The IRS knew one year ago they “inappropriately” targeted conservatives but hid that information until after the election

  The big news of the day to come out in the IRS hearing–aside from the claim that Lois Lerner might have accidentally waived her fifth amendment right–and I have a problem with this because a constitutional right is a constitutional right and the claim seems dubious to me although I am no lawyer–is the news that the IRS conducted their own internal investigation in May of last year and concluded they did “inappropriately” target conservative groups but did not bring it to anyone’s attention.

  The IRS knew months before the election the department was in error and nothing was said until they decided to preempt the Inspector General report which came out last week–months after the election when it was too late for these groups to participate in the election.

Rep. Darrel Issa, the committee’s chairman, said that the committee learned just yesterday that the IRS completed its own investigation a year before a Treasury Department Inspector General report was completed.

But despite the IRS recognizing in May 2012 that its employees were treating right-wing groups differently from other organizations, Issa said, IRS personnel withheld those conclusions from legislators.

‘Just yesterday the committee interviewed Holly Paz, the director of exempt organizations, rulings and agreements, division of the IRS,’ Issa said. ‘While a tremendous amount of attention is centered about the Inspector General’s report, or investigation, the committee has learned from Ms. Paz that she in fact participated in an IRS internal investigation that concluded in May of 2012 – May 3 of 2012 – and found essentially the same thing that Mr. George found more than a year later.’

‘Think about it,’ he continued: ‘For more than a year, the IRS knew that it had inappropriately targeted groups of Americans based on their political beliefs, and without mentioning it, and in fact without honestly answering questions that were the result of this internal investigation.’

  And on the heels of this comes a report which shows us that much like Fast and Furious this couldn’t have been the actions of rogue agents in the field:

When an application for tax exempt status comes into the IRS, agents have 270 days to work through that application. If the application is not processed within those 270 days it automatically triggers flags in the system. When that happens, individual agents are required to input a status update on that individual case once a month, every month until the case is resolved.

Keep in mind, at least 300 groups were targeted out of Cincinnati alone. Those applications spent anywhere from 18 months to nearly 3 years in the system and some still don’t have their non-profit status. 300 groups multiplied by at least 18 months for each group, means thousands of red flags would have been generated in the system. 

So who in the chain of command would have received all these flags? The answer, according to the IRS directory, one woman in Cincinnati, Cindy Thomas, the Program Manager of the Tax Exempt Division. Because all six of our IRS workers have different individual and territory managers, Cindy Thomas is one manager they all have common.

It turns out Cindy Thomas’ name is one we have heard before. The independent journalism group ProPublica says in November of 2012 they had requested information on conservatives groups that had received non-profit status. 

Cindy Thomas, says Swann, is the highest-ranking employee in the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Department in Cincinnati. 

  It is becoming all too clear that the IRS knew what it was doing was wrong but because they knew nothing would come out before the election they decided not to hide the results until after the election so today I stand with Massachusetts Democrat Stephen Lynch–the man who should have been the Democrats nominee to replace John Kerry in the special election next month–in stating the time is nigh for a special prosecutor to be appointed to the case.

One top Democrat breathed fire, warning that prosecutions could result.

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch said that if witnesses stonewalled the committee there would be legal consequences.

‘If you refuse to answer,’ Lynch said, ‘you will leave us no choice but to ask for a special counsel or the appointment of a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of this.’ 

‘I hope that’s not the approach of the IRS going forward,’he added. ‘Because there will be hell to pay.’

  This is an issue which should have voters on both sides of the aisle equally upset and it is great to see some Democrats at least paying lip service to the possibility of a special prosecutor, however actions speak louder than words and we will be watching to see if these Democrats put their money where their mouths are when it comes time to make that decision.