General Discussion

Segami

(14,923 posts) Sat Feb 8, 2014, 03:12 PM Feb 2014

ISSA BUSTED For Secret Meetings with Stay-Behind IRS Inspector General. UPDATED Fed Complaint Filed

Two top Democrats on Tuesday accused House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) of orchestrating partisan meetings with the federal investigator who issued a scathing report last year on Internal Revenue Service actions. Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), both key Democrats on the panel, issued a letter to Treasury Department inspector general Russell George alleging that he held Republican-only meetings at Issa’s request. - WashingtonPost

We can't say Seymour Hersh didn't warn us. It's looking like the IRS Inspector General, J. Russell George, a Dubya appointee, is the ultimate stay-behind. In the middle of last year, he was caught meeting exclusively with Issa and his Goposaur gang to drum up phony IRS scandal claims. Well now, he's been caught doing the exact same thing, but regarding an IRS 'audit' of the Affordable Care Act. Thank goodness for Rep. Elijah Cummings and Rep. Gerald Connelly, who wrote the 'honorable' IRS IG a letter, which they cc'ed to Issa, and is posted:

February 4, 2014
The Honorable J. Russell George
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
U.S. Department of the Treasury
City Center Building
1401 H Street, NW, Suite 469
Washington, D.C. 20005

Dear Mr. Inspector General:

We are writing to object strongly to your office’s repeated partisan meetings with Chairman Darrell Issa and his staff after intentionally excluding Democratic Committee Members and staff—particularly regarding matters that currently are under active investigation by both your office and this Committee.

We have been informed that your staff held an in-person meeting with Republican Committee staff in their offices on January 27, 2014. During this meeting, your staff discussed substantive information about a new audit your office has initiated on data security issues relating to the Affordable Care Act. Your staff also discussed specific documents relating to this audit that your office has obtained as part of its review.

According to subsequent accounts from your office, Chairman Issa’s staff forbade you from including any Democratic Committee Members or staff in that meeting, and your staff accepted these terms without even informing my office. Democratic staff became aware of this meeting only after it occurred.

These private, partisan meetings undermine your obligation as an Inspector General to conduct audits and investigations in a balanced and non-partisan manner. Your actions cause observers to question whether the scope of your new audit on the Affordable Care Act is being inappropriately influenced by Chairman Issa and his staff, similar to the way they influenced the scope of your audit on IRS screening of applicants for tax-exempt status.

full letter:

http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/uploads/2014-02-04%20EEC%20and%20Connolly%20to%20TIGTA.pdf

Update 1:

Democratic Representatives Connolly and Cartwright have now filed a formal complaint against IG George with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. From The Washington Post:

Two House Democrats on Thursday called for an investigation of a federal auditor who accused the Internal Revenue Service of gross mismanagement and targeting advocacy groups for extra scrutiny based on their names and policy positions.
Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.) on Wednesday filed a complaint with a special watchdog council questioning the independence of Treasury Department inspector general J. Russell George.

The congressmen, both of whom serve as top Democrats on House oversight committees, said George produced a “fundamentally flawed performance audit” that was “incomplete” and “outright misleading.” They also alleged that he held briefings with Republican members of the House Oversight Committee without the knowledge of Democrats on the panel.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/02/07/two-democrats-call-for-investigation-of-irs-watchdog-who-led-targeting-probe/?tid=pm_politics_pop

Read the entire 22-page complaint here:

http://connolly.house.gov/uploads/Connolly-Cartwright%20Complaint%20-%20CIGIE%20-%2002%2005%202014.pdf

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/07/1275822/-Issa-Busted-for-Secret-Meetings-with-Stay-Behind-IRS-Inspector-General