Opinion

IRS Hides Records Revealing White House Collusion As Americans Tire Of Constant Scandals

(Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Mark Meckler Mark Meckler is the President of Convention of States Foundation & Convention of States Action (COSA). COSA has over 5 million supporters and activists, representing every state legislative district in the nation. Mark appears regularly on television, radio and online discussing the conservative grassroots perspective on political issues. Before COSA, Mark was the Co-Founder of Tea Party Patriots. He left the organization in 2012 to implement this constitutional solution to take power from DC and return it to the sovereign citizens of the states. Mark has a B.A. from SDSU and a law degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He practiced law for two decades, specializing in internet privacy law
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At some point, news of corruption, collusion, and injustice is so common with the Obama administrationit ceases to shockBut here’s the latest nugget of information that will fail to make the headlines of the mainstream media – this time, it deals with the IRS refusing to obey a Freedom of Information Act request that could prove that the White House colluded with them in this scandal.

But this is just one of many scandals, right? Let me refresh your memory if you have lost track. In a stunning show of the Obama Administration’s abuse of power, the IRS admitted at the highest levels to targeting, harassing and intimidating tea party, Christian, pro-Israel and other conservative groups. Their intimidation undermined the ability of ordinary Americans to express themselves and freely participate in the democratic process. In fact, since this was going on during the last Presidential election, their shenanigans could’ve played a role in suppressing the conservative vote.

Which, of course, is why they did it.

But there’s a play in Team Hillary’s playbook that goes something like this: utter lies in order to make it through the news cycle, deny that you were lying, admit that there were discrepancies, and then shrug your shoulders and say that it’s old news. You see that with Benghazi, the email scandal, and – of course – now the IRS scandal.

So, here’s a bit of this new “old news” that you need to know. A new court filing claims that the IRS barely searched for records that would reveal the agency disclosed taxpayer data to the White House without authorization.

CoA Institute issued the FOIA request for documents after a White House official discussed what was supposed to be the private tax status of the Koch Industries’ multi-billion dollar companyThough tax payer information is supposed to be tightly guarded, Austan Goolsbee (chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers at the time) freely discussed this confidential information of the privately owned corporation.

The White House said to move along, there’s nothing to see here.  But, according to the Washington Times:

“lawmakers demanded the inspector general’s investigation, and conservative groups pursued their own inquiries through open-records requests. The matter took on added urgency after the IRS admitted it targeted tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. No evidence links the White House to the targeting, though conservatives say Mr. Obama created the environment that allowed the targeting to happen.”

These information requests could prove a real connection. So what did they reveal?

The Daily Caller reports that the IRS didn’t cooperate. “In short, the IRS appears determined not to perform an adequate search for records that may demonstrate serious wrongdoing by federal officials — the same officials who are tasked with the duty to protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information,” the filing claimed. It went on to claim that the IRS “improperly refused to search email correspondence for responsive records. The IRS failed to address this refusal to search email.”

This entire scene reminds me of parents asking young kids to search the house for lost shoes as they frantically tried to leave the house in a timely manner. The kids might come back in a few seconds and report they couldn’t find them. But we’re dealing with the federal government of the United States, not some petulant toddlers – though it is getting increasingly difficult to tell the difference. In any normal year, in any normal administration, this would be big news. But amidst all of the federal government’s wrongdoing, I fear American citizens are having trouble keeping it straight.

Justice never seems to settle on the powerful bureaucrats who do what they want, when they want, so it’s easy to lose hope and focus. However, for the good of our nation, we must hold the IRS accountable.

It seems silly to have to point this out, but here goesEven though the news is full of corruption, collusion, and injustice, our nation depends on the federal government actually obeying the laws. The federal government needs to face the consequences of their casual disregard for the rules and to realize that laws are not just for the “little people.” In fact, we “little people” are at a tipping point and are searching for a solution. How long until we quit obeying the laws? Will we have revolution or anarchy?

While many believe that a revolution is too “radical,” the founders thankfully gave us this constitutional tool to reign in an out of control government. The Convention of States movement is a peaceful way to reclaim the country at a time when Americans are being told that the political elite can do no wrong. (Or, worse, that they won’t be punished by the proper authorities when they do commit crimes.)

In an era of government incompetence, arrogance, and open hostility, an Article V Convention of States is the most radical yet reasonable alternative to revolution or anarchy.  

Now is the time to act – and radically — before this nation is too far gone to save.