Posted on 05/25/2013 4:49:13 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
On Wednesday, House hearings on the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) political targeting of conservative groups uncovered a startling revelation about the interview process used to construct the Inspector General’s report: Obama donor-turned-IRS director of tax exempt organizations Holly Paz sat in on 36 of 41 interviews with IRS employees.
“Why was Holly Paz... in almost all of the interviews you conducted?” asked Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). “Why would you have someone from the IRS in those meetings? Is that proper protocol?”
“I am unaware of it,” said Inspector General J. Russell George. “This is the first I’ve heard this.”
George then requested time to research the revelation. “This is the first time that I was made aware of this,” said George.
George then clarified he and his agency performed an audit, not an investigation.
“The operative word, Mr. Chairman, is audit,” said George. “It was not conducted as an investigation.”
Still, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) seemed unsettled that Paz was allowed to sit in on the IG’s interviews of IRS employees.
“Usually when you are conducting an investigation—I know this was an audit, I got that—you want to keep your witnesses separate because you’re in search of the truth and you are trying to make sure there’s no advantage of a person hearing what somebody else said,” said Cummings. “That’s pretty standard procedure.”
George ultimately conceded to Cummings that, “in hindsight, given this matter, obviously this seems somewhat unusual. I need to do a little more research.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I realize that-—but Issa should acquaint himself on procedure (if nothing else).
He should have deferred to Gowdy at the very least.
Or perhaps halted the hearing and consulted w/ legal counsel then and there.
Instead he stupidly let Lerner walk.
He knew there would be another day.
I thought they "said" it was an "audit" not an investigation. She is quoted here as calling them investigators.
In Issa’s defense. He didn’t adjourn the meeting but rather called for a recess. Therefore, he doesn’t have to re-subpoena Lerner. She is still under the original subpoena and I would bet is probably working on a proffer with Committee staffers in order to testify and save her bacon.
This house of cards is starting to crumble and you can bet the staffers have told the witnesses that first one in gets the best deal.
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Wasn't the Barrett Report sealed with the help of Democrats AND Republicans back in 2006? Any member of Congress can "unseal" it by simply reading it into the Congressional Record. It remains sealed to this day.
(From Wikipedia: The Barrett Report is a 400 page report created by special prosecutor David Barrett. Initially tasked with investigating allegations of lying to the FBI against Henry Cisneros, Secretary of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development under U.S. President Bill Clinton, the investigation eventually delved into allegations that President Clinton had used the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service as political tools against American citizens.[1] Before the release of the report, three Democrat U.S. Senators, John Kerry, Dick Durbin and Byron Dorgan, forced the redaction of certain pages by attaching a rider to an unrelated appropriations bill.[2])
I don’t know about IRS IGs, but military IGs are certainly different. I’ve been interviewed numerous times and NEVER with even my lowest level supervisor present.
It appears here that the auditors and investigators were in the same room together, then the auditors left. That would make it an audit investigation or an investigative audit or the auditors investigators but very poor ones at that knowing that their supervisor had been sitting in on their audit investigation, er audit. They just can't keep their stories straight.
Guilty. Is she a clone of Chelsea?
But we got what we needed ~ one of Obama's many running dog lackeys ~ in this case the tax collector ~ telling us she can't tell us about it 'cause we'd prol' prosecute her ~ which we are going to do anyway ~ maybe under Obama, but Fur Shur under the next President.
Like IRS audits aren't conducted like investigations?
The entire cabal of government schemers needs to be tried, convicted and executed with extreme prejudice. Plotting against those who pay their GD wages!!! This is treasonous!
Glad their names are getting out for public consumption! Disgusting!
Thanks
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