IRS reveals smoking gun [with Clinton's prints all over it]

Chicago Sun Times ^ | 2-29-2002 | Robert Novak

[Notwithstanding]

The mystery surrounding Internal Revenue Service tax audits against critics of President Bill Clinton during his administration has been cracked. A smoking gun has just been released by the IRS. The unmistakable evidence is that the supposedly nonpolitical tax agency responds to complaints by prominent politicians.

The IRS, perhaps unknowingly, incriminated itself July 8 with a 1,500-page document dump answering to four years of freedom of information requests by the watchdog organization Judicial Watch. The material shows that the IRS audit of Judicial Watch was preceded by written complaints from the White House and prominent Democratic members of Congress. Furthermore, existence of supposedly secret audits was unsealed thanks to a Justice Department tax litigator who is, implausibly, active in local Democratic politics.

Judicial Watch's lawsuits have made the organization as obnoxious to the Bush administration as to its predecessor. Nevertheless, the White House is concerned about one abuse close to the political bone: IRS disclosure of confidential tax information about the Republican candidate for governor of California.

Until the July 8 document dump, Judicial Watch got little satisfaction from the IRS in fighting the costly, time-consuming audits. Among the 1,500 pages was found this Aug. 14, 1998, e-mail to President Clinton (with the sender's name blackened). ''I have received solicitation for funds and a questionnaire from Larry Klayman, of Judicial Watch. They have targeted you and the Vice President. My question is how can this obviously partisan organization be classified as tax exempt.... I think you and your wife have done a great job in spite of the partisan attacks against both of you.''

According to the IRS documents, the Clinton fan's complaint was received by the IRS from the White House on Sept. 14, 1998, and dispatched to Commissioner Charles Rossotti's office. That same day, the file indicates, a telephone call in connection with this matter was made to a person whose name was blacked out. Just two weeks later, Judicial Watch received its first notice of an audit.

While Judicial Watch received continued audit notices, the IRS was pressured by prominent Democrats. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, on Feb. 2, 1999, wrote questioning whether the watchdog group was entitled to a tax exemption. Rangel's letter noted complaints from Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, a member of the Democratic leadership who received a constituent complaint about Judicial Watch solicitations.

Marcus Owens, head of the IRS' Exempt Organizations Division, responded to both Rangel and Frost. ''We have forwarded the information you provided to the key district with examination jurisdiction over these organizations,'' Owens said. Translated from bureaucratese: An IRS probe was under way. As audit notices went out, complaints came in from other Democrats--including Senators Richard Bryan of Nevada and Tom Harkin of Iowa and Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia.

Judicial Watch's fight against a political audit was unsealed by the federal District Court in Baltimore, with proceedings sent to the Tax Notes Today publication. A filing in the court last Jan. 7 indicates the documents were released by lawyers from the Justice Department's Tax Division. The government's chief litigator against Judicial Watch has been a remarkable Washington bureaucrat named Stuart Gibson.

While serving as a civil service tax lawyer, Gibson also is a liberal activist in suburban Fairfax County, Va., where he was elected to the school board with Democratic backing. He was the lead litigator in the public disclosure of tax shelters by individual taxpayers--including Bill Simon, the Republican nominee for governor of California.

The Bush White House has a great deal more concern for Simon than Klayman, particularly because Judicial Watch filed suit against Vice President Dick Cheney. The broader question is political motivation behind the IRS audits. There is now evidence that the audit of at least one Clinton ''enemy'' was triggered by the White House. The background of other such audits might yield other smoking guns, if Congress or the Bush administration were interested enough to investigate.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

I am sure that is what some people here would like to happen, but things don't always go as you plan, do they?

[FreedominJesusChrist]

This has nothing to do with the subject at hand.

[deport]

Let's see what we have now...... July 8, 2001 'eww' receives this dump from an FOIA request. A year latter we get the PR.

• Aug. 14 an email was sent to the President noting the sender had received a solicitaion from 'eww' and questioning how the 'eww' could be non partisan
• Sept 22 or there abouts the email was forwarded to IRS.... really breaking their necks to get at the 'eww'
• Oct. 6 'eww' recieved notification of a pending audit.....
• Feb. 26 Congressman Rangel sends IRS a letter of complaint.
• Other Senators/Congress people sent notices to the IRS apparently

The above dates will conflict as the article by Novak and the PR by 'eww' use different dates... Gosh can't they even get that much correct.....

Because no one is above the law......... Let the audits begin.. closure is a necessity to get on with the missions of rooting out corruption

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Not without the proper probable cause.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

This has nothing to do with the subject at hand.

YES it DOES

They are discussing post 53.

DO keep up.

But I am sure the people at Judicial Watch are very nice™

[Clara Lou]

I know what I was talking about, but I'm not at all sure what you're talking about. Who has a plan?

[justshe]

JW's rating were flagging a bit at this point, I guess. Larry got his nose out of joint and issued the following. He actually lied re: GW........as GW had already notified Pat Robertson that he would not be able to attend in person but would speak to them via video feed. NICE guy, this Klayman fella.

---

Oct 1, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


GEORGE W. BUSH AFRAID TO BE SEEN WITH SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES

Refusal to Attend Christian Coalition “Road To Victory 2000 Conference” and Hesitancy to Confirm Acceptance to Judicial Watch’s Ethics Debate May Unmask “Real Intentions”



(Washington, DC) With a recent snub by George W. Bush of Pat Robertson’s “Road To Victory 2000 Conference” and his seeming ambivalence about accepting Judicial Watch’s debate invitation to discuss how to restore ethics in government (Al Gore enthusiastically accepted), does this unmask the real George W. Bush to social conservatives and religious leaders? Ironically, it was Pat Robertson who was one of Governor Bush’s strongest supporters during the campaign. Now the Republican nominee doesn’t want to be seen in the same room with him.

“Judicial Watch is a nonpartisan public-interest law firm which fights government corruption and addresses misconduct by lawyers and judges. George W. Bush should be a supporter of these values, and should not be reticent to appear before a debate hosted by a conservative organization which, like the Christian Coalition, believes in family values and ethics. Instead, it would appear that he would rather be liked by the liberal elite media than to be true to his professed roots,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

“Judicial Watch has no interest in who wins the next election, but would like a complete educational discussion of how, after eight years of Clinton-Gore corruption, this country may be returned – through aggressive law enforcement – to its ethical foundations rooted ‘In God We Trust,’ added Klayman.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Not without the proper probable cause.

The IRS can only AUDIT with "proper probable cause"? What?

Did you learn this in COLLEGE, too?

[FreedominJesusChrist]

I have noticed a trend, where certain people, such as TLBSHOW, will show up onto JW threads, and do nothing but call Judicial Watch supporters "rats" "liars", "liberals", etc., for the sole purpose of starting flame wars. Flame wars are what cause these threads to either be locked or deleted.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

GEORGE W. BUSH AFRAID TO BE SEEN WITH SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES

You wouldn't even see that type of slander on CNN or CBS (or even DU).

But I am sure the people at Judicial Watch are very nice™

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Many IRS audits are random now, but the IRS will also audit people if certain parts of their tax returns look suspicious.

The IRS is only auditing Judicial Watch out of political motivation.

[Ben Bolt]

I may well be mistaked , and since you and your cohort managed to get the last thread locked and pulled , I cant post it for you .

How nice ..

[justshe]

You are making her post out to be something that it is not. She was merely writing of her admiration for Klayman and Fitton.

No.....and unless you saved a copy and wish to post it again, there were too many on that thread that had exactly the same response. It was an 'interesting' perspective, to say the least.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

My posts on that thread weren't pulled before it was locked. The majority of posts that were pulled on that thread came from one person.

[justshe]

It was only a rumor that she was really his mother. He sued his grandmother to keep her from telling the truth...oh, and he also sued his father for alienation of affection. It had SOMETHING to do with his mother.

[Mo1]

This has nothing to do with the subject at hand.

I never said it did

I was asked a question and I answered it

Is that not allowed??

[FreedominJesusChrist]

You have no idea what you are talking about. Please stop this slander.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Why don't you do it in Freepmail then?

[Ben Bolt]

To caught up with all of the excitement I guess . The circles have already begun again . Like the other thread , I'm going to go get some creme soda .

" FIJC " loves to orate ....

[Clara Lou]

The flame war that I saw and which ended in the thread being closed was a JW thread, I believe, but it devolved into a flame war about the Masons!!! (I don't think TBLSHOW was in on it--no way to check, though.) The flame war that I missed again had to do with FR and Klayboy, but was the result of a rather personal vendetta by one Freeper against another. Thread closed, Freeper with vendetta banned for a while. Again-- poor Larry doesn't even stir up enough fuss to get a thread closed.