Bloomberg Writer Calls IRS Targeting of Tea Party 'Faux Scandal'

Bloomberg Writer Calls IRS Targeting of Tea Party 'Faux Scandal'

by Warner Todd Huston 10 Feb 2014

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2014/02/10/Bloomberg-Writer-Calls-IRS-Harassment-of-Tea-Party-Faux-Scandal

While penning praise of Obama's White House Chief of Staff, liberal columnist Albert R. Hunt of Bloomberg also took a moment to call the IRS harassment of conservatives a "faux scandal."

Hunt's op-ed is filled with wide-eyed praise of Obama's Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, calling him "skilled" and "efficient." McDonough is a "high-energy" guy praised by both Republicans and Democrats, Hunt is pleased to say.

Along with the effusive praise, Hunt also added a sentence taking a shot at those who feel that Obama and his IRS have abused their power to harass conservative groups in hopes that they would give up advocating for their right-of-center point of view.

Yet in the same moment, amid the fawning assessment of McDonough's excellence, Hunt offered up some criticism of the man's work.

Hunt says that McDonough "...took flak for failing to get the vice president and secretary of state sufficiently involved in the early decisions on Syria, for reacting slowly to the faux scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service, and for not adequately anticipating the flawed Obamacare rollout."

For a "faux scandal," the assaults the IRS and other Obama agencies unleashed almost exclusively on conservative groups sure were vicious. Take, for example, the testimony of True The Vote's Catherine Engelbrecht before a House committee.

Engelbrecht details the harassment she received at the hands of Obama's regulatory agencies after she started the voter integrity group that has become a target of liberal hatred.

"[During nearly] two decades of running our small business, my husband and I never dealt with any government agency, outside of filing our annual tax returns," Engelbrecht said during her testimony. "We had never been audited, we had never been investigated, but all that changed upon submitting applications for the non-profit statuses of True the Vote and King Street Patriots. Since that filing in 2010, my private businesses, my nonprofit organizations, and family have been subjected to more than 15 instances of audit or inquiry by federal agencies."

Engelbrecht isn't the only conservative who has found an avalanche of audits and "investigations" instigated at the hands of the Obama administration. Jay Sekulow, who also testified before Congress on behalf of several affected groups, said, "The IRS asked for the identity of donors, for passwords for websites, the political activity even of family members, and asked broad questions designed to expose every aspect of the groups’ First Amendment-protected activity."

Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the America Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), went on to say, "Millions of Americans with good reason perceive the IRS as inherently partisan, doubt the Obama Administration’s good faith in faithfully executing the laws of the United States by defending the First Amendment rights of all American citizens, and are understandably cynical when an avowed partisan accepts the assignment to investigate perhaps our nation’s most politically-significant scandal."

Sekulow was referring to the administration's decision to put a committed Obama campaign donor in charge of the investigation into the IRS.

The testimony of these two is only the tip of the iceberg of those harassed by Obama’s IRS and other agencies. With all that, it doesn’t appear to be a “faux scandal” at all.

Albert R. Hunt

Al Hunt is married to Judy Woodruff, and the executive editor for Washington for the Bloomberg News.

Note: Judy Woodruff is married to Al Hunt, and a trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Urban Institute (think tank), the Harlem Children's Zone, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Center for American Progress, the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the Committee for Economic Development.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a supporter for the Center for American Progress, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Denis McDonough was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and is the chief of staff; former deputy national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.

Michael R. Bloomberg was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation, is the founder for the Bloomberg LP, and a friend of Henry A. Kissinger.

Bloomberg News is a division of Bloomberg LP.

Henry A. Kissinger was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is a friend of Michael R. Bloomberg, a director at the American Council on Germany, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a member of the Bohemian Club, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Robert M. Kimmitt is a director at the American Council on Germany, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and a senior international counsel for Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

William J. Wilkins was a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and is the chief counsel at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the Barack Obama administration.

Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

Henrietta Holsman Fore is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Belizean Grove.

Deborah L. Wince-Smith is a member of the Belizean Grove, and was a member of the IRS Oversight Board.

IRS Oversight Board is a citizen’s board for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Charles O. Rossotti was the commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and an a director at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), and Obamacare.

Edward Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton, and leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA).

Robert S. Osborne is the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

W. James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.

Boeing Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).

Barbara G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company, a VP for the CGI Group Inc, and is a friend of Keith B. Alexander.

Keith B. Alexander is a friend of Barbara G. Fast, and the director at the National Security Agency (NSA).

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

Donna S. Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.