First Tea Party Group Sues IRS For Targeting

From Reuters:

Tea Party group sues IRS over inappropriate targeting

By Nate Raymond | Mon May 20, 2013

(Reuters) – A California-based Tea Party group sued the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Monday in what marked the first lawsuit to stem from an investigation finding the agency singled-out conservative organizations.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the NorCal Tea Party Patriots accused the IRS of violating its constitutional rights due to the "intensive and intrusive scrutiny" it received while seeking tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit sought class action status on behalf of all conservative and libertarian groups – such as those associated with the Tea Party movement – that were targeted by the IRS for extra scrutiny from March 2010 through the middle of this month.

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More Unions Demand Waivers From Obama-Care

From The Hill:

Labor unions break ranks with White House on ObamaCare

By Kevin Bogardus | May 21, 2013

Labor unions are breaking with President Obama on ObamaCare.

Months after the president’s reelection, a variety of unions are publicly balking at how the administration plans to implement the landmark law. They warn that unless there are changes, the results could be catastrophic.

Translation: ‘Unless they are given carve outs and waivers, they are not going to help the Democrats steal the midterm elections.’

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) — a 1.3 million-member labor group that twice endorsed Obama for president — is very worried about how the reform law will affect its members’ healthcare plans.

Last month, the president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers released a statement calling “for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act.”

UNITE HERE, a prominent hotel workers’ union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are also pushing for changes.

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501c4 Applications Low When IRS Scrutiny Began

From the Daily Caller:

501(c)(4) applications lower when IRS began targeting conservatives

By Patrick Howley | May 20, 2013

Despite claims that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was under seige [sic] by a flood of new tax-exempt applications from nonprofit political groups in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, the number of 501(c)(4) applications to the IRS actually dropped around the time the IRS began targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

As we have previously noted, this claim has been trumpeted by both the Washington Post and the New York Times as an excuse for the IRS’s activities. And the news media have also used it to justify the need for more hirings at the IRS and for it to be given even more funding.

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WH Counsel: Obama Shouldn’t Be Told About IRS

From the Washington Examiner:

White House: Obama is glad he wasn’t told about IRS scandal

By Joel Gehrke | May 20, 2013

President Obama did not hear of the IRS scandal until the agency apologized for targeting conservatives because his White House counsel and other senior staff agreed he should not be informed, his spokesman said today, adding that Obama thought they made the right decision in not telling him.

“Kathy Ruemmler, the White House counsel, was made aware the week of April 22nd,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today.

“She informed some other senior staff,” including White House chief of staff Denis McDonough. Carney said that “it was her view and others shared the view” that Obama should not be told.

“This is not the kind of thing, when you have an ongoing investigation or an ongoing audit, that requires notification of the president,” Carney said to summarize Ruemmler’s advice.

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Sole Benghazi ‘Scapegoat’ Blames Hillary’s Team

From the Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Hillary’s Benghazi ‘Scapegoat’ Speaks Out

By Josh Rogin | May 20, 2013

Raymond Maxwell, the only official at the State Department’s bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to lose his job after the attacks, tells Josh Rogin that he’s been scapegoated by Hillary Clinton’s team.

Following the attack in Benghazi, senior State Department officials close to Hillary Clinton ordered the removal of a mid-level official who had no role in security decisions and has never been told the charges against him. He is now accusing Clinton’s team of scapegoating him for the failures that led to the death of four Americans last year.

For the record, according to the FEC’s records, Mr. Maxwell contributed to the Obama campaign three times in 2008.

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FBI’s James Rosen Accusation Is Unprecedented

From the Washington Post:

Fox calls DOJ investigation of reporter “downright chilling”

By Ann E. Marimow | May 20, 2013

Fox News reacted with outrage Monday to the revelation that the Justice Department tried to criminalize the newsgathering activities of reporter James Rosen in 2009 “for simply doing his job.”

“It is downright chilling,” Michael Clemente, executive vice president for news, said in a statement. “We will unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press.” …

Federal investigators seeking Rosen’s personal e-mail suggested in a 2010 search warrant that he was potentially criminally liable for soliciting the disclosure of classified information. The warrant was unsealed in 2011, but a Fox executive confirmed that the network was not aware of the allegations until Reading the Post’s report Monday.

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IG: DOJ Tried To Discredit 2 F&F Whistleblowers

From the Politico:

Report faults former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke for Fast and Furious leak

By JOSH GERSTEIN | May 20, 2013

Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke violated Justice Department policies by releasing a memo written by an Operation Fast & Furious whistleblower to the media, Justice’s Inspector General found in a report issued Monday.

The report called Burke’s actions "wholly unbefitting a U.S. Attorney." He resigned after acknowledging the disclosure in 2011, so no discipline by the department is possible. However, Inspector General Michael Horowitz referred the matter to Justice’s legal ethics watchdogs for possible referral to bar authorities in the District of Columbia and Arizona.

The report also disclosed that another DOJ watchdog found Burke responsible for a separate leak and previously referred that matter to [sic] to the two [bar associations in DC and Arizona].

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Comedienne, Dem Use OK Tornado For Agenda

From LifeNews:

“Daily Show” Creator Lizz Winstead: Oklahoma Tornado Meant for Conservatives

by Steven Ertelt | May 20, 2013

Moore, OK — As families and schoolchildren hunkered down in storm shelters to avoid a massive tornado today near Oklahoma City, a liberal “comedian” found time to use the disaster to attack conservatives.

Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead): "This tornado is in Oklahoma so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives." …

This is knee-jerk reaction of a liberal jerk.

This is the same Winstead who attacked Michele Bachmann on abortion and raises funds for Planned Parenthood.

Winstead tweeted an apology at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Lizz Winstead @lizzwinstead: "Made a political joke, Twas before devastation revealed. In hindsight, had I understood, I would have refrained.

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DOJ Probe’s Fox News James Rosen For ‘Leaks’

From the Washington Post:

A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe

By Ann E. Marimow | May 19, 2013

When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.

They used security badge access records to track the reporter’s comings and goings from the State Department, according to a newly obtained court affidavit. They traced the timing of his calls with a State Department security adviser suspected of sharing the classified report. They obtained a search warrant for the reporter’s personal e-mails.

The case of Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, the government adviser, and James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent for Fox News, bears striking similarities to a sweeping leaks investigation disclosed last week in which federal investigators obtained records over two months of more than 20 telephone lines assigned to the Associated Press…

But there won’t be any mainstream media outrage over this, because it happened to a Fox News reporter.

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Lawsuit Claims IRS Seized 60M Medical Records

From United Press International (remember them?):

Suit alleges IRS seized 60 million medical records

A class action suit claims the IRS improperly seized 60 million medical records of 10 million people.

By KRISTEN BUTLER | May 17, 2013

An unnamed healthcare provider in California is suing the Internal Revenue Service and 15 unnamed agents, alleging they seized 60 million medical records of 10 million Americans, including records of all California state judges. The putative class claims the IRS agents’ seizure of medical records violated the 4th Amendment, reports Courthouse News Service.

On March 11, 2011, IRS agents executed a search warrant for financial data pertaining to one former employee of the “John Doe Company.” No search warrant or subpoena authorized the seizure of the medical records.

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Workers Say: IRS Targeting ‘Came From The Top’

From the Washington Post:

At Cincinnati IRS office, surprise over claims of partisan villainy

By Lisa Rein and Dan Zak | May 17, 2013

CINCINNATI — … People in this Cincinnati unit have been accused of using “inappropriate” and “politically sensitive” criteria to scrutinize conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status.

People in the unit, in a purple state’s red-leaning nook [sic], have singled out applicants whose names include the words “tea party” and “patriot.” …

As could be expected, the folks in the determinations unit on Main Street have had trouble concentrating this week. Number crunchers, whose work is nonpolitical, don’t necessarily enjoy the spotlight, especially when the media and the public assume they’re engaged in partisan villainy.

“We’re not political,’’ said one determinations staffer in khakis as he left work late Tuesday afternoon.

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Lerner’s IRS ‘Admission’ Was A Planned Roll-Out

From US News & World Report:

Exclusive: Woman Who Asked IRS’s Lois Lerner Scandal-Breaking Question Details Plant

Lawyer says she was called directly by IRS official and given question

By Rebekah Metzler | May 17, 2013

The woman whose question prompted a top Internal Revenue Service official to admit the agency was inappropriately targeting conservative groups says she was contacted prior to the event that elicited the admission and was directed to ask the question.

Celia Roady, a prominent tax lawyer in the firm of Morgan Lewis, said she was called personally by Lois Lerner, the IRS head of the tax exempt division, on May 9.

"I received a call from Lois Lerner, who told me that she wanted to address an issue after her prepared remarks at the [American Bar Association] Tax Section’s Exempt Organizations Committee Meeting, and asked if I would pose a question to her after her remarks," Roady said in a statement to U.S.

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