The IRS Is Not Off the Hook

These obfuscators count on it that readers of such headlines will remember the gist (“liberals targeted, too”) instead of carefully parsing what was said (and not said) and how it was said.

If a person reads only the headlines from these stories and none of the later “corrections”, if any, then the disinformation campaign has achieved its goal of obfuscating the truth and watering down the impact of the IRS scandal.

Do note their use of the word inappropriate.  This also suits the spin:   Targeting taxpayers for political reasons is far worse than inappropriate, but the media get their talking points from this administration; and they apparently believe that if they use such weasel words often enough, they can diminish the seriousness of any charge against the Obama administration.

Some mainstream media writers cleverly couched their stories, using phrases such as “seem to,” as in “seem to change the terms of a scandal that exploded over accusations that the I.R.S. had tried to stifle a nascent conservative political movement.”  Or “appeared to,” as in “appeared to back up contentions by I.R.S. officials and some Democrats that the agency did not intend to single out conservative groups for special scrutiny.”

The stories carefully omit the FACT that on the newly discovered Be On the Look Out list (BOLO) the word progressive was under a heading that reads “historical” (meaning, obsolete.  No longer in use.)

Despite yet another attempt by Democrats to spin the story (now claiming that Occupy groups were also flagged), the fact remains that the IRS targeted conservative groups. Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George affirms that no evidence was found (he looked) to indicate that progressive groups were subjected to the same onerous scrutiny as were conservative groups.  Nor were progressive applications subject to oversight from Washington D.C. or delayed for years.

There’s a distinct difference between being “flagged” and being “systematically targeted,” as pointed out by Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan.

Werfel came into office professing that he would clean up the IRS and restore the public trust.  Yet during a hearing on June 27, Werfel presented an “incomplete” report, which concluded

that politics didn’t play a role in the now-defunct practice of providing extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for a tax exemption.

Yet the IRS and the FBI had barely begun the investigation!  The report, according to Rep. Tim Griffin of Arkansas was designed to be nothing more than “political cover” for the Obama administration.

It is abundantly clear from Commissioner Werfel’s testimony that his 30-day review was more about offering political cover than providing the American people with facts on why folks were targeted because of their political beliefs.  Despite the fact that Mr. Werfel failed to interview key IRS officials at the center of the scandal – one of whom has already pleaded the fifth because of her involvement – his report boldly concludes that there was ‘no evidence of intentional wrongdoing’. 

Even more telling: out of all of the points made in his 83-page report, Mr. Werfel felt it important enough to highlight this erroneous conclusion when he personally briefed President Obama on the report before its release.  Mr. Werfel’s including this conclusion in the report is irresponsible and it underscores the need for further investigation and, ultimately, fundamental tax reform that will reduce the power of the IRS.

Exoneration first; “investigation” afterwards!

Werfel’s investigation remains incomplete, so members of Congress were rightfully outraged that he would issue a report basically exonerating the Obama administration, before the facts were in.  This is akin to issuing a verdict before the first witness is called to the stand!

The sole intent was to further a media meme that there’s nothing to see here, folks, MOVE ON.  The administration’s purpose was to give the media an excuse, any excuse, to run misleading headlines in order to leave a false impression in the minds of the public. In other words, it was a disinformation black propaganda operation.  An operation with which Mr. Whirl was totally on board.  Of course he was; he’s a political appointee!

Who is Danny Werfel? By all appearances, he is an Obama loyalist. Like [Rep. Elijah] Cummings, he has done his best to obstruct the investigation with diversionary falsehoods. The latest example is the report Werfel released this week finding no wrongdoing by the IRS. Werfel’s report, however, was “incomplete.” He is peddling rather obvious falsehoods, rather obviously designed to obscure the truth in the service of his political masters.

Werfel has a brief record of public service, all of it in the Obama administration. It may have been difficult to get a bead on him at the time of his entry onto the scene. In his short time at the IRS, however, Werfel has proved himself a weasel. That Obama has sent a factotum and fixer over to the agency is another sign of the gravity of the IRS scandals.

Werfel’s propaganda ploy resembles the very similar lame gambit that former IRS official Lois Lerner attempted, when she used a planted question to roll out the truth about this IRS scandal, in advance of the release of Inspector General George‘s report.  (Factoid: George once dated Michelle Obama.) Unfortunately for the Fifth-pleading Lerner, she’s not as good at the game, not as polished, as Mr. Whirl.

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This entry was posted in Corruption, Government Policies, Ideology, Investigations, Lawsuits, Most Corrupt Politicians, Scandals, Tea Partiers, UncleGate and tagged Alinsky, Austan Goolsbee, Barack Hussein Obama II, Bill Clinton, black propaganda, BOLO, Brandon Montgomery, Carter Hull, Chuck Grassley, Crossroads GPS, Daniel Werfel, Darrell Issa, Dave Camp, Douglas Shulman, Elijah Cummings, Elizabeth Hofacre, EOT, Frank L. VanderSloot, Group 7822, IRS scandal, ITINs, J. Russell George, Jack Lew, James Comey, JournOlist, Karl Rove, Lois Lerner, Malik Obama, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Nina Olson, NOM, Omar Obama, Steven Grodnitzky, Tea Party, Ted Cruz, Tim Griffin, Zeituni Obama. Bookmark the permalink.