Emails were released today that show how the DOJ and the IRS were beginning to work together to prosecute conservative groups who they suggest lied about political activity. The idea was born in a public hearing by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse who wanted to know if the DOJ was considering prosecutions of these groups that were being targeted who had lied. The DOJ then contacted the IRS to begin to get data on these groups. This culminated just 2 days before Lois Lerner apologized for targeting conservative groups.
Watch:
How can Boehner resist appointing a special prosecutor at this point? He simply must do it.
But wait, there’s more to this:
FOX NEWS – In another email, Lerner discussed with agency staffers the purpose of an upcoming, April 9 2013, hearing that also suggests the targeting went beyond the IRS.
“There are several groups of folks from the [Federal Election Commission] world that are pushing tax fraud prosecution for c4s who report they are not conducting political activity when they are (or these folks think they are),” she wrote.
“One is my ex-boss Larry Noble (former General Counsel at the FEC), who is now president of Americans for Campaign Reform. This is their latest push to shut these down. One IRS prosecution would make an impact and they wouldn’t feel so comfortable doing the stuff. So, don’t be fooled about how this is being articulated — it is ALL about 501(c)(4) orgs and political activity.”
“One IRS prosecution would make an impact.” Yep. So the idea wasn’t necessarily to prosecute en masse, but to scare other conservative groups.
Bryan Preston wrote a fantastic piece on this that is a MUST READ called The Terrifying Implications of the IRS Abuse-DOJ Connection. Go read it now.