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02/5/2015

Cause of Action’s Statement on Senate Judiciary Committee Passing FOIA Improvement Act

Dan Epstein, Executive Director of Cause of Action, released the following statement today after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the FOIA Improvement Act to the Senate floor.

For too long, Washington bureaucrats have taken advantage of loopholes in FOIA law to try and keep the public in the dark, so it’s encouraging to see the new Congress make reforming the system a top priority. Cause of Action has always believed in real and meaningful transparency reforms, and we hope that the actions of the Senate today and the House earlier this week are continued positive steps to that end.

Cause of Action signs letter in support of FOIA reform.

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01/30/2015

Washington Examiner: Cause of Action challenges attorney general’s official property seizure reform

Read the full story: Washington Examiner

Attorney General Eric Holder’s claim that a recent order would significantly reform property seizures is being disputed by a transparency advocacy group in a letter to a government watchdog.

Administrative forfeitures are increasing exponentially, and are the most popular form of seizure by a wide margin, said Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein in a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

This type of seizure allows the government to claim property, including an unlimited amount of money, vehicles of unlimited value or property worth up to $500,000 a legal conviction, according to Cause of Action.

The nonprofit found that from 2001 to 2011, 70 percent of all seized assets fell under administrative forfeitures.

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01/30/2015

Politico: Letters galore bring bad news for IRS

Read the full story: Politico

 

Senate Finance Republicans are demanding all White House communications with the IRS since 2010, curious about whether the White House asked for private taxpayer information as part of the IRS scandal. TIGTA has confirmed that it has investigated whether such information was unlawfully shared, but it will not release the findings of the probes because it says it would infringe on the privacy rights of taxpayers. Conservative group Cause of Action is suing the IRS right now to get this information. This letter shows that Hatch is ready to play hardball with the IRS investigation. Letter here: http://politico.pro/1zaTZU2

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01/30/2015

Newsmax: Senate GOP Requests Obama’s Emails in IRS Inquiry

Read the full story: Newsmax

Outside groups already have tried to get a look at communications between the White House and the IRS but have been largely unsuccessful, the Times said.

 

Specifically, Cause of Action, an interest group, has gone to court to try to force the agency’s inspector general to produce documents stemming from its investigation into White House-IRS communications, but the inspector general has refused, saying it would violate the privacy of taxpayers involved.

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01/29/2015

Cause of Action Calls on DOJ IG to Audit Forfeiture Programs

Attorney General Eric Holder’s asset forfeiture order applies to civil and criminal forfeiture. It does not, however, apply to administrative forfeiture, which generally allows law enforcement authorities to claim uncontested property without any judicial involvement. Such property can include currency of unlimited value, vehicles of unlimited value or other property with a value of up to $500,000.

After Cause of Action filed a FOIA request back in 2012, the Department of Justice notified us that administrative forfeitures are increasing exponentially, and are the most popular form of seizure by a wide margin. Following up on that, we found that from 2001-2011, 70 percent of all seized assets were processed as administrative forfeitures. That, according to a report done by a Justice Department IG. There is little reason to think the numbers for the last two years are any different.

In addition, Holder’s order is limited to adoptions, but public records show that these are the least-used method of asset forfeiture in DoJ’s asset forfeiture program. According to GAO, adoptions made up only about 17 percent of all equitable sharing payments as recently as 2010.

Our findings show that if this administration is serious about attempting such reform, the recently announced policy changes fall far short of the mark. The bottom line is that any serious effort to limit or end the practice of federal adoption of state and local seizures must include administrative forfeitures, which constitute the vast majority of such seizures.

Cause of Action Calls on DOJ IG to Audit Forfeiture Programs by Cause of Action

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01/29/2015

Washington Times: Senate GOP demands Obama turn over all communications with IRS

Read the full story: Washington Times

Outside groups already have tried to get a look at the communications between the White House and the IRS, though they have largely been unsuccessful.

Cause of Action, an interest group, has gone to court to try to compel the IRS‘ inspector general to turn over documents it has stemming from its investigation into White House-IRS communications. The inspector general says it has 2,500 pages of records from its investigation but can’t turn most of them over, saying it would violate the privacy of taxpayers involved.

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01/27/2015

Forbes: Enough Already On IRS Targeting! Maybe, But Whose Tax Returns Went To White House And Why?

Read the full story: Forbes

We wouldn’t know anything about this more debilitating scandal except for a lawsuit for transparency against this promised most transparent administration in history. A non-profit group, Cause of Action, began investigating whether the IRS was improperly sharing taxpayer information with the White House in 2012. Cause of Action filed a Freedom of Information Act request for any correspondence between the IRS and White House about tax returns for individuals or businesses. When the IRS refused the request, the group filed a lawsuit.

 

Having to sue sure doesn’t seem transparent, but it gets worse. There have been a number of allegations of politically motivated IRS leaks. But proving such a thing is difficult, particularly when even the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, TIGTA, errs on the side of keeping taxpayer information confidential. Even if the confidentiality law was broken, the theory goes, it would be breaking it again to reveal the confidences that were revealed to the White House in violation of the law.

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