Posted on 05/21/2013 10:48:09 AM PDT by Perseverando
WASHINGTON — Ranking Member Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, didn’t mince words. He said IRS’s decision not to notify Congress of the agency’s targeting of tea party groups was “a lie by omission” and that the man in charge at the time just “sat on that guilty knowledge.”
Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Steve Miller replied, “Mr. Hatch, I did not lie.”
But during Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing Hatch insisted Miller knew there was a list IRS officials were using to target conservatives when he failed to inform Congress of the abuse.
Hatch said “you knew what was going on, you knew we asked, you should have told us.”
The harsh criticism was bipartisan.
Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., quickly became irritated with former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who was testifying on the scandal for the first time. Baucus asked why no one was fired in 2011 when the Washington IRS headquarters learned of the targeting of tea-party groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Shulman replied, “In June of 2011 I don’t believe I was aware of this.”
Clearly annoyed, Baucus shot back, “You were the commissioner. If you don’t know it, sounds like somebody isn’t doing their job,” he said.
Baucus then asked, “What created this culture of indifference to the American people?”
When Shulman didn’t directly answer the question, the chairman got straight to the point, referring to the office where the abuse apparently began, asking, “What happened in Cincinnati? What conditions caused that?”
“I can’t say that I know that answer,” Shulman said.
The former IRS Commissioner refused to apologize during the hearing.
He would only say he was “deeply saddened” by what happened.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
ARROGANCE.
You Senators, House Member, and the American People report to US AT THE IRS.
Got it?
When Baucus become irritated with obama, then I’ll start paying attention to him.
I would have suggested (if staff) that the Senator, discuss that if the IRS Commissioner did not lie, that all future federal Legislative Branch oversight hearings will need to takes weeks to months so that sufficient questions can be asked so that no question goes unanswered. Is that what the IRS Commissioner desires?
Or is there a responsibility to not lie by omission?
I’ll admit to only half following this saga (scandal overload here) but is it possible that the orders came from the union bosses rather than the administrative bosses? I think it was the head of the union that met with Obama at the WH.
Put them in jail until they cooperate. Heck, they’ve put reporters in jail before. Orange jumpsuit time.
Grand Jury time
Also keep in mind that this is how Jarrett made her career in Chicago. She was trained by her father-in-law. Her main thing her whole life has been to get out the leftist vote and depress votes on the right.
What ? No congress was not part of our orders from Da you know
I think the questioning is trying to get someone to say that, but of course, no one will.
Jail does a much to refresh memory and put priorities in order.
If Shulman had any wits about him, he would have replied, "You and your Democrat colleagues, Senator."
“When Baucus become irritated with obama, then I’ll start paying attention to him.”
Baucus is “polishing” his “legacy.” Or maybe he’s just misplaced the Jack Daniels bottle.
There will be no jailtime for anyone unless a special counsel is appointed. Holder’s Justice Department is so politicized that it cannot be trusted to investigate what is at its core a political crime.
Yeah, Baucus acting tough to the IRS is political posturing. Kabuki theater. Nothing more.
Ranking Member Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, didn’t mince words. He said IRS’s decision not to notify Congress of the agency’s targeting of tea party groups was “a lie by omission” and that the man in charge at the time just “sat on that guilty knowledge.”
Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Steve Miller replied, “Mr. Hatch, I did not lie.”
Before the hearings, don’t they swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”? I think they do. If that’s the case then Hatch should have responded by reading the oath taken by the guy from IRS to him.
He told the truth (nothing he said was a lie)
He did not tell the whole truth (left out incriminating details)
He did not tell nothing but the truth (intentional misdirection includes something other than the truth)
Last time I checked, lying to congress while under oath was still a jailable offense.
This is a clear case of quibbling and confirms their level of integrity fails to achieve the minimum for admittance to any of the Service Academies.
The fact that Shulman and Miller took so little interest in finding out the truth about what was going on tells us all we really need to know. They are either two of the most incompetent managers/leaders around, or they just weren’t interested because they agreed with what was going on. If not, either or both could have gotten to the bottom of this in 2011 and stopped it in its tracks, but instead elected to approach it in a slow bureaucratic manner that allowed what was being done to continue. To me, that says volumes.
No one needs to notify the man that initiated the intimidation by the IRS.
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