White House, IRS exchanged confidential taxpayer info

Top Internal Revenue Service Obamacare official Sarah Hall Ingram discussed confidential taxpayer information with senior Obama White House officials, according to 2012 emails obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and provided to The Daily Caller.

Lois Lerner, then head of the IRS Tax Exempt Organizations division, also received an email alongside White House officials that contained confidential information.

Ingram attempted to counsel the White House on a lawsuit from religious organizations opposing Obamacare’s contraception mandate. Email exchanges involving Ingram and White House officials — including White House health policy advisor Ellen Montz and deputy assistant to the president for health policy Jeanne Lambrew — contained confidential taxpayer information, according to Oversight.

The emails provided to Oversight investigators by the IRS had numerous redactions with the signifier “6103.”

Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code forbids a federal employee from “disclos[ing] any return or return information obtained by him in any manner in connection with his service as such an officer or an employee.”

Federal employees who illegally disclose confidential taxpayer information could face five years in prison.

“Thanks, David. Thanks for the information on [6103],” White House official Lambrew wrote to IRS official David Fish in a July 20, 2012 exchange. “I am still hoping to understand whether the 50 percent rule is moot if the organization does not offer goods and services for sale to the general public. Do we assume that organizations like [6103] do offer goods and services for sale?”

Another email from Montz to Ingram and others refers to the “[6103] memo” and the “[6103] letter” while discussing organizations that are not required to file 990′s.

Ingram appeared before Rep. Darrell Issa’s House Oversight Committee Wednesday and claimed she could not recall a document that contained confidential taxpayer information.

“Well one of the areas of interest is there’s a significant redaction that quotes the statute 6103. Do you know who is underneath that blackout?” Issa asked Ingram.

“I don’t recall the document so I can’t help you with what’s underneath that redaction,” Ingram said.

“Her response has not put concerns to rest,” Oversight staffer Hill said. ”This caught people’s eye.”

Issa has requested unredacted copies of the emails, citing a prohibition from misusing Section 6103 “for the purpose of concealing information from a congressional inquiry.”

Ingram headed the scandal-ridden IRS office responsible for overseeing tax-exempt nonprofit groups before leaving to head the agency’s office in charge of Obamacare implementation.

An IRS voice mail message declined to comment on any media inquiries during the government shutdown, citing law.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/09/w...ged-confidential-taxpayer-info/#ixzz2hFZM1nlz

 

I had a lot of problems with the old independent prosecutor law, but I never denied there were situations that would warrant it. This is clearly one of them. We have a pretty obvious case of political direction and interaction between the WH and IRS concerning administration enemies. We had the Tea Party scandal. Now this. What else is rotting out of view?

The idea that the only problem was a few misdirected or overly enthusiastic rogue employees is now thoroughly discredited.

George Bush appointed an independent counsel over a made up scandal involving a CIA desk jockey and her publicity seeking husband. Still, we had this zealot prosecutor running around trying to ruin peoples' lives, even after he found out there was no criminality involved.

This however is a real scandal striking at the heart of our constitutional system. Democrats made a huge stink over Nixon allegedly using the IRS to punish enemies, although there was no evidence it actually happened. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

 

this is incredible abuse

there should be no private communications between the IRS and the white house or any politicians for that matter.

the obamacare thing is nuts.

 

The IRS also:

hid Saddam's WMD's
helped DB Cooper go into hiding
hid the alien bodies from the Roswell crash site
killed Vince Foster
buried Jimmy Hoffa at Giants Stadium
shot down Amelia Earhart because they believed she would never return to pay back taxes

 

Is stupid the only thing you know how to post?

 

IRS, White House officials that shared confidential taxpayer info had 155 White House meetings

Embattled IRS official Sarah Hall Ingram made 155 visits to the White House to meet with a top Obama White House official with whom she exchanged confidential taxpayer information over email.

Of Ingram’s 165 White House meetings with White House staff, a staggering 155 of them were hosted by deputy assistant to the president for health policy Jeanne Lambrew, according to a June Watchdog.Org analysis of White House visitor records.

Ingram exchanged confidential taxpayer information with Lambrew and White House health policy advisor Ellen Montz, according to 2012 emails obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (RELATED: White House, IRS exchanged confidential taxpayer info)

The White House recently took down visitor logs recording details of these meetings, citing the government shutdown.

Ingram headed the scandal-plagued IRS office that oversaw tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012, when she left to take over the IRS office in charge of Obamacare implementation.

Former IRS Exempt Organizations division director Lois Lerner, who apologized for improperly scrutinizing tax-exempt applications of conservative groups between 2010 and 2012, also received an email alongside Ingram, Lambrew and Montz that contained confidential information.

In 2012, Ingram attempted to counsel the White House on a lawsuit from religious organizations opposing Obamacare’s contraception mandate.

The emails provided to Oversight investigators by the IRS had numerous redactions with the signifier “6103.”

Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code forbids a federal employee from “disclos[ing] any return or return information obtained by him in any manner in connection with his service as such an officer or an employee.”

The “6103″ signifiers were repeatedly added to the emails in instances in which the officials were referring to the names of groups or organizations, according to a reading of the redacted emails.

Federal employees who illegally disclose confidential taxpayer information could face five years in prison.

The IRS does not respond to press inquiries during the government shutdown, citing law.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/10/i...o-had-155-white-house-meetings/#ixzz2hPk6CDIz

 

And who exactly in the republican leadership seems to even give a crap about this? No one from what I can tell.

They're too busy plotting to undermine the Tea Party and sneak amnesty though.

If this was Bush, every prominent dem would be wailing to the press and the media would be demanding impeachment. Dems and the media would be demanding appointment of a special prosecutor, which of course wimpy republicans would go along with.

I would say it's a double standard, but I can't because the republicans are not making an issue of any of this. They don't really care if the IRS came down on the Tea Party. Some of them no doubt wish the IRS had done a better job of snuffing them out.