger problem is an allegation of fraud in not paying taxes on funds used for the hush money.

The report, described as 400 pages long with over 2,000 footnotes, is sealed by court order. So are Barrett's lips. But enough has leaked from sources familiar with its content to suggest political dynamite. Sources indicate an IRS whistleblower contends the tax fraud investigation was transferred from a regional office to Washington, where the IRS and the Justice Department suffocated it. That raises the question of whether Cisneros, then a rising Democratic star, was improperly protected by Clinton administration officials. Barrett's use of the subpoena, according to sources, has fleshed out the story.

The investigation has been so protracted because of delaying motions by the Williams & Connolly firm, attorneys for Bill and Hillary Clinton. These lawyers, headed by David Kendall, are described as poring over the sealed Barrett report, according to sources, because clients are named. Coincidentally or not, the case aroused sudden interest within the Senate's Democratic power structure.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee chairman, in the middle of a long floor speech on April 5, gave notice he would try to amend the emergency money bill ''to shut off the funding'' for Barrett.

Dorgan was the amendment's principal sponsor. Co-sponsors were Sen. Richard Durbin, the minority whip, and Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 nominee for president. In the collegial Senate Appropriations Committee, the amendment was routinely added to the emergency bill to fund hostilities in Iraq. It passed the Senate without debate or comment late on the evening of April 21.

The first public notice of their plans was an April 22 editorial in the Wall Street Journal that elicited a letter to the newspaper from Dorgan, Durbin and Kerry that was published April 27. It asserted Barrett's ''report should be made public, and we hope that it will be,'' even if the independent counsel is stripped of funds. This marked the first mention by the de-funders about making the report public.

Maneuvers like this de-funding are best done quietly, but that no longer was possible. On April 27, two freshman Republican senators (Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint) and two more senior colleagues (Jeff Sessions and Jim Inhofe) wrote Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran. They urged elimination of the de-funding because of ''the risk that the final report on this investigation will not be released.''

Although none of the four Republican letter signers sits on Appropriations, they prevailed. In the Senate-House conference Tuesday, the House objected to the Dorgan amendment, and the Senate receded. The report may soon be public, and people who have read it say the worst suspicions about the IRS will be confirmed.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: barrett; cisneros; clinton; coburn; demint; democratscheat; dorgan; durbin; fbi; govwatch; hillary; hillaryscandals; irs; kerry; novak
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1 posted on 05/05/2005 5:43:54 AM PDT by OESY
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To: Temple Owl

ping


2 posted on 05/05/2005 5:45:55 AM PDT by Tribune7
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To: OESY

I hope the actual report lives up to the hype. My suspicion is that some of these news stories have over hyped it in order to increase expectations.


3 posted on 05/05/2005 5:48:53 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: OESY

Sounds like a two-fer: hurst Hillary and any other demonRATs who are implicated in the report and gives a boost to tax reform.


4 posted on 05/05/2005 5:49:20 AM PDT by The_Reader_David (Christ is Risen! Christos Anesti! Khristos Voskrese! Al-Masih Qam! Hristos a Inviat!)
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To: OESY
Did anybody hear anything about this except on Tony Snow's show?
5 posted on 05/05/2005 5:49:32 AM PDT by dts32041 (Two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence Grizzly bear and violate.)
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To: OESY

Clinton legacy time.


6 posted on 05/05/2005 5:53:30 AM PDT by loreldan
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To: dts32041

"Did anybody hear anything about this except on Tony Snow's show?"

Not yesterday, but Rush mentioned a couple of weeks ago when the defunding issue first came up. There may have even been a Freeper thread on it at that time. What will the Rats do now that they may have to do things above board....I love it!


7 posted on 05/05/2005 6:05:04 AM PDT by Amalie (FREEDOM had NEVER been another word for nothing left to lose...)
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To: OESY

It is time for a 10% flat tax. If 10% is good enough for God it should be good enough for the US Government.


8 posted on 05/05/2005 6:07:35 AM PDT by TXBSAFH (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, who's bringing the chips?)
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To: OESY

Not to worry, the Wash comPost will ignore the information, as will LATimes, NYSlimes, BostonGlobe and every other america hating leftist print and electronic media.


9 posted on 05/05/2005 6:08:41 AM PDT by OldFriend (MAJOR TAMMY DUCKWORTH.....INSPIRATIONAL)
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To: OESY
The libs complain about the cost and want to cut off funds while they are the obstructionists who have wasted time and $$$ with their delays, trying to prevent the truth from coming out -- typical Clinton maneuvers.
10 posted on 05/05/2005 6:08:59 AM PDT by VOX9 (Stolen History & Stolen Heritage - Closed Records for Adult Adoptees!)
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To: TXBSAFH

Actually, 10% is just the tithes on the first fruits of the harvest. There were other tithe amounts on the second, third, etc fruits. All and all, it came out to be around 28% of the harvest should go to tithes. Of course this is all just for Jews.

As Christians, we are to give what we feel led to give, and to do so joyfully and happily. Nowhere in the NT is there a reaffirmation of the tithe.


11 posted on 05/05/2005 6:19:28 AM PDT by Kidan (www.krashpad.com)
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To: OESY
I do expect this to be buried by the Democrats and their RINO accomplices. However I think Tom Coburn, James DeMint, Jeff Sessions and James Inhofe need to be thanked for trying to get to the bottom of some of the scandals that permeated the Clinton administration.
In addition, I want to thank Thad Cochran for having the nerve to put this in the bill. (Who wudda thunk it?)
12 posted on 05/05/2005 6:24:12 AM PDT by Bar-Face
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To: dts32041

I read the Kerry/Dorgan/Durbin letter in the WSJ...it was worth a chuckle.


13 posted on 05/05/2005 6:28:43 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: OldFriend

yeah ,...and watch for the MSM's complicity in a few diversionary headlines that get hyped/puffed-up when Barrett's report is made public


14 posted on 05/05/2005 7:41:24 AM PDT by Dad yer funny
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To: dts32041
The WSJ editorial that started it all was posted here:

An IRS Cover-Up?

15 posted on 05/05/2005 7:52:06 AM PDT by maryz
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To: Kidan
All and all, it came out to be around 28% of the harvest should go to tithes

Got some scripture to back this up?

16 posted on 05/05/2005 8:28:26 AM PDT by John O (God Save America (Please))
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To: OESY
The IRS is a pirate organization. In 1990 I was in a terrible car accident and hospitalized for six months. Three years later the IRS audited me because, in their words, my reported income had dropped so much in one year. During the audit -- a blood-curdling 9 visits over almost two years -- they refused to accept a copy of my hospital records, telling me that the accident "was my story." In the end I had to pay taxes on money I did not make because I didn't have the money to hire another tax lawyer.

The IRS must be disbanded.

17 posted on 05/05/2005 12:32:27 PM PDT by pabianice
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To: OESY

Oh, if only this could really happen! Bill, Hill, John Kerry, and the IRS. Everything I love about America, hahaha ;)


18 posted on 05/05/2005 12:43:36 PM PDT by TheSpottedOwl (Free Mexico!)
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To: pabianice

That is scary. How dare they discount hospital bills that prove your innocence? Why in hell should anyone have to prove their innocence to these vultures, in the first place??


19 posted on 05/05/2005 12:45:18 PM PDT by TheSpottedOwl (Free Mexico!)
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To: John O

And all the tithe of the land, [whether] Qf the seed of the land, [or] of the fruit of the tree, [is] the LORDS.- [it is] holy unto the LORD. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, [even] of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. (Lev 27:30,32). The tithe is described as the produce of the land and the animals of the land and not the giving of money to God. Note also that God commanded tile tithe. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, [even] the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. (N um 18:2 1). This is called the Levite Tithe used to support the priests. Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always (Deu 14:22-23). This is another tithe, called the Festival Tithe, to be used for religious feasts and festivals of Israel. At the end of three years thou shall bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay [it] up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which [are] within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest (Deu 14:28-29). This is the third tithe, but this one occurs once every 3 years. So on average, the people pay compulsorily 23.33% of their produce/anirnals in tithes every year, not 10%! This third tithe is also called the Poor Tithe. Tithes were kept in places called chambers for the treasures in Nehemiah's time (Nell 12:44), and later called storehouses in Malachi's time. Now we come to the most common passage that is quoted frequently by those supporting compulsory tithing today. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house (Mal 3: 8, 10a). Since tithing was compulsory under the Law, to withhold tithes was tantamount to robbing God. Notice that it speaks of robbing God in terms of withholding tithes and offerings. What offerings are we talking about? Tile offerings associated with animal sacrifices under the Mosaic Law - burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering and guilt offering. So if someone wants to observe the tithing as practised under the Mosaic Law today, he needs to observe the offerings as well. And he must pay 23.3% per annum of all his crops and herds to God (not 10%).


20 posted on 05/05/2005 4:04:02 PM PDT by Kidan (www.krashpad.com)
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