The IRS Scandal—1500+ Days Later

The myriad scandals of the Obama-era were serious. They provide clear evidence of a corrupt administration and what it can do when it tries to shape the actions of supposedly non-partisan government agencies.

None of the many Obama-era scandals were worse that an explicit attempt to weaponize the Internal Revenue Service against political opponents of the administration—what has become known as "The IRS Scandal." Unlike the evidence-free obsession with phony claims of "Russian collusion" against anyone or anything associated with Donald Trump, the IRS scandal had dozens, if not hundreds of clear cases of wrong doing; a high-level Washington administrator, Lois Lerner, who hid behind Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination, rather than testifying in front of Congress; a DoJ that yawned, rather than investigate this egregious malfeasance; a string of IRS administrators whose arrogance in the face of wrong-doing was astonishing; an agency that outright refused to provide email threads and other important evidence, and an administration that lied repeated about the extent of the problem, it's cause, and its impact.

The trained hamsters in the media did nothing to investigate and worked tirelessly to claim (dishonestly) that there was nothing to the claims made by tea party groups who had been targeted by the IRS. The Democrats circled the wagons and worked to discredit any claims of wrong-doing.

The hope, of course, was to run out the clock for Obama. To allow the past president and his corrupt administration to skate. It seems that hope was achieved. No one was indicted, no one was fired, no one was held to account.

But it's not over, at least not yet. The editors of Investor's Business Daily write:

The IRS scandal seemingly has lain dormant now for months, all but forgotten amid the spate of recent anti-Trump media spasms, the ongoing violent antics of the antifa leftists and, now, Hurricane Harvey's devastation. But even if much of Washington has forgotten about it, a Washington judge hasn't.

As reported by the Washington Examiner, Judge Reggie B. Walton of the Washington, D.C., District Court last week revived legal attention to the scandal, telling the IRS it has to reveal the names of IRS employees who targeted conservative, libertarian and Tea Party groups.

But Walton didn't stop there. He also gave the IRS until Oct. 16 to find all the records in IRS databases from May 2009 to March 2015 that are relevant to the case and to explain just why these groups were targeted.

All of this is the result of a suit against the IRS brought in 2013 by True the Vote and 38 other groups. The groups have doggedly pursued the IRS for four years after the tax agency held up their tax-exempt status before and during the 2012 election year for what appear to be blatantly political reasons. In their search for justice, the groups have had little help from the mostly apathetic, left-leaning media that wish conservative groups would just go away.

Now, with Walton's order to the IRS, PJ Media's Rick Moran asks the provocative question: "Is the IRS Scandal about break wide open?"

The answer seems to be yes. And it's about time.

If, in fact, the IRS is finally forced to disclose information (they haven't already destroyed), I suspect nothing will happen. The media will do nothing to follow the evidence, frightened that they might tarnish Barack Obama's "legacy." They'll mention the case in passing, but then allow it to wither from lack of coverage.

At the very least, every IRS administrator and employee who knowingly participated in this malfeasance should be summarily fired, those within the Obama administration who planned it should go to jail, and reforms should be instituted to ensure it doesn't happen again. Of course, none of that will happen—the deep state protects its own.