ACLJ lawsuit against IRS swells to 41 conservative groups

The American Center for Law and Justice Tuesday added 16 additional tea party and conservative groups to their original 25 organization lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service — bringing the number of groups in their court challenge to 41.

“The floodgates opened after we filed our initial lawsuit,” ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow said. “We have been contacted by many additional organizations that have been unlawfully targeted by the IRS — revealing that this unconstitutional scheme was pervasive and damaging to our clients.”

ACLJ is arguing that the IRS unfairly targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny, delaying applications, making “unconstitutional” requests for information such as donor lists, Internet passwords and user names, copies of social media activities and the political activities of family members.

Of the now 41 groups 19 of the organizations received their tax-exempt status after long delays, 17 are still waiting, and 5 withdrew due to frustration over the process.

ACLJ believes the Obama administration, by targeting these groups violated First and Fifth Amendment of the Constitution as well as the the Administrative Procedure Act, and the rules and regulations governing the IRS. They are seeking injunctive relief to protect their clients from retaliation as well as compensatory and punitive monetary damages.

A pro-life group is among the groups added to the suit today. AMEN (Abortion Must End Now) of Yuma, Arizona received a letter from the IRS in October of 2010 questioning whether their goals to educate about the effects of abortion would be acceptable. The group’s tax-exempt application is still pending.

“Now we have evidence that the IRS is somehow uniquely qualified to make a determination about content and regulate how a pro-life organization can explain its mission and beliefs,” Sekulow said of the IRS’ questions to AMEN. “Imagine the outcry if Planned Parenthood or NARAL was subjected to this abuse. This is another blatant example of an IRS out of control — an agency that embraces unlawful and unconstitutional conduct.”

Another group added to the complaint, the Arlington Tea Party of Arlington, Texas, received an IRS request for a “a temporary Username and Password that we could use to review your organization’s website” as well as print outs of its social media pages, fundraising solicitations, workshop materials, and handouts.

The group applied for tax-exempt status in 2011.They are still waiting for approval.


SOURCE http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/25/aclj-lawsuit-against-irs-swells-to-41-conservative-groups/

FBI hasn’t contacted a single tea party group in IRS probe, groups say

There is no evidence that the FBI has contacted a single tea party group in its criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service, according to the groups the IRS abused.

“We have not been contacted by any federal investigative agency and, to date, none of our clients have been contacted or interviewed by the FBI,” Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice told The Daily Caller on Thursday. The ACLJ has filed suit against the IRS on behalf of 25 conservative groups, with additional groups being added in the next couple weeks, according to a spokesman.

“I have been very surprised that I have not heard from anybody and frankly, none of my clients have. I talk to other tea party leaders on a regular basis,” said Cleta Mitchell, the lawyer largely credited with pushing the IRS abuses to the forefront.

“It’s been a month and I can’t see any evidence of an investigation of the IRS,” Mitchell told TheDC Thursday. She represents nine tea party groups targeted by the IRS.

Tea Party Patriots — a group with thousands of local chapters — “has not been contacted by the FBI” either, according to Jameson Cunningham, the group’s spokesman.

The revelation suggests that the FBI is in no hurry to get to the bottom of the scandal, despite the Obama administration’s promise to investigate the IRS’s multi-year abuse of conservative groups.

“Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it,” Obama said in a White House statement on May 15. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives.”

Attorney General Eric Holder promised in mid-May that the FBI would get to the bottom of the IRS’s behavior by opening a criminal investigation.

“I can assure you and the American people that we will take a dispassionate view of this,” Holder told congressional investigators on May 15. “This will not be about parties, this will not be about ideological persuasions. Anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable.”

But in separate testimony before congressional investigators Thursday, FBI Director Robert Mueller seemed completely unaware of the progress of any such investigation.

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan lit into Mueller for his lack of knowledge during a House judiciary committee hearing.

“This is the most important issue in front of the country in the last six weeks, and you don’t know who the lead investigator is?” Jordan asked, sounding shocked.

“At this juncture, no I do not,” Mueller responded.

“Do you know if you’ve talked to any of the victims?” Jordan went on. “Have you talked to any of the groups that were targeted by their government? Have you met with any of the tea party groups since May 14, 2013?”

“I don’t know what the status of the interviews are by the team that’s on it,” Mueller said.

Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, the FBI’s Washington, D.C. press office transferred TheDC to a long-ringing phone line and eventually hung up.


SOURCE

Dick Durbin: No regrets sending IRS after conservative group

On Sunday's edition of Fox News Sunday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., defended his decision to send the IRS after Crossroads GPS, a conservative group co-founded by Karl Rove, in 2010, The Hill reported.

Durbin told Wallace the reason he singled out Crossroads while not mentioning any liberal group is because the organization was bragging about how much money they were raising.

"Let's get back to the basics," he said. "Citizens United really unleashed hundreds if not thousands of organizations seeking tax-exempt status to play in political campaigns. The law we wrote as Congress said that they had to exclusively be engaged in social welfare and not politics and campaigning. And, so, here is the IRS trying to decide whether or not these organizations really comply with the law. Crossroads was exhibit A. They were boastful about how much money they were going to raise and beat Democrats with."

Durbin said he didn't target liberal groups because he believed that an investigation of Crossroads would serve as a warning shot to all organizations.

“There is no basis for targeting within the IRS. What we basically need to say is all groups need to have the law applied to them equally,” he said.

But a 2010 Politico report said Durbin's request "comes in the midst of a push from the White House to cast doubt on the funding sources of groups like Crossroads GPS — founded by GOP strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie — or the traditionally Republican-friendly Chamber of Commerce."

As it turns out, the IRS targeted some 500 conservative groups, and despite claims by the White House, at least two dozen conservative groups say the harassment is continuing.

“Without question, the IRS misconduct of harassing and abusing our clients was still in high gear from May 2012 through May of this year. . . . To suggest this tactic ended a year ago is not only offensive, but it is simply inaccurate as well,” said Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice.

According to a report at the National Review Online, Cleta Mitchell, the attorney representing True the Vote, has evidence that many of the “dozens, if not hundreds” of conservative groups still waiting for approval received additional reams of invasive questions in the fall of 2012 and later.

Ian Tuttle said that Sekulow Sekulow “plans to file suit in federal court in the coming weeks on behalf of more than two dozen conservative groups that claim their harassment at the hands of the nation’s tax authority continued long past the White House’s purported end date.”

Related:

•     National Review: IRS actions may have suppressed conservative vote in 2012
•     Dems twist New York Times story to smear Tea Party members as Nazis
•     Pattern of abuse? Lois Lerner's FEC grilled Oliver North about prayer
•     IRS official: 'I have not done anything wrong,' invokes Fifth Amendment
•     IRS targets Christian groups, demands content of prayers
•     Armed Homeland Security agents monitor Tea Party at IRS protests
•     Retired Army officer warns: DHS preparing for war against American citizens
•     Jay Carney to Piers Morgan: Scandals involving IRS, Benghazi, AP 'don't exist'
•     Limbaugh: Obama administration operating like 'banana republic-type government'
•     Obama Executive Order would seize US infrastructure, citizens for nat'l defense
•     Liberal Daily Kos diarist calls for 'benevolent' Obama dictatorship
•     Anonymous IRS official: 'Everything comes from the top'
•     Flashback: Chuck Schumer, Al Franken sign letter demanding IRS target Tea Party groups in 2012
•     NAACP chair: Legitimate for IRS to target 'admittedly racist' Tea Party
•     Is the ‘mainstream media’ fomenting violence against conservatives?

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SOURCE http://www.examiner.com/article/dick-durbin-no-regrets-sending-irs-after-conservative-group

Jay Sekulow: The IRS Is Out of Control

It’s a reprehensible breach of trust. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) admits to targeting conservative groups. Unbelievable.

We represent 27 tea party groups targeted by the IRS. We got involved after the IRS launched an effort to intimidate tea party organizations by demanding information that is outside the scope of legitimate inquiry and violated the First Amendment. The IRS demanded that groups reveal the internal workings of their organizations—including the identification of members, how they are selected, with whom they associate and even what they discuss.

Early in my career I served as a trial lawyer with the Office of the Chief Counsel for the IRS. And what is absolutely clear to me is that many of the questions asked of our clients were simply inappropriate. A sampling of the problematic questions is posted here.

Of the 27 groups we represent at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), 15 have been granted tax-exempt status by the IRS, 10 are still pending before the IRS, and two other organizations withdrew their applications due to frustration with the IRS process.

What is most troubling is the IRS assertion that this intimidation tactic originated in the Cincinnati office by a couple of rogue employees. Nonsense. That narrative doesn’t square with the facts.

The fact is that the ACLJ’s clients have received letters from Cincinnati, but also from two offices in California—El Monte and Laguna Niguel—as well as the national office in Washington, D.C. In fact, the Washington office sent a letter to one of our clients as recently as one month ago.

We now know this coordinated intimidation scheme went beyond tea party groups to include Jewish organizations and even groups that discuss the Constitution.

The targeting scheme employed by the IRS not only violates its own rules and regulations but is certain to result in a growing mistrust of the IRS by the American people.

First, by singling out tea party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents violated the IRS mission to operate with integrity and fairness.

Second, by singling out tea party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents violated the requirement to act impartially.

And third, by singling out tea party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents engaged in dishonest, notoriously disgraceful conduct. The same can be said of IRS leaders who knew of but failed to rein in such biased, politically motivated conduct, thereby allowing the politicization of the IRS. Each such action was prejudicial to the government and impacted negatively the reputation of the IRS.

It is no wonder that, in light of the open and notorious politicization of the IRS vis-a-vis tea party and other conservative groups, many Americans view with outright alarm the called-for expansion of the IRS to implement the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Agencies like the IRS must be scrupulously apolitical to retain the confidence and trust of the American people.

With respect to its treatment of tea party and other conservative groups, the IRS failed miserably. The growing mistrust of the IRS is the inevitable (and totally understandable) result of its unwise actions.

The IRS must be held accountable for this dishonest and notoriously disgraceful conduct. The resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller does not solve any of the problems of this tainted and politically driven agency.

The American people and our clients deserve much more.

There are many questions that President Obama has failed to address, including why his attorney general is heading up this investigation. The fact is that an independent counsel needs to be appointed—with no ties or allegiance to this president.

The IRS scheme to target conservative groups because of their thoughts and ideological positions is both unconscionable and intolerable. It is also actionable.

We continue to move forward in preparing a federal lawsuit on behalf of our clients—a complaint that could be filed as early as next week.

Jay Sekulow is chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice.


SOURCE http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39515-jay-sekulow-the-irs-is-out-of-control

Jay Sekulow: The IRS Is Out of Control

It’s a reprehensible breach of trust. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) admits to targeting conservative groups. Unbelievable.

We represent 27 tea party groups targeted by the IRS. We got involved after the IRS launched an effort to intimidate tea party organizations by demanding information that is outside the scope of legitimate inquiry and violated the First Amendment. The IRS demanded that groups reveal the internal workings of their organizations—including the identification of members, how they are selected, with whom they associate and even what they discuss.

Early in my career I served as a trial lawyer with the Office of the Chief Counsel for the IRS. And what is absolutely clear to me is that many of the questions asked of our clients were simply inappropriate. A sampling of the problematic questions is posted here.

Of the 27 groups we represent at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), 15 have been granted tax-exempt status by the IRS, 10 are still pending before the IRS, and two other organizations withdrew their applications due to frustration with the IRS process.

What is most troubling is the IRS assertion that this intimidation tactic originated in the Cincinnati office by a couple of rogue employees. Nonsense. That narrative doesn’t square with the facts.

The fact is that the ACLJ’s clients have received letters from Cincinnati, but also from two offices in California—El Monte and Laguna Niguel—as well as the national office in Washington, D.C. In fact, the Washington office sent a letter to one of our clients as recently as one month ago.

We now know this coordinated intimidation scheme went beyond tea party groups to include Jewish organizations and even groups that discuss the Constitution.

The targeting scheme employed by the IRS not only violates its own rules and regulations but is certain to result in a growing mistrust of the IRS by the American people.

First, by singling out tea party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents violated the IRS mission to operate with integrity and fairness.

Second, by singling out tea party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents violated the requirement to act impartially.

And third, by singling out tea party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents engaged in dishonest, notoriously disgraceful conduct. The same can be said of IRS leaders who knew of but failed to rein in such biased, politically motivated conduct, thereby allowing the politicization of the IRS. Each such action was prejudicial to the government and impacted negatively the reputation of the IRS.

It is no wonder that, in light of the open and notorious politicization of the IRS vis-a-vis tea party and other conservative groups, many Americans view with outright alarm the called-for expansion of the IRS to implement the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Agencies like the IRS must be scrupulously apolitical to retain the confidence and trust of the American people.

With respect to its treatment of tea party and other conservative groups, the IRS failed miserably. The growing mistrust of the IRS is the inevitable (and totally understandable) result of its unwise actions.

The IRS must be held accountable for this dishonest and notoriously disgraceful conduct. The resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller does not solve any of the problems of this tainted and politically driven agency.

The American people and our clients deserve much more.

There are many questions that President Obama has failed to address, including why his attorney general is heading up this investigation. The fact is that an independent counsel needs to be appointed—with no ties or allegiance to this president.

The IRS scheme to target conservative groups because of their thoughts and ideological positions is both unconscionable and intolerable. It is also actionable.

We continue to move forward in preparing a federal lawsuit on behalf of our clients—a complaint that could be filed as early as next week.

Jay Sekulow is chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice.


SOURCE http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39515-jay-sekulow-the-irs-is-out-of-control

Group to file suit in federal court over IRS targeting

The American Center for Law and Justice expects to file suit in federal court over the targeting of fourteen of its clients by the IRS soon.

Jay Sekulow, ACLJ chief counsel, told The Daily Caller Wednesday he expects to file suit next week and has a team of lawyers working on the issue.

ACLJ has not decided whether it will file one class action suit on behalf their aggrieved clients or separate suits.

“We are looking at the issue of whether it could be certified as a class or whether we would have to bring each claim as an individual claim,” he explained. “Which would mean we would be filing some in Cincinnati or the District Courts in Ohio, some in the district courts in California, some in the District of Columbia. We are looking at all that.”

According to Sekulow, it is too early in their review process to know whether the conservative groups that the IRS targeted for enhanced scrutiny would qualify as “a class certifiable action.”

“You have a number of aggrieved parties coming out of the same targeting, so we are looking at [a class action suit],” he explained. “The difference in our case is — this is the technical side — some have been granted status and they still may be filing suit because of the fact that they were targeted.”

Of the 27 Tea Party groups  ACLJ represents, 10 are still awaiting responses on their tax exempt status and this week received another letter of inquiry about one of their clients from the IRS. Currently ACLJ has 14 plaintiffs.

“It would be much more judicially economical for the courts and for everybody, to have it in one court, but we don’t have the answer to that yet,” he added, noting that especially after the release of the inspector general report Tuesday he cannot imagine anything that would sway ACLJ against litigation.

The main focus for ACLJ at this point is filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“The claims will involve obviously First Amendment issues, both speech, association, probably press as well,” he said adding it might also include federal interference with business claims.

ACLJ has yet to determine all the defendants. The suit will likely include the Treasury Department and the IRS.

Monday ACLJ sent a letter demanding that the IRS get a response by Friday to 10 tea party groups who have not received tax exemptions or face possible legal action. ACLJ has not received any responses to its letter.

Dan Backer, an attorney with DB Capitol Strategies PLLC who represents tea party groups targeted by the IRS, including TheTeaParty.net, has also threatened litigation but has not decided whether to act yet.

Backer told TheDC that he expects lawsuits to arise from the targeting, whether from his groups or others.

“As every law school professor has said, I can sue you for breathing. But, is it worth it?  [W]e’re trying to figure that out and it’s a complex issue,” he wrote TheDC in an email Wednesday.


SOURCE http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/15/group-to-file-suit-in-federal-court-over-irs-targeting/