An attorney whose law firm defends
liberty cases says it was satisfying to learn the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ)
has admitted wrongdoing by the Obama-era Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
announced Oct. 26th that the DOJ has settled lawsuits with conservative organizations
that claimed they were unfairly targeted by the IRS. In a statement, Sessions said it was “clear”
that the Obama Administration used “inappropriate criteria” to screen 501(c)
applications using words such as “Tea Party” and “Patriots.”
The allegations aren’t new. After first denying wrongdoing, the IRS
claimed it made innocent mistakes – but the DOJ’s actions vindicate claims that
the IRS “weaponized” itself, during the height of the tea party movement, to
single out and illegally scrutinize conservatives.
The press release went on to state
that 428 tea party members, from two groups, filed the class action lawsuit.
Carly Gammill, senior litigation
counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), tells OneNewsNow that ACLJ represents more
than 2-dozen tea party groups that were targeted. “We are thrilled,” she says, “that the Trump Administration
and the new attorney general, Sessions, has acknowledged what we’ve known for
quite some time has been going on.”
The IRS has admitted in federal court
that it wrongfully targeted right-wing organizations and is consenting to a
court order that prohibits unconstitutional discrimination in the future. Gammill says the Consent Order is designed to
send a clear message to any future administration. “If a different administration comes and
says, Hey, we really like what the IRS was doing under Obama and want to try it
again, you’ll have a court saying that’s unconstitutional and you can’t do it,”
she says.
However, Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL-R),
did not accept the apology from the IRS for targeting groups based their
political leanings. “Heads should roll
and people should be held accountable for this gross abuse of power,” Buchanan
(Chairman of the House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee) said in a press
release last week. “An apology five
years after the fact is not good enough. The American people need to know they can be
critical of their government without fear of retribution,” Buchanan said. The Republican lawmaker also urged the DOJ to
look again at criminal charges for Lois Lerner, a former IRS official.
The DOJ recently declined to charge Lerner,
saying that reopening that probe “would not be appropriate based on the
available evidence.” “Lerner betrayed
the nation’s trust yet managed to avoid prosecution,” Buchanan said in the
press release.
I don’t know about you, but I side
with Rep. Buchanan. IRS people like
Lerner should be held accountable and pay the consequences for their prejudicial
conduct.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
Absolutely people should be held accountable. The rest of us don't get to just say we're sorry and that's the end of it. If anything, government officials should be held to an even higher standard. It is because of this lack of accountability that people are losing all faith in the judicial system and government in general. When government breaks the law intended to protect the people someone should be in prison, such as Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Lois Lerner, and many many more.
ReplyDelete