Government Executive: GOP Tax Panel Chairmen Press for White House Emails in IRS Probe

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In a coordinated effort between House and Senate Republicans, the chairmen of the two tax committees on Wednesday asked the Internal Revenue Service commissioner for emails and other documents that might indicate sharing of private taxpayer information between the Internal Revenue Service and the White House.

 

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, cited an earlier White House “refusal” to respond in a March 4 letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

 

The notion that White House officials looked at private taxpayer returns is also at the heart of an ongoing legal battle between the nonprofit transparency group Cause of Action and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Nonprofit Quarterly: Missing Lerner Emails May Lead to Criminal Charges for Former IRS Chief

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In a Thursday evening meeting of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) J. Russell George told the committee that his office has been able to recover emails from more than 700 backup tapes secured from the IRS. In light of evidence that suggests some of the tapes may have been erased, and because it is unclear why the IRS delayed producing the tapes and asserted the data from the tapes was unrecoverable, the potential for criminal charges was mentioned…The IRS claims that it has cooperated in all investigations, producing more than 1 million pages of documents and almost 150,000 emails. However, many of the most important communications about Lerner’s conduct in the IRS scandal have come not from investigators and the IRS but as a result of nonprofit watchdog groups like Judicial Watch and Cause of Action submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to agencies other than the IRS—specifically, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the U.S. Justice Department/FBI.

Washington Examiner: Cause of Action presses IRS on taxpayer data shared with White House

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A government watchdog group fired another shot in its legal battle to obtain records of the unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information to White House officials when it filed a motion late Tuesday against the IRS inspector general. Cause of Action, a nonprofit oversight group, pressed the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on why it had cited a law written to protect taxpayers against the government in an attempt to instead protect the government against the taxpayers’ inquiry.

The Hill: Group files suit for IRS records

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A government oversight group on Tuesday filed a motion in federal court to force the Obama administration to release thousands of records linked to the IRS’s targeting of conservative-leaning groups. Cause of Action is seeking the enforcement of a prior court order requiring the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to produce more than 2,500 documents. The group argues that TIGTA continues to protect the White House by denying the disclosure of the records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Washington Free Beacon: Watchdog Group Asks Court to Force Release of Docs on IRS Targeting

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The watchdog group Cause of Action is asking a federal court to force the Obama administration to release thousands of documents related to the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups. Cause of Action asked a court in a motion filed Tuesday to compel the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to disclose roughly 2,500 documents related to unauthorized leaks of taxpayer information to White House officials.

 

Newsmax: Obama Administration Refuses to Release IRS Targeting Documents

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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.

 

Washington Free Beacon: Obama Admin Stonewalling FOIA Requests on IRS Scandal

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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.