Lois Lerner’s Blackberry was intentionally destroyed after Congress had begun its probe into IRS targeting of conservative groups, a senior IRS lawyer acknowledged in a sworn declaration. Thomas Kane, Deputy Assistant Chief Counsel for the IRS, wrote in the declaration, part of a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch against the IRS, that the Blackberry was "removed or wiped clean of any sensitive or proprietary information and removed as scrap for disposal in June 2012." That date - June 2012 - is significant because by that time, ex-IRS official Lerner had already been summoned before congressional staffers who interviewed her about reports of the IRS' targeting of conservative groups. "We had already talked to her. Our personal staff and Oversight Committee staff had sat down with Ms. Lerner and confronted her about information we were getting from conservative groups in the state of Ohio and around the country," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News. "If you intentionally destroy evidence, that is a crime. If you make a statement in court saying the evidence is not available and it is, that is also a crime," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice. The IRS did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. News of the Blackberry's destruction followed Monday’s statement by Judicial Watch that Justice Department attorneys said in a Friday phone call the federal government backs up all computer records to ensure continuity of government in event of a catastrophe, but retrieving the Lerner emails would simply be "too onerous." An administration official told Fox News Monday night that Judicial Watch misinterpreted the Friday phone call. "There was no new back-up system described last week to Judicial Watch," he said. "Government lawyers who spoke to Judicial Watch simply referred to the same email retention policy that Commissioner (John) Koskinen had described in his Congressional testimony." But Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who represents other conservative groups suing the IRS, cited a whistleblower who bolsters Judicial Watch's interpretation. "I received information from a former Department of Homeland Security official who had security clearances. He just retired in April," Mitchell said. "He contacted me and he contacted Judicial Watch and some members of Congress and said there is backup material." The dueling versions are not likely to sit well with District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is presiding over Judicial Watch’s lawsuit against the IRS. "He gave the IRS not one, but two opportunities in court filings with him to tell him where they were," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. "There was no mention of this backup system to the court at that time." According to Sidney Powell, author of "Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice," Sullivan is known to scold government lawyers who withhold evidence. Powell said Sullivan appointed an independent counsel to investigate DOJ's prosecution of now deceased Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.Sullivan described the Stevens prosecution as "the worst case of misconduct he'd seen in 25 years." Sullivan also said, "When government does not meet its obligations to turn over evidence, the system falters." http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ly-destroyed-after-start-congressional-probe/
I will be interesting to see if the judge orders the IRS to retrieve the data and turn everything over at this point (no idea why that hasn't happened as of yet - seems obvious to me).
'Fake' IRS scandal spawns real coverup: Column James S. Robbins10:10 a.m. EDT August 29, 2014 Lost email, hard-drive crashes, recycled computers, destroyed Blackberry no coincidence. 127TWEET 9LINKEDIN 110COMMENTEMAILMORE President Obama regularly claims that he oversees the most honest and transparent administration in history. But when it comes to Congressional investigators looking into the IRS scandal and other issues, it is funny how often the administration hits the delete button. The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch revealed this week that IRS Deputy Assistant Chief Counsel Thomas Kane admitted that disgraced former official Lois Lerner's government-issued Blackberry was "wiped clean" and "removed as scrap for disposal" in June 2012. This took place after Congress had opened an investigation into Lerner's role in using the IRS to target conservative nonprofit groups. For a scandal that is frequently derided as "fake," it is amazing how often real evidence disappears. The disappearing act is so frequent, it is reasonable to wonder whether it is really a systematic attempt to destroy evidence of abuse of power. Explanations regarding Lerner's thousands of missing emails have always been hard to swallow. The initial story was that the records were accidentally lost when Lerner's desktop computer crashed. But given the nature of networked and cloud computing, as well as government requirements for redundant email backup systems, this account never made sense. It was also curious that the emails were only lost in the specific timeframe of the investigation, and that Lerner's hard drive had hastily been destroyed. When more than a dozen other IRS officials whose emails were being sought suffered similar computer failures and hard drive recycling, and backup tapes were either missing, written-over or deleted. This inadvertent, accidental destruction of evidence is so thorough that the House Armed Services Committee asked the Defense Department to scour the files of the NSA in hopes that maybe the emails would turn up there. Last month Federal Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered IRS officials to explain under oath what had been done to find the emails and to make clear why they were missing. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress he had "moved heaven and Earth" trying to find the lost Lerner emails. But now comes word that the missing records may in fact exist, deep in a secretive government database established for continuity of operations in case of an attack or other disaster. However, a Justice Department attorney looking into the matter said that the files are "too hard" to retrieve, as though agents would be sorting through an endless "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -style warehouse. Though this latest revelation is now disputed, it is hard to credit official explanations when problems at the IRS are hardly isolated. Other agencies under investigation are suffering similar technical difficulties. The Environmental Protection Agency claimed that emails being sought by Congressional investigators went missing due to a computer crash affecting the very employee under investigation. And administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Marilyn Tavenner told Congress that she regularly zapped emails to keep her inbox tidy, but only after forwarding copies to subordinates for filing. This was before a message turned up from Tavenner on handling Obamacare problems in which recipients were instructed, "please delete this email." To believe that the IRS scandal is the creation of President Obama's political opponents you have to believe an amazing series of events is just coincidence. That takes a more partisan cast of mind than to wonder whether this might be circumstantial evidence of a desperate effort to obstruct justice. James S. Robbins, author of The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero, is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
Not even a smidgen IRS SAYS IT HAS LOST EMAILS FROM 5 MORE EMPLOYEES WASHINGTON (AP) -- The IRS says it has lost emails from five more workers who are part of congressional investigations into the treatment of conservative groups that applied for tax exempt status. The tax agency said in June that it could not locate an untold number of emails to and from Lois Lerner, who headed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. The revelation set off a new round of investigations and congressional hearings. On Friday, the IRS said it has also lost emails from five other employees related to the probe, including two agents who worked in a Cincinnati office processing applications for tax-exempt status. The agency blamed computer crashes for the lost emails. In a statement, the IRS said it found no evidence that anyone deliberately destroyed evidence.
Any half-competent prosecutor could get to the bottom of this in a few weeks. You drag in the low level people, the IT workers and tax auditors and grill them. Then you offer them immunity if they roll over. Some will. The ones who won't, you put in front of a grand jury. If they refuse to testify, you fire them from government service. You move up the chain of command, getting ever closer to obama. Even if you never nail him, you will put Lerner and maybe the ex-Commissioner in jail. Instead, we get Holder sending half the Justice Department to Ferguson to investigate a local incident. We know if the parties were reversed, the media would have been demaning action for months, congress would have staged multiple, high profile hearings with wall to wall coverage and impeachment proceedings would be well along. The timid republicans just want it all to go away so they can get back to selling us out on amnesty.
what is your problem with amnesty? We have 13 million illegal immigrants living in the shadow. Somehow, they have lived without getting into any trouble with the law. More than I can say for myself. As far as I am concerned, that's good enough to prove you have what it takes to be a U.S. citizen. How does it help me to keep them illegal? All they do is work under the table and depress wages. Make them legal and start paying taxes and they can bitch like the rest of us. Just more citizens on our side.