Overnight thread – Long video but worth watching if you have time.
Judicial Watch hosted a panel at its headquarters discussing Hillary Clinton’s email scandal with Joseph E. diGenova (Founding Partner, diGenova & Toensing, LLP), Daniel J. Metcalfe (Adjunct Professor of Law, American University), and Paul Orfanedes (Director of Litigation, Judicial Watch). Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch’s president, moderator.
WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will not seek contempt charges against former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner for her refusal to testify before Congress, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
It has been nearly a year since the House voted to hold Lerner in contempt in a mostly party-line vote. At the time, the charges were referred to the local U.S. attorney. The Justice Department officially informed House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, of U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen’s decision in a letter sent to Boehner’s office Tuesday.
“A team of experienced career prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office was assigned to carefully assess the referral. After extensive analysis, the team concluded that the House Committee followed proper procedures in notifying Ms. Lerner that it had rejected her claim of a Fifth Amendment privilege and gave her an adequate opportunity to answer the Committee’s questions,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “However, the team also concluded that Ms. Lerner did not waive her Fifth Amendment privilege by making general claims of innocence. The Constitution would provide Ms. Lerner with an absolute defense if she were prosecuted for contempt.” (link)
As you read the following media report it is important to remember: ♦ Hillary Clinton has previously stated, unequivocally, that no classified communication traveled through her self-created personal communication network.
So what exactly is there to review? Either the U.S. government believes the statements by the Secretary of State to be true, or they do not.
Second, ♦ the government knowingly allowed the secret communication network to exist and allowed all the construction issues therein to take place. Therefore the burden of any administrative compliance issue should reside upon them to reconcile expeditiously.
(The Washington Times) The Obama administration told a federal court Monday that it needs “several months” more to go through former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s government emails, saying it’s proving time-consuming to sort out exactly what information they can release to the public,
Justice Department lawyers also bristled at accusations that the government perpetrated a fraud by hiding the existence of the emails, as Mr. Obama’s team begins to fully grapple with the legal complications Mrs. Clinton has left them. (more…)
Earlier today Democrat Senator Harry Reid (NV) announced his intentions not to seek re-election in 2016. Moments later Harry Reid announced his preferred selection for his replacement within Senate leadership, Chuck Schumer (NY).
WASHINGTON DC – Harry Reid endorsed Chuck Schumer to succeed him as Senate minority leader after he retires in 2016.
“I think Schumer should be able to succeed me,” the Nevada Democrat said about the New York Democrat in an interview Friday with the Washington Post.
Reid, 75, whose Senate career has spanned three decades, has led Senate Democrats since 1995. He announced Friday he would not seek re-election in 2016. (more…)
Yesterday the White House spokesperson Josh Earnest suggested that President Obama first knew of the existence of a secret Clinton email account after reading about it in the recent papers. Today President Obama confirmed that espousal:
In interview with @plantecbs, Pres Obama says he learned of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail use "the same time everybody else learned it."
Today, Politico is reporting the White House knew specifically about the email accounts in August of last year (2014), and the Clinton aides asked white house officials not to immediately act on anything:
(Politico) The White House, State Department and Hillary Clinton’s personal office knew in August that House Republicans had received information showing that the former secretary of state conducted official government business through her private email account — and Clinton’s staff made the decision to keep quiet.
Sources familiar with the discussions say key people in the Obama administration and on Clinton’s staff were aware that the revelation could be explosive for the all-but-announced candidate for president. But those involved deferred to Clinton’s aides, and they decided not to respond. (link)
Further in the Politico article it cites the timeline of August 2014 notification came as a result of the Select Committee on Benghazi and their inquires into communication within the State Dept. between Hillary and other officials. (more…)
Below you will find video of Attorney General Eric Holder delivering his outline and interpretation of two federal DOJ investigations. The first into Police Officer Darren Wilson regarding the shooting death of Mike brown. The second into the more broad issues around the Ferguson Police Department.
Regarding the investigation of Darren Wilson – AG Holder admits there was nothing found to identify any federal issue with the actions taken by Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Mike Brown.
To the contrary, Holder outlines there was NOTHING physically, forensically, or within the statements of reliable witnesses which would support the “hands up – don’t shoot” narrative sold by the media ad infinitum.
So how did they get it so wrong?
Attorney General Holder states as a result of the investigation the DOJ has found there was nothing even remotely accurate about how the shooting was originally reported in the media.
However, Holder transitions into investigation #2 by blaming, and more notably excusing, the disparity based on a toxic level of distrust amid the minority community which caused blacks to believe the outrageous claims put forth by paid professional racist organizers (ie. Anthony Shahid et al) who are active within the community.
The IRS inspector general, tasked with the internal IRS investigation, reveals to House Oversight Committee that the IRS withheld the documents showing the existence of the back-up tapes which contain internal IRS email communication, thought to contain the missing Lois Lerner emails.
The evidence so far showcases a chain of communication from the initial discussion with the Obama Administration toward the IRS and Dept of Justice.
As a result of that strategy planning, the DOJ and IRS formulated a plan to use 501(c)(4) applications and tax filings to pull out the attached “Schedule B’s” – which are the forms listing the groups sponsors (individuals and organizations).
Those “Schedule B” lists were then assembled into a SECRET TARGETING LIST. The DOJ then used the “targeting list” (the DOJ Secret Research List) to send forth various compliance and regulatory agencies to audit, review and inspect the activity of those on the list.
The regulatory agencies sent by the DOJ included: OSHA, ATF, FBI, EPA and Labor Dept. (perhaps more) who then put targeted individuals, groups and businesses through the rigorous inspection of regulation and compliance. In short the weaponization of government against them.
Regarding the ongoing IRS Lois Lerner email fiasco, the Inspector General is now reporting to congress that potential criminal activity might have occurred surrounding the email cover-up. Even CNN had to cover this one….
Washington (CNN)—The IRS watchdog investigating the disappearance of Lois Lerner’s emails told a congressional panel on Thursday night they are looking into possible criminal activity.
Lerner was the IRS official at the center of allegations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted tea party groups applying for nonprofit status. Congress requested Lerner’s emails from the IRS and agency officials told lawmakers an unknown number of emails had been lost when Lerner’s computer crashed.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has since recovered a number of those emails.
“There is potential criminal activity,” Treasury Deputy Inspector General Timothy Camus told the House Oversight Committee Thursday.
Camus did not elaborate on who may have committed possible criminal acts. (more…)
WASHINGTON DC – IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Wednesday that even illegal immigrants who didn’t pay taxes will be able to claim back-refunds once they get Social Security numbers under President Obama’s temporary deportation amnesty.
The revelation — which contradicts what he told Congress last week — comes as lawmakers also raised concerns Mr. Obama’s amnesty could open a window to illegal immigrants finding ways to vote, despite it being against the law. (more…)
Why? Simple, because the trail of the scheme’s origination begins with the White House officials brainstorming ideas of how to stop Tea Party groups from fighting back against the Obama agenda. That brainstorming led to IRS and DOJ officials creating the plan to use 501(c)(4) tax filing “schedule B’s” to create a list of people and groups. That massive “Schedule B” list of people and groups was then given to the DOJ who then weaponized various agencies to target the people on the “secret list” for regulatory review, compliance checks and random audits. This is what the White House is trying to cover up. This is what the IRS is desperate to cover up. This is what the DOJ is intent on covering up. WASHINGTON DC – The Obama administration is refusing to publicly release more than 500 documents on the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups.
Twenty months after the IRS scandal broke, there are still many unanswered questions about who was spearheading the agency’s scrutiny of conservative-leaning organizations.
The Hill sought access to government documents that might provide a glimpse of the decision-making through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. (more…)
