Search Results for: IRS

Cause of Action in the News:

Government Exec – OMB Pressured to Invoke Bush Directive Banning Earmarks

The week Cause of Action has partnered with Demand Progress, another government watchdog, to petition the Office of Management and Budget to enforce an executive order that was put in place to protect taxpayers.  When looking into the discretionary spending of federal agencies, we discovered “that OMB’s current efforts to ensure that discretionary grant decision-making is transparent and merit-based are ineffective.”

Dan Epstein, Executive Director of Cause of Action, said the following about the matter: “Cause of Action’s research shows that for years, federal agencies have been ignoring a binding executive order designed to protect taxpayer dollars from being misused. Our organizations believe that Washington has a duty to the public to ensure that federal discretionary spending decisions are transparent and merit-based.”

In Other News:

Politico – Judges refuse to align Clinton email FOIA lawsuits

With almost 40 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits concerning Hillary Clinton’s private email server, the current administration had requested that they all be combined into one suit.  The federal court judges in charge of those cases have all denied the request.  Chief Judge Richard Roberts said “The judges who have been randomly assigned to these cases have been and continue to be committed to informal coordination so as to avoid unnecessary inefficiencies and confusion, and the parties are also urged to meet and confer to assist in coordination.”

Daily Signal – Audit: IRS Fails Transparency Test on Over 1 in 10 FOIA Requests

“Although the IRS properly released thousands of pages from these documents, taxpayer rights still may have been violated because some information was erroneously withheld.”  This was said in an audit that determined that 12.3 percent of the time the IRS failed to turn over Freedom of Information Act documents.  In addition, the audit also found that “eight cases we identified included improperly withheld information of examination and collection activity and other tax return information that the taxpayer or authorized Power of Attorney should have received.”

Washington Business Journal – DHS leads federal cybersecurity efforts, but will other agencies follow?

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that they will be using a private company Raytheon Co. to help with their cybersecurity.  They are the first government agency to adopt this method of protection for their IT environment.  Experts believe this shows us that the agencies themselves are unable to handle all of their cybersecurity without private sector assistance.

Washington Examiner – Attorney general blasts FBI leaks in Clinton email probe

Attorney General Loretta Lynch chastised the FBI for the anonymous leak of information regarding the FBI investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private server.  Since the leak, the FBI has confirmed an investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email. Attorney General Lynch said “I think leaks are detrimental to any matter, no matter what it is, no matter who is involved.”

Breitbart – REP. JIM JORDAN SAYS HOUSE WILL IMPEACH HEAD OF IRS

Representative Jim Jordan has claimed that IRS Commissioner John Koskinen will be impeached by the House this session.  The IRS has failed to be helpful and has in fact discouraged the investigations into the Tea Party scandal. “If we don’t hold some people accountable in the executive branch for the executive overreach we’ve seen in [the Obama] administration, then they’ll never get the message,” said Rep. Jordan about the issue.

Cause of Action in the News:

Politico – GOP senators want to talk to Clinton tech staffer’s boss

On Monday, Cause of Action sent a letter to the Inspector General of the State Department asking for an investigation into the off the books way Hillary Clinton paid for the management of her private server.  We aren’t the only ones trying to get to the bottom of this.  Two senators want to dig deeper into the staffer who was managing the server.  Hopefully, with all the pressure being applied to the State Department the American people will start to get some answers.

POGO – FOIA Fee Waivers Protected

The US Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with Cause of Action, confirming that federal agencies cannot use fees to prevent releasing documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act.  It was decided by the court that the only requirement for FOIA requests concerning the requester’s use of the documents is that they must “enlighten more than just the individual requester.”  This is great news for anyone who wants to see a more transparent federal government.

In Other News:

Washington Examiner – Email scandal defining Clinton campaign

When people think of Hillary Clinton they seem to focus in on one thing in particular, her email scandal.  In a Gallop poll, when asked about what sticks out when they read or hear about Hillary Clinton, of 750 adults “email” was mentioned 329 times in a few different ways including “email”, “email scandal” and “that email thing”.

Fox News – GOP lawmaker moves to impeach EPA chief McCarthy

Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar claims that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency lied to Congress.  He said “McCarthy not only broke the law by lying to Congress, but in doing so she also lied to the American people in order to force misguided and overreaching regulations, which have no scientific basis, down our throats.” Because of her perjury the Representative says that Administrator McCarthy should be impeached.

Forbes – IRS Gets Sued Over Bonuses To Lois Lerner

The IRS scandal continues.  Pleading the Fifth, missing email, fake email accounts have all been a part of the drama that has been plaguing the IRS.  Now they have a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act on their hands over bonuses they gave out right after the nonprofit targeting became public knowledge.  Of the $70 million in bonuses given out Lois Lerner received $42,000.

Daily Caller – Hillary Clinton Emails Have A FIVE-Month Gap

After testifying that she had turned over all required emails, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have missed a couple months.  There have been claims that there were five months of emails missing from what was turned over by Mrs. Clinton.  The State Department has responded to those claims saying that there aren’t any gaps, those documents just haven’t been released yet and will be released in the future.

Cause of Action in the News:

Forbes – Court Orders IRS To Reveal White House Requests About Taxpayers

Cause of Action won a major victory for the American people and their right to know what is going on in their government.  A federal judge has ruled that the IRS cannot use taxpayer privacy laws to cover up activity that harms those taxpayers.  The IRS must now go through the records it previously refused to release.

Wall Street Journal – Miles From Nowhere (An update on the IRS scandal.)

A lawsuit by Cause of Action has led to a court ruling require the IRS to go through documents it had previously refused claiming it violated taxpayer confidentiality laws.  The documents they must search include “any communications by or from anyone in the Executive Office of the President constituting requests for taxpayer or ‘return information’ ”.  Hopefully, this ruling will help us to shed some light onto “the most transparent administration in history.”

In Other News:

The Hill – 7,000 pages of Clinton emails released

After a court order, the State Department released 7,000 more pages of Hillary  Clinton emails. Over 100 have already been identified as containing classified information, although the State Department claims they were not marked as classified when they were sent.  Several of these emails contain information about former secretary of state Clinton’s work with foreign governments.

Politico – Ex-Clinton staffer who set up email server to invoke Fifth Amendment

An ex-Clinton staffer is following in the steps of Lois Lerner.  Bryan Pagliano has been subpoenaed by the House Benghazi Committee to testify about his role in the setup of Hillary Clinton’s personal server and turn over any related documentation.  His attorney has asked that they excuse Pagliano from testifying and informed the committee that Pagliano will plead the fifth and has refused to turn over any documents.

The Hill – Congress should protect small business from IRS overreach

As the power of the IRS grows, small businesses and non-profits have continued to suffer. The IRS has used audits as more of a weapon then as an independent inspection.  The IRS has also been forcing companies to turn over a great deal of personal information, which according to tax law is not necessary. Congress needs to step in and protect the American people from the long arm of the IRS.

Wall Street Journal – The EPA’s Next Big Economic Chokehold (Lowering ozone—from cars, trucks, factories and power plants—in the name of an imaginary health benefit.)

Without any scientific research, the EPA has claimed that reducing ground level ozone with reduce the instance of asthma.  This is a very expensive regulation, monetarily and for jobs, with nothing backing it up.  The reduction will have a direct impact with the EPA saying ozone must be reduced from “automobiles, trucks, buses, factories, power plants” and “consumer products.” This overreach will have a direct impact on the everyday lives of Americans.