Read the full story: Newsmax
The Obama administration is refusing to release more than 500 documents related to the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups as investigations continue into the scandal, according to The Hill… TIGTA has come under fire in the past from outside groups for refusing to be forthcoming with other FOIA requests. Cause of Action, a nonprofit group, sued TIGTA after announcing in December that the agency refused to turn over more than 2,000 documents.
Read the full story: Washington Free Beacon
The Obama administration is refusing to release more than 500 documents to the Hill newspaper concerning the IRS targeting scandal, the paper reported Tuesday… As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, TIGTA has thwarted several other attempts to pry free more information on the IRS targeting scandal. TIGTA is blocking the release of roughly 2,500 documents related to its investigation sought by the watchdog group Cause of Action in a FOIA lawsuit.
Read the full story: The Hill
TIGTA’s FOIA practices have come under criticism before. In the fall of last year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia admonished the agency for its use of FOIA exemptions. Cause of Action, a nonprofit group that has sued TIGTA, announced in December that the agency declined to fork over more than 2,000 documents related to a FOIA request.
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.
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
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.
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.